Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[music]
Margaret (voiceover): July 15, 1862
Dear Beloved Husband, Many things have happened here in Harpers Ferry since you joined with Jackson's brigade last year
After you all headed south, many of the families in town started leaving, following the armory machinery to Richmond or fleeing to find other
jobs elsewhere. The whole place looks very deserted and some of the buildings have been torn down for firewood.
[music]
Many soldiers have come and gone. Some camped around the town. Some stayed in the abandoned homes of our neighbors.
Right now, thousands of Union soldiers are in the area. I hear them constantly practicing and marching with their guns.
Mrs. Greene thinks they are guarding the railroad. I think she may be right because the trains do not run as they often used to.
And many goods that were in the stores before the war now cannot be bought. I planned on buying new hoop skirts for myself and Emily
but none have been brought in by train for months.
Margaret: Hi, do you have any hoop skirts for sale?
Henry: Everything in Harpers Ferry has become so scarce and the prices on goods have become quite high.
Margaret (voiceover): I have taking to hemming our nice skirts so they will not drag in the streets as I also do not know when we will get our nice
fabrics again.
Elijah: Father, can we continue reading Mother's letter now?
Henry: Why yes Son!
The money you left for us is almost gone, my dear, but do not worry for us. I have taken on some odd jobs.
[music]
Margaret (voiceover): I am willing to cook meals for the soldiers and clean their clothes. I know you probably would not approve but we must
make ends meet in these times.
[music]
Emily Rose: Can you believe what happened today?
Hannah: No? What happened?
Emily Rose: I had to carry the water bucket... [knock on the door]
Margaret: Who could that be?
[music]
Margaret (voiceover): Sometimes I worry that I should not trust these soldiers but so far all I have met have been very polite. Many are young
boys that remind me of Elijah. I think that their mothers must be worrying over them just as I worry for him and for you.
[music]
Margaret (voiceover): Many of these men here are from New York and are very bright. Whenever they come to the house to pay for a meal, they
spend time schooling Jane and Hannah.
[music]
Henry: The girls are not frightened by them, for these young men smile often, and I think they remind the girls of you.
Henry: Son, now that we have stopped again, let us finish your Mother's letter.
[clears throat]
Henry: The weather has been very dry and dusty here, for it has not rained for a month.
Margaret (voiceover): Last week, at about dusk, we were quite settled during supper. A contraband woman came knocking at our door.
She told us she knocked on our door because she had seen the Union soldiers leaving our house and thought that they might be staying
here. She wanted them to protect her and take her in. She had heard that her master could not find her or take her back to the plantation if she
ran for the Union camps. I let her tell her story, gave her some bread, and sent her for the camps on the hill. This was my first encounter with a
runaway. I had heard they were coming into town and that some of the younger soldiers had flocked around to see them and ask them all
sorts of questions.
Henry: My dear, I hope you and Elijah are safe and in good health. I long to see you every day.
Margaret (voiceover): Please return to me in one piece. Until we are in each other’s arms again, you will be in my thoughts.
With love, your beloved wife, Margaret
[sounds of distant cannon fire]
Margaret (voiceover): September 15, 1862
My dearest Henry, as I hear the sounds of battle all around, I wonder if you and Elijah are amongst the men surrounding the town.
[sounds of battle]
Margaret: Bring a few men in here! We can help some more.
Margaret: Emily Rose, go fetch some water for that man. He has dust all over his face.
Elijah: Emily.. Ma... It's me, Elijah.
Please mend my leg.
[coughs]
I'll tell you what I saw of this war.
Margaret: Come in here!
Girl (voiceover): While her husband remained at war, Margaret was finally reunited with her son, Elijah.
Unfortunately he was shot in the knee and had his leg amputated.
Emily Rose did not go to school but stayed home to help Margaret.
Can you imagine living with war right at your doorstep?
[music]