Collection Scope and Content Note

The Gail and Stephen Rudin collection of Civil War letters contains letters from Dr. William Harrison Githens: twenty-three letters to his wife, Sarah P. Robbins, one letter to his daughter Louise, two letters to an unnamed daughter, and one letter to his granddaughter Sarah. Dr. Githens mentions studying medicine in Philadelphia, various battles and the conditions for the soldiers, descriptions of battle wounds, church services, concerns about his family and other matters relating to "this cruel war" from Hamburg and Chattanooga, Tenn.; Philadelphia, Penn.; and near Rossville, near Marietta, near the Chattahoochee River, near Atlanta, in Atlanta, Ga.; Holly Springs, N.C.; Washington, D.C.; and Hamilton and Carthage, Ill. There is also an obituary of Dr. Githens from the Carthage [Illinois] Republican, July 13, 1904. Also included are 119 letters and other pieces from Civil War soldiers, officers, a wife in a camp, a musician in a band, a chaplain, a nurse, and at least one civilian to relatives, wives, friends, officers, pastor, and sweethearts re preparations for war, homesickness, battles, President Lincoln reviewing the troops, executions, and the surrender of General Lee. The writers of these letters were from much of the United States: Alabama; Arkansas; Washington, D.C.; Delaware; Georgia; Illinois; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maryland; Mississippi; Missouri; New York; North Carolina; Ohio; Tennessee; Texas; and Virginia.