| WIDOWS
BY THE THOUSAND
The Civil War Correspondence of Theophilus
and Harriet Perry, 1862–1864
Edited by M. Jane Johansson
The
intimate, emotional chronicle of a wartime marriage
This collection
of letters written between Theophilus and Harriet Perry during
the Civil War provides an intimate, firsthand account of the
effect of the war on one young couple. Perry was an officer
with the 28th Texas Cavalry, a unit that campaigned in Arkansas
and Louisiana as part of the division known as “Walker’s
Greyhounds.” His letters describe his service in a highly
literate style that is unusual for Confederate accounts. He
documents a number of important events, including his experiences
as a detached officer in Arkansas in the winter of 1862–63,
the attempt to relieve the siege of Vicksburg, mutiny in his
regiment, and the Red River campaign, just before he was killed
in the battle of Pleasant Hill.
Harriet’s
writings allow the reader to witness the everyday life of
an upper-class woman enduring home front deprivations, facing
the hardships and fears of childbearing and childrearing alone,
and coping with other challenges resulting from her husband’s
absence.
“This
is a collection that offers much more than many others. .
. . Harriet’s eulogy for her husband is quite moving
and provides an emotional reading for a visit into the relationship
of a Confederate officer and his wife that has rarely been
available.”
—Civil War News
“Not only have fewer collections of married couples
of the Confederacy been published, but those of couples living
in the westernmost regions of the Trans-Mississippi Theater
are scarcer still. . . . Harriet’s frank discussion
of sexuality and reproduction, topics mid-19th century female
correspondents rarely address, are remarkable for this era.”
—Civil War Book Review
M. Jane Johansson is an associate professor
of history at Rogers State University. She is the author of
Peculiar Honor: A History of the 28th Texas Calvary, 1862–1865
(University of Arkansas Press), winner of the Ottis Lock Award
for the Best Book on East Texas History, and a coeditor of
two volumes of The Papers of Will Rogers.
"I
do not sleep sound at all—I often get up and sit by the
window for some time and would give worlds, if I had them,
if you could be with me—You can't imagine how lonely
& sad & (I almost said friendless) I feel."
—Harriet
Perry, 1862
NOW
IN PAPER!
March 2007
6 x 9, 358 pages, 5 photographs, 4 maps, index
$19.95 paper (s)
978-1-55728-841-7 | 1-55728-841-0
2000
$37.95 cloth
978-1-55728-621-5 | 1-55728-621-3
|
