Charles Harvey Brewster

The first year of the war passed calmly enough—almost too calmly for the eager soldiers who had volunteered for the Union. But in the spring of 1862, the fighting began to grow hot during the Peninsula campaign, which was General McLellan's attempt to sail around the Confederate defenses and make a direct attack on the Confederate capital at Richmond.

Both sides were eager for the fight, and the spirit displayed by Confederate and Union volunteers played a big part in turning this campaign into a long, complex, and drawnout stalemate. Massachusetts infantryman Charles Harvey Brewster describes his encounter with death and battle at Fair Oaks, an early Peninsula fight, in this eloquent letter home.

6 miles from Richmond Va
Monday June 2nd 1862

Dear Mother

Ipresume this letter will find you most anxiously expecting a letter...