Dear Friend Amelia: The Civil War Letters of Private John Tidd
Editors/Authors: Mary Jordan and Joyce Hatch
BTC’s Take:
An interesting little book filled with illustrations and photos, Dear Friend Amelia features the letters of a homesick soldier in the 109th New York who was involved in some of the worst of the fighting in the 1864 Eastern Theater battles. Authors/Editors/Sisters Mary Jordan and Joyce Hatch do a great job placing Tidd’s letters within the greater events happening as he was penning them. This set of letters will appeal to those interested in the 109th New York and the area from which it came, those new to the Civil War and those with more experience, and to students of the Siege of Petersburg in particular.
Book Summary/Review:
BTC Siege of Petersburg Book Notes:
Book Info from Author Web Site:
The Civil War is one of the most written about and debated of American historical periods. Dear Friend Amelia does not introduce new theories about the war and its historical era, but rather presents the first-hand accounts of one young soldier, prefaced by and juxtaposed against historical context.
John Tidd’s letters are transcribed verbatim, with grammatical errors, inconsistent spellings, occasional lack of conventional paragraphing and sentence structure, and sometimes expressing points of view that have since become politically incorrect. Text and reference notes appear in “sidebars” adjacent to the letters and illustrations. Once a reference has been cited in full, subsequent debts to that source are expressed as author’s last name, shortened title, and page location.
We have attempted to create a visually interesting book, citing original sources and dates for images whenever possible. Included are illustrations ranging from romantically sentimental to grisly and brutally realistic, in keeping with John’s perceptions of soldiering and war at various times during his service. Some of what we have included will be familiar to persons knowledgeable about the Civil War, while other visuals are presented for the first time. The materials vary from images that appeared during and shortly after the war to contemporary photographs of Civil War artifacts and locations mentioned in the text. Many of the historical photographs and lithographs have been cropped to draw attention to particular details.
Click here to read more at the Dear Friend Amelia web site…
Hardcover Edition
ISBN: 978-0-615-39520-3
Publisher: Six Mile Creek Press
Release Date: 2011
Pages: 176 Pages
The Siege of Petersburg Online: Beyond the Crater Pages Which Mention This Book: