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Author's Statement

This piece is the result of a major housecleaning. Some years ago the Barker "family home" was going on the market. A collection of letters that had been stored in the attic for generations came into my hands. When I moved back to Goshen, I bought the home belonging to the late and last, Fred Lucas.

It was here the other side of the collection was found.

excerpt from Fred and Jennie:

I, Frederick A. Lucas, am just one of many who felt the need to serve, and feel I did nothing more than my duty as I saw it at the time. Let me state that I did not serve to impress the young countrywoman to whom I wrote throughout the war and even later. Our relationship becomes a story all in itself. One that I would much rather tell than the war stories, but they are intertwined so both ought to be told or none. Let me state here, before I ramble further, that I am indeed proud of my record and service in the Army and have no misgivings having served and survived. I made some wonderful friends, lost some, learned much about the world beyond Goshen, and much about what I wish to do and be. Like thousands of others I will carry permanent reminders of the less "good times" with me for the rest of my life.

What an adventure this war thing seemed to be in the early months. Here I was just twenty-one years old marching into Camp Dutton with so many others from the Litchfield Hills. We were going to learn the arts of soldiering so we could save the Union. All at once this attractive young woman hands me a testament, saying she wishes me well.

We drilled at camp in Litchfield for a spell of three weeks. It was while training in Camp Dutton that I was made corporal.

Due to the camp's proximity to town it was frequently almost over-run by peddlers, women, and curious visitors of all sorts. Colonel Elisha Kellogg, having been sent from McClellan's Army to drill the new troops, was quoted to say: "If there were nine hundred men in the camp, there were certainly nine thousand women most of the time."

My Dear Mother,

4 P.M. Oct 20th 1864

I received your kind letter this afternoon. It found me in rather a hard fix for one who never knew by experience the suffering of wounded men. But you must not worry concerning me, Dear Mother. ... I have a serious wound but my surgeon tells me it is not fatal nor will I lose my leg if it does well. It is a hole about the size of a man's finger through my thigh about 3 inches below the groin. The missile went clean through coming out behind but I am determined to keep up good spirits and make the best of everything.

Fred Lucas wrote to his mother while serving with the 2nd CT Vol. Heavy Artillery. He would serve courageously, forever doing his duty, until the Muster Out in August of '65. Herein are 186 very descriptive letters spanning the war years of '62 through '65. He recounts the good and bad times, the marches, battles, and hospitalization that he experienced in his efforts to save the union as he sensed was his duty.

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