As soldiers headed off to serve in the Civil War, citizens at home in Putnam County supported their soldiers while trying to maintain normal lives. Through The Indiana Sanitary Commission and local organizations such as the Soldiers’ Aid Society, Putnam County citizens, especially women, made sacrifices to help the Union war effort. Personal letters and newspapers also helped maintain contact between the home front and the battlefield. Not all of Putnam County’s citizens supported the Union cause. Confederate sympathizers, called “Butternuts,” and members of the Knights of the Golden Circle disrupted Union activities by resisting enlistment and threatening township commissioners who maintained conscription lists. Some became violent, but most objections were from “peace” Democrats who opposed government coercion and conscription. Others opposed fighting a war for black freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863.
Men and boys went off to war leaving behind women, children and the elderly causing economic strain. Communities and townships did their best to help soldiers’ families, especially war widows, to alleviate suffering.
Indiana Asbury University (which would later become DePauw University), survived the war despite plummeting enrollment and only four graduates in 1864. Soldiers on the battlefield were a source of pride for Putnam County people, but their service was only possible because of support by those at home. The home front battle was also arduous, and helped assure that the county itself could endure suffering, desperation and survive the violent conflict. More