Blog 1: November 17, 1860
My name is Loretta Boyd. I am a 21-year-old from Charlottesville, Virginia, and I have chosen to volunteer as a nurse in the Union Army. I am joining a Union regiment, hoping to help those whose cause I firmly believe in win the war! It is going to be a great day when our side finally triumphs, and we can once more be a country not divided by war and political issues.
When this is over and done, I can go home to my sister and father in Washington, D.C., and tell them the good news. Cordelia will be so pleased with my work! I am very sorry she could not join me in my wartime crusade of saving lives and helping soldiers withstand their sicknesses and injuries, but she is at present sick and bedridden. I have left her with instructions detailing to my father how to best care for Cordelia until she feels well again. It pains me to leave her while she is not feeling her best, but I must do so. It is what is best for my country!
I realize this is my first diary entry, one that I am sure is to be the first of many, so I believe I need to add a bit more background about myself and my family. In the future, someone may find this diary and preserve it as evidence of my miraculous and daring deeds in the war. Though I, along with all of the other men and women volunteering, will already be made a hero by my service, having a diary along for the ride is sure to preserve my memory for longer and keep that fire burning brightly. Now for that background I was talking about earlier.
My parents moved to the North before the war. My father used to be a planter in the South, since he grew up there and couldn’t escape the influence of his family, but as soon as he retired, he was able to escape to the haven of the North, away from the political divide and the condescending slave owners. When the war was finally upon us, looming on the horizon and moving in more quickly than many could fully appreciate, we were glad we had severed all ties from that past life.
My work as a nurse makes me a good candidate for volunteering to be in the Union army. With all that’s going to happen, the last thing we need is so many soon-to-be-wounded soldiers roaming around and readying for battle without someone skilled in handling medical problems to take care of them. With the well-being of my fellows in mind, I volunteered my services as a tribute to my country.
Blog 2: November 20, 1861
I must share some news from this past year! For one, President Abraham Lincoln, on April 15 of this same year, called for 75 thousand volunteers to create an army for the Union to fight the Confederacy with. (This called for many editorials to be written and disseminated. I read multiple myself. Some, especially those representing more Northern-thinking opinions, highlighted how President Lincoln has been holding up so well during these times and how his opinions on the Union in relation to the Confederacy are entirely well-formed. Others are not so pleased with his actions. Then again, has there been any president in recent years who has been supported fully by all of the citizens of his America? No, I don’t believe there has been. Perhaps none has created a divide such as Lincoln’s, but that can hardly be fully pinned on him, seeing how it has been forming for years upon years at this point.) The fully Northern states are responding to this call in a better fashion than the so-called “border states” are. 11 people died in Baltimore four days later.
On July 21 of this year, there was a big battle at Bull Run, not far from the capital of the Union. The Confederates won. They even had a nice good lunch from some civilians and political figures who had come to watch the Union trounce them. Some turn of events!
The first income tax in the Union came about on the fifth day of August. Why pay the government back with the money we earn on our own time? This is especially silly given that many people’s income comes from the government in the first place, at least somewhat directly. It’s only set to apply to people with a salary of more than $800 a year, but three whole percentages of that is a lot to just up and give away! It’s to pay for the war, which makes it better, I suppose. Good cause.
Last but not least, guess what else changed? General George McClellan is now the General in Chief of the Union army. I have high expectations for him! I hope to meet him someday, when I am a hero for saving soldiers and keeping the morale in my camp high. I’ve heard he is quite the fellow, young and strong and sensational!
That’s all of the major news I have. I really don’t have the time to keep writing things every time something interesting happens, so I must remember them until I finally get around to writing them all down. Nobody wants to listen to my talk of the day-to-day life of someone in Agricolae Unitatis, so I suppose it’s best to just keep up with the news.
Promise broken, justice found