A Confederate surgeon's letters to his wife by Spencer Glasgow Welch
"A Confederate surgeon's letters to his wife" by Spencer Glasgow Welch is a collection of wartime letters written in the mid-19th century. The work presents a Confederate army surgeon’s frontline perspective on marches, battles, medical duty, and camp life in the Army of Northern Virginia. It centers on his experiences with South Carolina regiments, blending eyewitness detail with personal reflections for his wife and child. The opening of the collection begins with
an editor’s note about condensing the letters for historical value, then follows Welch from May 1862 near Fredericksburg through forced marches, sickness, the Seven Days around Richmond, and Jackson’s hard-driving maneuvers, all amid scarce rations and overflowing field hospitals. He gives close, practical accounts of his medical work at Second Manassas and Ox Hill, the grim toll of amputations and deaths, and the daily realities of hunger, gear shortages, discipline, and occasional picket fraternization. Winter 1862–63 covers Fredericksburg, relative quiet along the Rappahannock, and reflections on morale; at Chancellorsville he labors at the field infirmary through the assault and notes heavy losses and brief cooperation with Union surgeons under a flag of truce. He then traces the march up the Valley into Pennsylvania, requisitions on the countryside, and a detailed, day-by-day view of Gettysburg, followed by the rain-soaked retreat, a cavalry surprise at Falling Waters, and the deaths of key officers. Back in Virginia he records a lull near Orange Court House, executions for desertion, an autumn maneuver that pushes Meade back, a sorrowful return from furlough after his child’s death, and a harsh winter softened by boxes from home. The section closes with the spring 1864 campaign—the Wilderness’ chaotic, close-quarters fighting and Spotsylvania’s “Bloody Angle,” where he lists leaders hit and captures the unbroken roar of musketry as both sides hold on in brutal combat. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Fiona Holmes, Tim Miller and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.)
Reading Level
Reading ease score: 80.0 (6th grade). Easy to read.
