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I am a very proud, free black man who has been given the privilege and honor by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw to fight in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Just over two months ago my friends and I had the honor to be leading the attack on Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina. I am one of the few men who survived the attack, as we lost just over 330 men, many of whom were my friends. Unfortunately, I lost the man who had given me the opportunity to fight for a free country, Robert Shaw. We need more people like him to be risking his life to change our great nation for the better. It was extremely difficult to fight back against the Confederates, as it was their fort and we were trying to attack them while they had the high ground. The Confederates were led by P. G. T. Beauregard, who did not have much to besides order to shoot at us. Ultimately, this was another Confederate victory, but this was a huge step forward fight freed slaves being given the opportunity to fight for the Union. This has been the proudest moment of my life to have led a Union army attack against the Confederates. I’m glad so many of my friends got to die with great honor and glory, and I am glad to have fought with them. Just over ten days ago on Septemeber 7th, 1863, the Confederates abandoned the fort because the Union was close to capturing it. As this war continues, I am confident that we will win because a huge number of black men have enlisted in the Union army because of US. The 54th Massachusetts, something that I was able to be a part of, paved the way for a large number of black men to become Union soldiers. Although we may have lost this battle, we are becoming a stronger Union and a stronger army.

-Thomas Lynch, Soldier from the 54th Massachusetts

(Aidan L)

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I, Ambrose Burnside, General of the Union army, am sad to report that there has been a Confederate victory at the Battle of Fredericksburg. This battle took place from December 11th to the 15th, of 1862, and it was an extremely bloody battle. Unfortunately for myself, I went up against one of the greatest Generals from the South, Robert E. Lee. Both sides suffered losses, as there was a total of 9,000 casualties. My army,  which was called the Army of the Potomac, also had to go up against Stonewall Jackson, who had forces that overpowered my troops. We also had the cross the Rappahannock River, which was difficult for some of my inexperienced men. About half of the Confederate army suffered casualties as opposed to us, the Union. We fought hard as a unit but it wasn’t our battle to win. Although I am supposed to have pride in our chances of winning this war, I am having some doubts at the moment. I’m not trying to become a Southerner, but their Generals are far more experienced and militarily trained than I am. All I can say is that our home front is hard at work providing medical supplies, making war supplies, and giving us more soldiers to use in battle. We have an advantage over the Confederates because we’re fighting on their homeland, which we are destroying in the process. As a whole, we are prepared to fight for a long time, and we can afford to lose men as we heavily outnumber the Confederates. However, I am sad for my friend George McClellan, who was the Union general before me who did not accomplish anything significant for us. I hope that over time I will be able to become a great general for the Union, and fix the problem of slavery in this country.

-Ambrose E. Burnside, Union General

(Aidan L)

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Last month, starting on July 21st, 1861, I witnessed the first battle of the war between the Union army and the Confederate army. It has been at least three months since the fall of Fort Sumter, and I decided to come down to Virginia, just 100 miles away from Washington D.C. As I watched each side set up for this battle, I became very perplexed. It seemed like nobody was prepared for war, as both sides had no uniforms and they had weak battle tactics. The two generals, Irvin McDowell of the Union army, and Thomas J. Jackson of the Confederate army both seemed as if they were inexperienced. For the soldiers themselves, there were about 4,878 casualties, and there were more losses for the Union army, which was made up of 30,000 soldiers. Ultimately, this battle was won by the Confederates, but it could have gone either way. Confederate general Thomas J. Jackson was famously dubbed the nickname, Stonewall Jackson because he stood there like a stone wall. Since this battle took 100 miles from D.C., the Union were lucky that the Confederates were unable to get to D.C. because of how fatigued they were. However, the Confederates were confident that they had won the war, and many of the soldiers left the army and went home to work in the South. Although, they ended up being wrong, as there would be the 2nd Battle of Bull Run, where the Confederates would be victorious again, and there was a higher casualty total of 20,000 people. The Union army showed signs of perseverance, and they never wanted to give up, and they knew that this would be a long, bloody war full of many victories for the North, even though they started the war off slow.

