Rosemary Youngs - The Civil War Anniversary Quilts: 150 Blocks to Commemorate 150 Years

The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, and it touched the life of almost every person living in the United States during that time. More than 600,000 lives were lost, and the battles led to the economic destruction of homes, farms and industries.

Civil War diaries and letters described a womans or a soldiers personal experiences in daily life activities, as well as the activities during the Civil War. Letters and diaries were written from home, the battlefields, camps, hospitals and even prisons. The letters and the diaries provided a firsthand account of the experiences during the Civil War.

As you work on the quilt blocks in this book, whether you complete a small project or make the entire quilt, you will learn about the different effects the Civil War had on those living during that era. The diaries and letters are in the soldiers and womens own words, with simple grammar and spelling errors sometimes corrected.

William was twenty years old when he left with his brother to serve in the Seventy-ninth Regiment of the Indiana Volunteer Infantry. His diary is not only a wonderful legacy for his family but a historical document of the Indiana Seventy-ninth Regiment. His Civil War diary and photograph are used with permission from Jeffrey S. La Favre and Mike La Favregreat-great-grandsons of William H. Huntzinger.

Rutherford joined the Twenty-third Regiment of Ohio and kept his diary while on the battlefields during the Civil War. In 1877, he became the nineteenth president of the United States of America. His Civil War diary and photograph are used with permission from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. Thank you to Nan Card, Curator of Manuscripts.

Emily was teaching in Wisconsin when she left with her sister to work as a nurse in the hospital in Memphis. Her diary reflects the hardships, the soldiers care and the conditions of the hospitals during the Civil War. Permission to use her diaries was given by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Thank you to Michael Edmunds for his help.

Sarah Lois Wadley, a sixteen-year-old, wrote her diary about attending social gatherings, sewing clothing for the soldiers and the activities of her brother and father who both worked for the Confederate Army. Diary entries are used with permission from the Manuscripts Department, Wilson Library, Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Southern Historical Collection. Photographs are used with permission from Beverly Mickle, Sarahs fathers great-great-granddaughter.

William enlisted with the Fifth Virginia Regiment on April 18, 1861, and began writing letters home to Amanda Catherine Armentrout, who later became his wife. The William Francis Brand letters and photograph are used with permission from the Special Collections, University of Virginia Library. Thank you to Edward Gaynor for his help.