Dear Diary,
Today was a good day. Mother woke me up early so I could help her make breakfast. School was the same old thing, all the teacher talks about is the civil war and how many soldiers, more then 500,000 have been killed and that many are still injured. I just wish I could do something to stop this war. I'm scared my father won't make it home safe. President Lincoln needs to figure out a way to stop this war. If he only knew how much pain people are going through over the loses of their loved ones or suffering because their husbands are in the war and they're having a hard time making ends meet. All this frustration is making me tired. Well goodnight diary.

Farewell,

Leida Wade





Dear Diary,
Momma received a letter from father today. He said he's doing good, surviving in the best way possible. He said many soldiers are being killed and that the southern army have smarter leaders eventhough they have less people. He misses us and can't wait to come home. That letter made my day, but I'm still thinking of ways I could help the soldiers. Maybe I could convince mother to make bread for the soldiers fighting around here or maybe make first aid kits and go around helping cure injured soldiers. It's getting late so I have to go to sleep.


Farewell,

Leida Wade

Solider

 1.We attempted fighting and marching drills each man taking orders such as marching in column, how to face properly, and communicating with their fellow soldiers. Drills lasted an hour. The drills were important for they used tactics they changed since the American Rev. There were two ranks of soldiers, each man in the rank standing side by side.

 2.It is the first day in Gettysburg. We slept in a two-man tent; I shared my tent with a tall yet slender man. Men joked about the tents but others had more important things in their mind. We were nervous about the fight questions rolling through my mind. Would we win? Would I be the next to die?

 3. Today we fight, own men and theirs. As the guns shoot after the general yelled, Ready, Aim, Fire. Gunshots were crossing both sides as men fell down left and right. I tried to stay strong, and then I noticed my closest friend fell to the ground with a Thud.

 4.Today they sent out letters to families, about how their family or friends have died.

I was upset thinking about what I am going to do without my closest friend by my side. Tomorrow was a new battle another day that a friend a family member died. Would I be next?

 5.As I lay in my tent thinking of pondering questions in my head. I think about what my family is doing, and if they were thinking of me. My wife and two children would always be apart of me. As I started to cry

 6.Today yet another day of battle, as I stay strong fighting and shooting with my highest power. As I feel myself grow weak, I still keep strong. I just want to lay my head upon the ground. I think about my wife and adorable kids.

 7.Generals let us write letters home to our loved ones. I explain to my wife on how my closet friend has pasted away. Telling her how I am truly in grief, that I jus want to see her and my children one last time. I mention that I try and stay strong for her and I will be returning home as soon as I can.

8.As night falls I lay in my bed now I am in the tent alone. My friend had died earlier today. I am yet alone and nothing to do but think about what tomorrow may bring. I miss my family deeply Im thinking to more days left.

 9.No Battle today some men need to recover. General give us a day to relax, which is unlikely. Thinking of what is happening at home. We get our guns ready for tomorrow.

 10. Today the last day and I am yet still weak, but relieved that I am still alive. We are going to the battlefront to take them jus one last time. I hope to write about my victory in my next entry

No More Entries. (Died)

I wanted to begin a discussion here... (since this IS a discussion forum) on a couple of questions relating to war in general and this war (the Civil War) in particular...

The goal is to reply with your thoughts to the questions AND to ask questions of others or make comments of your own... even give ME work to do.  I'll reply here as well.  Let's see how many (serious) posts we can make on this conversation.

So... the questions:

1) If you take out the issue of slavery in the Civil War AND you lived in the South, would you fight against the Union to defend your state and your home?  Or would you turn against your neighbors?  Or run to the north with your family?

2) What do you think changes in a person when they go to war and accept the fact that they might have to kill others?  Do you think its only self defense?  Do you think that all people are capable of killing?  Do you think some people would not be able to do it, no matter what the orders were? 

3) If your were an Iraqi or Afghan, what do you think the differences between the Civil War in the 1860's and the fighting in the War on Terror (Iraq, Afghanistan) are today?  Obviously, the technology and the issues (state's rights/slavery) are different, but from their point of view, is a civil war today the same as a civil war then?

