Men bathing in a stream, spreading out under the trees for a nap, watching an eagle pass overhead — Charles Cyphers' fourth letter from Camp Slifer captures the quiet, restless rhythm of soldiers waiting for the war to find them. Read the full letter.
Rumors were flying back home about hungry, mistreated soldiers at Camp Slifer. Michael McCarty — a County Longford man turned Luzerne County coal miner — had heard enough. He shared a letter from his friend Corporal Devenney at the front to set the record straight. Devenney had gained four pounds since enlisting in the US Army. Read the full letter.
A young student from Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, PA traded his classroom for an army camp near Chambersburg in the spring of 1861. He and wrote back to a classmate about the food, the boredom, and his burning desire to meet the rebels in battle. Read the full letter.
On the morning of May 4, 1861, Sergeant Charles Cyphers stepped out of his tent at Camp Slifer near Chambersburg and found five inches of fresh snow on the ground. He picked up his pen and wrote home — and what he captured is a vivid snapshot of soldiers waiting, wondering, and trying to stay warm. Read the full letter.
“Our country needs the aid of every young man, in this, its hour of need.” Writing from Harrisburg, PA in April 1861, a 19-year-old Scottish immigrant tried to explain why he had volunteered for service in the Civil War - framing the conflict as both a duty and a test of loyalty to his adopted country at the very moment it was on the verge of fracturing. Read the letter.
“If you could but see our outfit, methinks that you would not want to be a soldier.” Writing from Camp Slifer in April 1861, Sergeant Charles Cyphers described the long hours, rough conditions, and early realities of army life just miles from the Mason-Dixon line - where the Civil War was escalating.