In a hurry? Save or print these Collection Connections as a single file.

Go directly to the collection, Civil War Treasures, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection.

• Graphic Arts: Analyzing Symbols |
• Photographs and Sketches: Portraying War in the 19th Century |
• Journalism: Creating a Prison Camp Newspaper |
• Letters: Consoling Families of the Dead |
• Analyzing Poetry

Letters: Consoling Families of the Dead

The collection includes several letters Walt Whitman wrote when he journeyed to Washington in 1862 to look for his brother, who had been wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg. Disturbed by the suffering of soldiers in hospitals, Whitman committed himself to care for the wounded. At an army hospital in Washington, D.C., Whitman became familiar with Erastus Haskell, a musician in Company K of the 141st New York Volunteers. In a letter to Haskell’s parents dated August 10, 1863, Whitman described the young man’s last days before his death from typhoid fever:

I think you have reason to be proud of such a son, & all his relatives have cause to treasure his memory. ---I write to you this letter, because I would do something at least in his memory-- his fate was a hard one, to die so --He is one of the thousands of our unknown American young men in the ranks about whom there is no record or fame, no fuss made about their dying so unknown, but I find in them the real precious & royal ones of this land giving themselves up, aye even their young & precious lives, in their country's cause.

From Last days of Erastus Haskell, August 10, 1863

Read the entire letter and consider the following questions:

• What was the tone of Whitman’s letter?
• Experts on grief suggest that letters of consolation should be brief, express sympathy for the loss, note special characteristics of the person who has died and the bereaved person, share memories of the deceased, offer help, and end with a comforting statement. Which of these modern-day rules were reflected in Whitman’s letter? What aspects of his letter do you think were most consoling? What changes might you have made in the letter to ensure that Erastus’s parents were comforted?
• How did the letter arouse a spirit of patriotism?
• It has been said that through writing a letter of consolation, the writer is also comforting him/herself. Is there any evidence in the letter that writing it was a way for Whitman to comfort himself over the losses he was witnessing?