4) When is war right?  When is war wrong?  Can you ever see yourself (yes, women in the class too) fighting in a war?  Can you see yourself protesting a war? 

Vanessa Marcial                         5.27.08
U.S History

 

                                    The Mass. 54^th soldier

July 8,

 

I am just a poor slave.  I never thought it would get this far.  I have joined the first black regiment and it doesnt seem to be what I expected.  Its a cold day today.  I havent seen anything like this.  I feel like coming here is a waist of time.  We havent seen any action. Most of the soldiers here are nothing but idiot slaves that dont know why they are here.  They say that they are here to protect our freedom, others just say to get away from their owners but I dont believe them its a waist of breath.  Im just here to be here, dont really have a reason.   I have spent weeks here in this camp and I havent heard a word of action.  Our general says that we will see action soon but we never do.

       My general has a right hand man and he doesnt believe that we can win the battle. He says that the people here doesnt have any experience, we are useless to the war.  He says that we are only here as target practice for our enemy we arent worth fighting in the war.  We have gone through much training.  Like I said, it isnt what I thought it would be. We dont have enough supplies.  We are running out of food to support the troops. We are practicing wit our rifles and we do not have enough of them.  Some of the soldiers here have never picked a rifle a day in their lives.  These soldiers are mostly young men that have never killed a person and are scared because they do not know what to expect. 

July 9,

           Today is the day we finally go to battle, a few miles away from the campsite we reach open land, the troops were so excited to finally go to battle.  But we were inferior to our enemies we have no shoes and no uniforms wee have less experience then our enemies but for some reason we are not afraid of that.  We are just to excited about going not even worried about dying, getting shot, or even getting stabbed, that doesnt cross their mind.

            Half way to the battlefield we hear gunshots, screams of fallen soldiers.  But that doesnt bother us.  When we reach the battlefield it is quiet, then all of a sudden we hear a loud noise and one of our troops is down.  Our general tells us to fire at will, the troop fires aimlessly to the opposite side and we hear them firing back.  All of the ammo used clouded the sky making it harder for us to see anyone.  When the smoke clears up we see bodies and more bodies of young and old men dead on the floor. We have won the first battle. We go around checking to see if everyone lying on the floor, if they were found alive we were to kill them.  Even if they were one of our own, it was very hard for us to kill comrades but we had know choice we did what we were told.

July 10,

            For a celebration we camped outside singing song that we all new and drank.  We were having a great time.  The next day we met up wit comrades of a different regiment, they were a white troop.  They wanted us to join them and supposable get supplies for the troops.  When they arrived at the town they were told to get what ever they wanted. These soldiers vandalized, burned, slaughter, they were out of control we were shocked to what we saw.  Our general took us away from this regiment, to us it seemed like there was really no point. 

July 11,

            Once we reached the campsite we found the general and the captain awaiting our arrival, they seemed to be very tense.  They wanted the troop to get dressed in their uniforms and get ready to march. The troops seemed to be very nervous of what was about to happen, ½ an hour into the march we find out we are going to battle.  We arent ready but we will fight by our generals side.  This may be the last time I write in this journal but I know once we begin this battle, thousands of our men will die, not many will survive but my wish is for us to win this battle.  It would be my honor to die along side the greatest general of the 54^th regiment.

