A Glimpse of Peace: A Soldier’s Longing for Home

“I hope and Trust To god The Time is nie at hand when it will be over and we Can all git To Come home and Stay in peace.”

Pull up a chair, friends, because I’ve come across something truly special in the archives today. It’s a humble piece of cream-colored paper, still showing the lines where it was folded tight to fit into a soldier’s pocket or a loved one’s envelope. If you look closely at the corners, you can see a delicate embossed floral design, a small touch of beauty in a time of so much hardship. The handwriting, penned in a fading brown ink, is remarkably clear, though there’s a bit of staining near the center fold—the kind of wear and tear you’d expect from a letter that has traveled hundreds of miles to bring news of the war’s end.

This unnamed Union soldier was writing home around April or May of 1865, right as the world was shifting. He talks about how his heart is split between two places: his post in the service and his home in Ohio with his wife, Nancy, and their children. He doesn’t hide his homesickness, but he speaks with a quiet, firm resolve about his duty. To him, saving the Union was a burden every man had to share. He shares news that General Lee has surrendered and Richmond has fallen, and while he’s heard rumors about General Johnston giving up too, he’s cautious about believing everything until it’s reliable.

There’s a wonderful, human touch in how he mentions his fellow soldiers, Robert Ward and Robert Tritt. It reminds us that these weren’t just icons in history books; they were neighbors working together. Ward is praised as a good soldier, while poor Tritt gets a bit of a scolding for not being worth any thing. He even recounts a scary moment when guerrillas fired on a train, affecting a Missouri battery. It’s a stark reminder that even as the big battles ended, danger still lurked in the shadows for these men.

Reading these words today makes the history books feel alive. We see a man who was tired of fighting but proud of his service, standing on the threshold of a new era of peace. It teaches us that the grand events of history—the surrenders of generals and the falling of capitals—were felt most deeply by the individuals who just wanted to get home and stay in peace. It’s a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the high price paid for the unity we often take for granted today.

Original Transcription

Time is out my Time will
be out The 18 th of sept I like
The Sirvis very well or as well as
I Could under The Circumstances
but I would rather be at home
with my famley but This glorious
union of ours must be saved and
I Think I might as well leave my
famley as any body els for I Think
it is a dutey devolved on every
union man To help To put
This unholey and un caled for rebel
ion down and I hope and Trust
To god The Time is nie at hand
when it will be over and we
Can all git To Come home and
Stay in peace your letter had To
go To ohio and Then Nancy sent
it To me in her letter and it
Took it a good while To git To
me my famley was all well
and doing well when she rote
To me The nuse is very good

at This Time we have ould
Richmond and ould Lee and his
armey has surrenderd and general
Lions has sur renderd his armey
and ould Johnson is in a good place
and The nuse is he has give up
like The balance but we have
not got any reliable nuse for
it but he had Just as well for
he cant hold alite for our armess
To fight by so I Think The war
is over Robert Ward and Robert
Tritt is boath in our Company
Ward is a good soldier but Tritt
aint worth any Thing ward is
well and harty his famley is in
ohio and a doing well Times is
peaciable here all but some few
gerrilers They fierd on The Trains
The other day and kild one and
woonded Three They belonged To
a ma sourey batbrey They have