June 28th, 1863, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Dear John,

It has been four years since we last spoke. Ever since father died and you moved down south to Tennessee while mother and  I  stayed up in Kentucky, our relations have soured.  We were struggling to get by without you, we had to sell our house for a small little shed up in the hills. As soon as the War started,  I  saw what they paid their soldiers, double of what I  make in a good week. Carpenters just ain’t so popular right now.  I  hope you found a good job and a nice home down in Lebanon, just hope you didn’t join the army. The army’s taken me around the whole country, in fact, I’m writing this letter from up  in Pennsylvania. We’re still recovering from The Battle Of Antietam. Our troupe took heavy casualties, in fact,  I  think we had the most deaths of any section down in Maryland. My closest friend, Aurthur Morgan, died up here.  I  saw it happen. He was crouching behind a broken wagon full of hay. He got orders to fall back and started running towards us. Only five seconds passed when a bullet went straight through his skull and flew out the other end. You could see the life drain from his face, and then he kind of just collapsed, like he tripped and couldn’t get up. We had to retreat up to Pennsylvania. For some reason, we have stopped going up north and started setting up defenses. Word around camp is that the South is marching up here for a full scale invasion, but we ain’t sure. Only the higher-ups know what’s actually going on and Lieutenant Fredrick Daniels ain’t telling us why we’re here, but it’s got to be important. There’s got to be at least one hundred thousand men up here, just waiting for our own death. 

In the end,  I  just hope that America will be united again.  I  may have opposed  slavery in the past for it went against God’s will.  It’s immoral to force someone that has not sinned into cruel punishment. Who are we even fighting for at this point? Those rich folk up north that only want more money? They would probably leave their own child to die if it meant one hundred dollars. While they stay high up in their castles, safe from any outside threat, the real, honest folk are experiencing the consequences of their wrong doings. This war might change the maps of the United States. It will show one big country, all states united, but all it’ll do is divide the people of America even more than they already are. This war can change laws, but it sure as hell can’t change people.

Your Brother,

Charles