 

Dear Family I have been we have been fighting a lot in trying to win this war. T he North has a lot of hope for winning. Even though our Generals may not always have good plans we are still trying our best to help each other out. Most of the wealthy people who were drafted got to leave which wasnt fair to us be we try not to complain. I hope that you are not worrying about me and are still going on with what you have to do. Right now I am located in the battlefield s and in the front lines. We have just finished having a major battle in the front lines and many people were injured. I was in charge of taking care of the guns and cannons. If  I am not able to try to write to you again I want you to stay strong and not worry.Sincerely yours,

Solider

 Dear Family I havent talked to you in a while and I have been busy trying to make sure that what I am doing here is working out. Most of my friends and I are hoping that this war will be over pretty soon and things will be different. We also hold a lot of meetings talking about what we can do to try to stop slavery. I hope that what I am doing is making a difference in helping the cause. Frederick Douglass       

Ashley Martinez May 27,2008 U.S. History IB~ Block
Dear Diary, 

Being president is very difficult especially during wartime. Although its difficult at the same time its very interesting. Its interesting because I have to making decision that can or cannot change the way people live today in the war. There are situations where Ive gotten stuck and didnt know how to handle a situation but I found ways to get through them. Ive even had to take them out of their homes and away from their families to go fight for our country. Some of our sailors dont make it home to their families, and for that we are very sorry. But with that you can tell that they did a good thing for our country. Its not an easy job as the president but Ive tried my best to represent this country as best as I could. Thats the life as president of the United States.   

-- Edited by shawtie18 at 15:24, 2008-05-28

Jamal Williams                          History (I)                                May 27, 2008

Civilian Living Near A Battlefield

 

June 26,1863: Living near a battlefield is not a pleasant experience. Under the constant threat of a war breaking out it is never safe to leave home and daily tasks are limited to the near nessecities needed for life. My soon to be son is near here and should be born any day from now. Growing tension in our household is making us all weary and food is low.

 

June 27,1863: Today was just another day. Silence ruled the area once again but growing rumors about a fight breaking out are spreading around.

 

June 28,1863: Its my wifes 19^th birthday today and little to nothing changes. The city is still in a standstill, and word from 20miles away is that the general from the south General Lee is planning an attach on us from Cemetery Hill.

 

June 29,1863: We are running low on food and my family is becoming more and more agitated with each other. It has been raining all day and the water is starting to rise in the house. All of our clothes are ragged and there are no water pales. Hopefully some kind of resolution can come because if a fight breaks out most of us will most likely be killed

 

            June 30,1863:Gathering of military men and carriages of ammunition roll through our dirt roads and you can tell the weight of them by the depth of the wagon wheel tracks.

 

            July 1,1863: Awoken by the sound of gunfire at around 6am I knew that the time had finally come. Seconds turned in to minutes and every moment seemed to drag. Hid away in a little base floor room my wife and I stowed away there. Waiting for a cease-fire that never came, shrapnel bombarded the shack like home tearing up everything we owned. Pictures were cut in seeming millions of pieces and my old dog Bingo ran out of the house out of fear, I havent seem him since.

 

            July 2, 1863: The fierce battling continues. The sounds of the cries of fallen and wounded soldier bring chills to my spine. As the bodies pile up and night falls again they are reluctant to quit. Our food supply is near gone and my wife is complaining on cramps. I pray to the lord every night but it seems my prays go unanswered.

 

            July 3, 1863: All windows in my house are gone but there is a temporary ceasefire, blown out by shrapnel and other projectiles, by now my dog are surely dead. Food is gone and we are all starving for food, everything in the house is fare game. Late in the night the fighting erupts again. My wife unknowingly jumps up out of fear and is hit in the shoulder with a metal bullet. Blood is everywhere and I was terrified not only for her but for my unborn child.

 

            July 4, 1863: Today when I looked outside there was nothing. The land was desolate and the seen of corpses on the ground outside frightened me. My wife still has the bullet in her but the bleeding has stopped but now the threat of infection is in my mind. While I guess the country is celebrating its 87 birthday we are bunkered out in basic fox whole still. During the night with the celebration every slight pop of the fireworks jolted us every time, and sleep was impossible.

 

            July 5, 1863: Early in the morning my wifes water broke and my child is on the way. She is having complications and is losing massive blood but there are no local doctors in the area or any that would dare journey out here. She is drifting in and out of conciseness and by this time I fear for her life.

 

            July 6, 1863: My wife delivers my son early in the morning but is only around to hold her child for a few hours. She dies in her sleep from the loss of blood and my life will be changed forever.