A Soldier’s Hope: A Letter from the Day the War Ended

“i think that this wore is dun the rebles has dun all that the can”

Gather ’round, neighbors, for I’ve got a real piece of history to show you today. It’s a letter from April 9, 1865, and it feels just as warm as a handshake from an old friend. The paper is yellowed and creased from time, with handwriting that’s a bit rough around the edges, but every stroke of that dark ink tells a story of a heart ready for peace. You can see where Robert Marel crossed out a word or two, just a regular man trying to find the right way to say that the long, hard days were finally behind him.

Robert was writing to his friend, Mr. Laban Guin, on the very day that the great conflict of the Civil War came to its end. He didn’t use fancy words to describe it; he just spoke from the soul, saying the rebels were defeated and looking to come back into the Union however they could. There’s a bit of fire in him when he mentions Jefferson Davis, but mostly, you can feel the quiet relief of a soldier who’s counting down the days until September. He was a man with his eyes set on home, dreaming of seeing his friends back in the state of Ohio once the leaves started to turn in the fall.

Looking at this letter today reminds us that history isn’t just about the names in the big books; it’s about the folks like Robert who stayed faithful until the very end. It’s a reminder that no matter how long the winter, peace always finds a way to break through. This little scrap of paper is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the simple, enduring hope of a man just wanting to go home and be with his kin. It teaches us that peace is a precious thing, earned with hard miles and kept alive by the letters we write and the promises we keep.

Original Transcription

aprile the 9th 1865 Mr laban
guin i set my self to in form
you that i am [crossed out: well] at this time
and truley hope that these few lines
may find you and famley in
joyin the same blsan i am a solger
and afur dase from home but
my time will be out in
september and i think that
this wore is dun the rebles has
dun all that the can and
now the hell houns want to
cum back to the unun

any wa that the can old Jef
has gon to hell i am in hops
[crossed out text] yell i will
look for you to cum to the
stat of ohio in the fall
i wood like to ce you and
tell you all of the times that
i have had yell i ms
close for this time you ms
rit sun excus my band rita
and short leter so no more but
remans your abednt frend
tell deth Robert Marel