Toward a More Perfect Union is an extraordinary book of husband-and-wife letters written during the Civil War, selected from the Frederic E. Lockley Collection at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Appearing here are 162 letters exchanged between Frederic Lockley and his wife Elizabeth, chosen from 405 letters preserved in the collection.
The survival of such two-way exchanges is rare. Few soldiers in the field had the opportunity to save letters from home. The Lockleys’ selected letters narrate a chronological three-year story, from 1862 to 1865. When Frederic enlisted at thirty-seven, he and Elizabeth promised each other they would write twice a week and, for the most part, they did. These are not average letters. A published author, Frederic was remarkably insightful and articulate and Elizabeth was literate and expressive as well.
Although primarily a love story set during the Civil War, Toward a More Perfect Union also offers ample military material, some not well represented elsewhere in Civil War literature. Frederic wrote of life in garrison duty in defense of Washington, manning the siege lines at Petersburg, and guarding Union parolees and Confederate prisoners of war. But his letters also show strong ties to home and his need for those ties in order to maintain his own mental and emotional equilibrium in the face of the horrors of war.
Elizabeth’s letters reflect an urban setting and the perspective of a young, recently married woman who spent much of her time parenting three young children from Frederic’s first marriage. In fact, children and parenting assume a theme in Fred and Lizzie’s correspondence almost as constant and consequential as the war itself.
Providing background and framework for these exceptional letters, editor Charles E. Rankin’s introduction and contextualization create a continuous narrative that allows readers to follow these correspondents through a time critical to their marriage and to our nation’s history.
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Prologue
1. The Setting
2. Days of Roman Heroism, August–September 1862
3. It’s All for Our Country, September–November 1862
4. Not Exactly a Bed of Roses, December 1862
5. We Must Ride the Tempest, January–May 1863
6. Your Letters Are My Meat and Drink, May–June 1863
7. Would You Fancy the Surprise? Mid-June–Mid-July 1863
8. I Am at My Old Lunes, July–September 1863
9. Hope Is the Anchor of the Soul, October 1863
10. A Rather Scandalous Affair, November 1863–January 1, 1864
11. This Morning That Boy Was Buried, January–March 1864
12. I Left Josey Standing on the Stoop, March–April 1864
13. Sergeant Major! We Have Got Our Orders! May–June 1864
14. Soldiering in Its Roughest, Sternest Form, June–July 1864
15. An Epoch of Endurance, Mid-July–Mid-August 1864
16. No Sundays in the Army, August–September 1864
17. Fighting Is Almost Incessant, September–October 1864
18. Which Ticket Are You Going to Vote? October–November 1864
19. Johnnies Deserting by Wholesale, December 1864–January 1865
20. The Fighting Is Nearly Over, February–March 1865
21. The Little Mischief, March–April 1865
22. A Soul Struggling to Be Free, April–May 1865
23. I Share with You in This Impatience, Early to Mid-May 1865
24. My Last Letter!! Late May–June 1865
Epilogue
Appendix 1. Frederic’s Letter to Elizabeth, January 11, 1863
Appendix 2. Frederic’s Letter to Elizabeth, August 7, 1864
Appendix 3. Timeline of Key Events
Notes
Bibliography
Index
