Letters/Journals/Diaries (15 points)

Author: / Benjamin Farinholt
Date: / July 1st, 1863
Place of Origin: / Chambersburg, PA
An explanation of the subject/contents of the document: / Benjamin is describing the conditions near Chambersburg and the upcoming action that’s going to happen in the North.
*Analysis: / I found this article to be very interesting because of all the specifics Farinholt put into it. For example, he talked about the prices at which the Confederate soldiers had to pay in order to buy goods from the people in Chambersburg. It was also interesting to know that they (their division) were well-fed because usually soldiers are barely surviving on rations. There was, of course, some bias towards the Union army (“We are you may say in the very heart of Yankeedom…”). However, I was surprised because he seemed to find the people of Chambersburg to be hospitable. This could be due to the fact that if they didn’t do what the soldiers wanted they would be shot. But even this is debatable because Farinholt specifically mentions that they could not burn any property without paying for it first, which shows that the South was generally pretty fair in their treatment of the townspeople. This coincidently was the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, but he doesn’t mention anything about it so I would want to ask if his division was a backup unit or if he was just stationed near Chambersburg in case a battle were to break out there.
Citation: / "Franklin County: Benjamin L. Farinholt to Lelia Farinholt, July 1, 1863." The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War. Web. 17 Dec. 2010. <http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/papers/F4048>.

Newspaper Articles (15 points)

Author: / The Valley Spirit (name of newspaper)
Date: / July 8th, 1863
Title: / The Battle of Gettysburg
Place of Origin: / Gettysburg
Brief Summary: / The first days of the Battle of Gettysburg; the editors praise the Union for redeeming itself after Chancellorsville.
*Analysis: / This article seemed typical of what a Northern newspaper would say during the time period. You could obviously tell that they were biased because they called their victory “glorious” and called the South the “defiant rebel horde” that “flaunted their banners so insultingly in our faces…” In addition, they talked about how they had to fight the beginning of the battle with only two corps and only lost a mile which they got back by nightfall. At that point, the rest of the army showed up and they managed to push the enemy all the way back into a river (which is where the article stops). According to the Valley Spirit, it seemed like the North was doing well to be holding a battlefield with only a fraction of their men. It does, however mention the disasters of Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg, which were two big battles that the North lost. Gettysburg was, of course, one of the major turning points in the war and from there the South began a big retreat. I would like to know how the South viewed all three of these battles, especially Gettysburg, because I would want to see if they would be as biased as this article.
Citation: / O'clock, By Eight. "Valley of the Shadow: Civil War-Era Newspapers." The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War. Web. 17 Dec. 2010. <http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/news/vs1863/pa.fr.vs.1863.07.08.xml#02>.

Image (15 points)

Author/Artist/Photographer / None mentioned.
Date: / No Date.
Title: / Battle at Gettysburg
A Copy (digital or hard copy) of the image /
Description of the Image: / This image portrays one of many interpretations of the Battle of Gettysburg, this specific one showing a division rushing two cannons.
*Analysis: / The first thing that popped out at me was the number of people in this portrait. We hear numbers of deaths and soldiers in battles all the time, but actually seeing even part of that number in a picture or real life is a completely different story. The dominant theme is the two cannons in the foreground. They are firing on the opposite side of the battlefield. However, I then noticed a bunch of soldiers with a person on horseback (most likely a high ranking officer) leading a charge onto the cannons. Most likely, they were trying to take over the position to then try to use them for their advantage. It looks like there is a Union flag on the right side of the picture so all the soldiers rushing in from the side are the North. This picture makes it apparent to me how bloody the Battle of Gettysburg was because of all the smoke from the gunfire and the number of people portrayed. I would like to know, however, which part of the battle this was painted of (meaning the original rush or the final push to make the Confederates retreat back).
Citation: / Battle of Gettysburg. Photograph. U. S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks. The Valley of the Shadow. Web. 22 Dec. 2010. <http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/VoS/Images/get30p1482.html?q=db:images%20AND%20image_name:get30p1482.GIF>.

Song Lyric Template (15 points)

Author: / Unknown
Date: / Unknown (circa 1863-1865)
Title: / O I’m a Good Old Rebel
Place of Origin: / The Confederacy
*Analysis: / I found this to be a good song because it represents what some people in the South thought after the war. We have plenty of Northern influence because we won it, but there isn’t too much in the way of Confederate opinion. Basically, the song is about how much people hate the Union for winning. For example, one of the verses sings:
“Three hundred thousand yankees
Is stiff in Southern dust;
We GOT three hundred thousand
Before they conquered us;
They died of Southern fever
And Southern steel and shot,
I wish they was three million
Instead of what we got.”
These specific lines talk about how the South killed three-hundred thousand Northerners, whether it was by disease or guns. However, they wished that it were three million that they killed. This kind of song would evoke pride and disappointment from Southerners because it states their beliefs but also acknowledges that they lost. On the other hand, it would evoke anger from Northerners because they are metaphorically spitting on the Union flag and government. Not surprisingly, they end the song with the fact that even though the war was lost; they still aren’t going to give the opposing side any love or compassion. My question would be why they couldn’t show a little more understanding for the whole situation. I mean, they say they hate the Constitution and the government, but they were the ones who helped create it in the first place.
Citation: / "O I'm a Good Old Rebel." Public Domain Music. Web. 17 Dec. 2010. <http://www.pdmusic.org/civilwar/cws17.txt>.

By: Krystian Michallik