United States History Student Edition

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Farm Life in the North William Heyser was a shopkeeper and farmer in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He kept a diary that detailed what life was like in this southern Pennsylvania town that was threatened by the Confederate army.

Farm Life in the South LeRoy Wiley Gresham was a 17-year-old who kept a diary, recording what life was like in Macon, Georgia. Gresham described his feelings when he feared that Sherman’s army would invade Macon. PRIMARY SOURCE: DIARY “ Monday, November 21, 1864

PRIMARY SOURCE: DIARY “ October 10, 1862

The Rebels are in Mercersburg, and on the way to Chambersburg from St. Thomas. This evening they entered our town, demanding its surrender. They immediately took possession of the bank and telegraph office. Also requisitioned provisions, clothing, etc. as to their needs. They will be busy stripping our stores and gathering up horses. November 11, 1862 We all feel those at Washington are doing little to protect its citizens. Too much in activity by our military leaders. They seem to not know what to do. The removal of Gen. McClelland of the Army of the Potomac creates some despair. ” — from Franklin County: Diary of William Heyser (1862–1863) EXAMINE THE SOURCE Analyzing Points of View Describe how Heyser feels about the leadership in Washington based on the tone in his diary.

The Yankees are marching on and they seem to aim towards the coast. Gov. Brown has offered pardon to the penitentiary convicts if they would volunteer for the war and 150 accepting it, they were organized, armed, & equipped on the spot. Saturday December 31st, 1864 This is the last day of 1864. A year of such sorrow as the world has rarely ever seen before and the new year dawns on a grief stricken gloomy country. O! the homes that have been devastated and the firesides that have been ruined! We began the summer bright and hopeful and end the year sorrowing for the men who have been lost who can never be recovered. ” — from the diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1864 penitentiary prison EXAMINE THE SOURCE Analyzing List adjectives that might describe Gresham’s feelings about the war from November to December, 1864.

PHOTO: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division [LC-DIG-ppmsca-33535]; TEXT: (1)Heyser, William. Franklin County: Diary of William Heyser (1862-1863). Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, University of Virginia Library. https://valley.lib.virginia.edu/papers/FD1004; (2)Gresham, LeRoy Wiley. Diaries, Jan. 1, 1864-Jan. 8, 1865, in Lewis H. Machen Family Papers: Diaries and Diary Transcriptions, 1860-1865. Library of Congress [LCN_mss86777, Box 29]

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