Letters from War: 1861 | “We got the hottest of the fire” – A Pittston photographer writes from Martinsburg

"The enemy's balls whistled like hail about our ears." Sergeant Francis Woodhouse stood his ground as cannon fire tore through the lines at Hoke's Run and watched two Pittston men fall wounded beside him. He came through without a scratch and wrote home four days later with one of the most vivid firsthand accounts in this series. Read the full letter.

Letters from War: 1861 | “The balls flew like hail stones” – A Pittston soldier survives the Battle of Hoke’s Run

On July 2, 1861, the men of the 11th Pennsylvania finally met the enemy. Writing from Williamsport, MD two days later, Private William Ferris of Pittston, PA became the first soldier in this series to report from an actual battlefield — and the news from the front was only getting more serious. Read the full letter.