Touched With Fire: Civil War Letters and Diary of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Lieutenant Holmes believed himself a dying man. He was a young man and an inexperienced soldier (still a few months shy of his 21st birthday) and he was wrong about being done for, but given the nature of his most obviously severe wound (one of the tw... Read More

Two days after being wounded in battle at Ball's Bluff, Lt Wendall Holmes felt well enough to write home. "My Dear Mother," he began, "Here I am flat on my back after our first engagement wounded but pretty comfortable." "...Lt Putnam is dead Capt. Pu... Read More

May, 1861: The drum sounded the long roll. It was just a drill - but the men stopped what they were otherwise doing and hurried into formation. Their previous tasks might have been important enough in the moment - but collectively they were protecting... Read More