Published in 1929 in the Pottsville Republican of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, this letter from author and historian Joseph H. Zerbe was written following the author’s road trip through the South on his way to Florida.
On his journey, he passed through many Civil War battlefields where Schuylkill County residents fought and died. In the letter to the newspaper, Zerbe mourned that with the passing of many Civil War veterans, the history they told through stories and the scars on their bodies were being lost.
He feared the new generation, ironically the one that would fight the Second World War a decade later, had no appreciation for their local Civil War history.
I’ll pass along this fascinating letter with little comment, other than this: we are now further from the Second World War and its lessons about fascism, isolationism, genocide, and global conflict than Zerbe was from the Civil War when writing in 1929.
His fears about forgetting the lessons of the past are relevant today, not just among the youngest generations, but also among those whose parents and grandparents fought and won World War II.
A Bit of Civil War History
Mr. Zerbey writes home from South Carolina of his trip through the once battlefield of the Civil War through which he passed while en route by automobile to Florida.
He wonders if it occurs to our older readers that they read little of that kind of material these days. They once were familiar with the Civil War history, as it was told at reunions of various military organizations, and in the writings of soldiers, novelists, and in newspaper stories. But these were in other days.
We seldom hear recitals of that terrible struggle of brother against brother which nearly tore our nation in two. There are few of the old veterans left, so that it is not the privilege of the average person to come often in contact with them.
They are not accustomed to linger around the club room or the cigar store swapping reminiscences as was once the case.
As a result—well, the younger generation has lost that close touch their fathers had with the deeds of the Union soldiers of this country. They know these things now merely as a part of the text of their history lessons in school.
Grandfathers and great-grandfathers, they are told, were engaged in that warfare, but it lacks the thrill because these forebears are now in their final bivouac from which no one ever returns and to which the living are not permitted to enter. It is therefore refreshing and interesting to have a first-hand story now and then of the Civil War as it pertained to our own county and to the fathers and grandfathers of our present-day leading residents.
We could and should have more of this, we will admit. Our schools ought to lay greater stress upon the history of Schuylkill Co. in that great war of rebellion, for it is a brilliant one of which we have so much to be proud.
Let us emphasize our record as a county in the Civil War and keep these illustrious deeds green in the minds of the present school generation, so that they may grow up proud of our county’s history rather than in ignorance of the fact that from this section came men who were men and who fought bravely and died bravely and handed a flaming torch that has been carried valiantly by their descendants whenever called upon to bear arms.
(Image: Officers of the 50th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry in 1865)
Read more Civil War memories from the Coal Region
Pottsville, PA celebrated “First Defenders Day” as a tribute to its Civil War veterans
How Schuylkill County Civil War Veterans Opposed Confederate Monuments in 1903
“Thoughts for Tomorrow” – Remembering the sacrifice of Schuylkill County’s Civil War soldiers
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