-Tack Jomsyck, Northern citizen

(Aidan L)

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To Colonel Charles Bridgewater,

Hello, good friend Charles!  I am writing to you to invite you to a gathering soon.  I have been invited to a celebration for the defeat of the Confederate in Shiloh, Tennessee.  I was hoping to see you there since I was informed you might be attending.  Our glorious triumph over the South came at a great expense, however.  I knew many men who put down their lives for the greater good.  The lives of over 13,000 Union casualties will always be remembered as the people who gained us that crucial victory on April 7th.  I took my regiment of men through Hornet’s Nest where they saw the worst of the fighting.  Repeated attacks made by the enemy on the location caused my men great fatigue and restlessness.  After the many hours of brutal fighting over the two days, only our strong, brave men were left standing.  We had lost as many as the Southerners had, if not more, but we remained control of our positions.  I was meeting with General Ulysses S. Grant the night before the battle to talk about where we were going after Shiloh.  During our discussion, he had brought up you and your regiment, explaining to me that you were marching over by late April to aid the fighting in Yorktown, Virginia.  I wish you and your men good luck as the fighting there has been a rough stalemate.  If you get the chance to talk with General Grant, let him know I had talked to you and that my men have retreated back towards Washington D.C. to resupply and rest.

-Colonel Thomas Hillview

(Greg B)

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It is September 17th, 1862, when I write this to you.  I was withheld from the battle in Antietam today.  I was discharged from the army because I was said to be unfit to fight since I had lost my left hand in my past fighting.  I don’t agree with him though since I had been able to participate in training and I’m still a better shot than most other men.  My friends William and Henry were commissioned in the brutal fighting over in Antietam.  Word spreading around is that General George McClellan is sending his Army of the Potomac to combat Lee’s Southern rebels.   As I write to you, nearly 87,000 men are marching towards Antietam!  Surely we will be able to defeat Lee’s army and send them into a downward spiral of defeat after defeat.  I was supposed to go with them before I was honorably discharged.  I will be home soon; by the end of the year if possible, but I wish to stay longer and help out.  I signed up for this, so I’m going to do whatever I can.

It is now September 25th.  More soldiers are returning home from Antietam, but I am not hearing from William nor from Henry.  I am worried that the worst has come true, but I am hopeful that they simply just stuck around to help others, just like I would have done.  I’m hearing news of how the fighting went by many people.  Some say there were as many as 10,000 Confederate casualties, which would be a quarter of the army they brought with them.  I’m hearing from the ranking Colonel of one infantry division that it was a difficult victory for the Union.  I will be returning home soon.
- James Williamson

(Greg B)

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To the people of the Union, and to all whom our borders will soon encapture, I come to write to you today to make known of our victories on the battlefield here at Gettysburg.  Today, just like how we defeated our greatest enemy, Great Britain, we celebrate the Union succeeding in taking down the enemy.  Beginning on July 1st, our 22,000 brave Northern soldiers met the enemy in the town of Gettysburg.  The first day saw the highest losses of life out of the three days at just under 9000 Union casualties.  The Confederate advancement in the area, as well as the devastating losses on both sides, led into the continued fighting on the second day.  General Meade’s strategic defensive position on Cemetary Hill added to the success of the great Union.  It wasn’t until the third day of fighting on July 3rd where Lee’s army took on the full force of our powerful men.  After the undeniably desperate attempt at a break in our defensive lines by Confederate Major General George Picket’s charge, the Confederate Army was devastated.  Reduced to half of their men during this attack, Picket’s Charge signaled our impending victory in the battle.  Now, having beaten Lee and the vicious Southern army, we can have a chance to rest and prepare for the next battle.  They are on the retreat, down 28,000 men, but we should not assume that we have won the war yet.  For every day Lee stands to fight, an attack should be expected.  I have messaged for the remaining soldiers to retreat and replenish themselves as well as some to be sent to Vicksburg, Mississippi.  After the events of those three days, I must say I am proud to be leading such a fine army.

-General George Meade to the people of the Union
(Greg B)