A while ago I came across an interesting article in the Middlesex Journal, July 27, 1861. It talks about the effect of recruiting in South Reading, now Wakefield, MA. Even that early in the war. The opening sentence paints a very sad picture. "So many young men have left town for the Camp and the battle-field, that a feeling of lonesomness comes over those who remain at home." Most of the recruits, from this town, at the battle-field" would have been in the 5th Regiment, Company "B". Those at the "Camp" where the Sixteenth Regiment Company "E" at Camp Cameron in Cambridge.
A war of this magnitude pulls a huge percentage of young men away from home at the same time. This makes a very big impact on the community, families, schools, workplaces etc. When you add this to the fact that companies would be recruited locally, you had a situation in which one very bad day at the battle field could mean that a large percentage of families could learn that their sons would never be coming home in the same edition of the local paper or that days mail.
The article goes on to talk about the importance of the Post Office as a gathering place for those waiting for word from their loved ones but still reflected the lessened population of the town as a whole. "The Post Office is not now thronged as it used to be, though probably the mails are as formerly. There is a time, however, when a deep interest is manifested in the contents of the mails, as was the case on Monday afternoon and some days subsequently. The letters were opened with trembling and the papers eagerly read ...The news of Monday P. M. , cast a deep gloom over the village, and although the reports the next morning
learned the probability of the fall of friends in battle from this vicinity, there was dreadful uncertainty in the matter, which caused the greatest anxiety for days." It was learned that several of the casualties came from the town.
This was the First Battle of Bull Run. Parents, wives, children, friends and other loved ones would repeat this process for another four years.
Dan Sullivan
A war of this magnitude pulls a huge percentage of young men away from home at the same time. This makes a very big impact on the community, families, schools, workplaces etc. When you add this to the fact that companies would be recruited locally, you had a situation in which one very bad day at the battle field could mean that a large percentage of families could learn that their sons would never be coming home in the same edition of the local paper or that days mail.
The article goes on to talk about the importance of the Post Office as a gathering place for those waiting for word from their loved ones but still reflected the lessened population of the town as a whole. "The Post Office is not now thronged as it used to be, though probably the mails are as formerly. There is a time, however, when a deep interest is manifested in the contents of the mails, as was the case on Monday afternoon and some days subsequently. The letters were opened with trembling and the papers eagerly read ...The news of Monday P. M. , cast a deep gloom over the village, and although the reports the next morning
learned the probability of the fall of friends in battle from this vicinity, there was dreadful uncertainty in the matter, which caused the greatest anxiety for days." It was learned that several of the casualties came from the town.
This was the First Battle of Bull Run. Parents, wives, children, friends and other loved ones would repeat this process for another four years.
Dan Sullivan
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