American Centuries

Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association

American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > A Soldier’s Personal View of the Civil War

A Soldier’s Personal View of the Civil War

Details

Author
Susan Enko
Topic/Subject Area
Military, Wars, Battles
Historical Era
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877
Grade Level
Elementary (K–5), Middle School (6–8)
Creation Date
2005
Last Revision Date
2024

Related items

About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

The students will view a painting of a soldier at war dreaming of home. After discussion of the painting they will read and compare two letters of a Civil War soldier to his fiancee back home. They will view patriotic covers (envelopes), discuss their purpose, and develop their own patriotic envelope which would have been appropriate for the Civil War era. Through these activities the students will develop an understanding of the soldier’s personal perspective of war and how families supported their soldiers. Students will understand that we can learn a great deal about past events through the writings and artwork created by the people living during these events.

Materials & Resources

Collection Items

Teaching Plan

  1. The students will be engaged in a discussion of soldiers in camp away from family and friends and how they may have spent their free time. They will view and discuss the painting, “A Soldier’s Dream”. They will be asked: What is happening in the painting? How realistic do you think the scene is? Why do you think the artist painted this view of the war? How might people at home feel when they saw this picture of a campsite?
  2. The students will read the February 1862 letter to Ella Melendy, answer a set of questions about the letter, and develop questions they could have asked the soldier. The questions are as follows: Who wrote the letter? Where was he? Why was he there? When was the letter written? What was the writer’s mood? To whom was the person writing? What is the relationship of the writer to the person receiving the letter? What information does the person give about the war? Write two questions you might ask the person who wrote this letter.
  3. The students will discuss their thoughts about the soldier and how Ella might respond to this letter.
  4. The students will read the letter written to Ella Melendy in May 1862, and answer given questions to lead them in comparing this letter to the first one. Where was the writer? When was this letter written? What was the writer’s mood? What has changed since he wrote the first letter? What kind of information about the war does he give in this letter? What is his job? How does he feel about the war?
  5. The students will discuss the similarities and differences between the two letters.
  6. POST ACTIVITY The students will review the key issues of the Civil War: ending slavery and preserving the Union and how people in the North and South felt about those issues. The students will be given some background information about patriotic covers. The students will view the patriotic covers and discuss these pieces of artwork. What is shown in the pictures? Do they notice anything the covers have in common? How would soldiers feel receiving letters in these envelopes? Why would the soldiers’ families and friends want to use these covers? The students will brainstorm some images they might include in their own design.
  7. The students will design their own patriotic covers.