Author Spotlight, Wayne H. Bowen

By: Sarah Mason, Sales Intern

Wayne H. Bowen, author of Spain and theAmerican Civil War, is our latest author spotlight! He took some time to answer a few questions about his book, interests, and research.

What first got you interested in studying Spain? What about teaching?

Growing up near Spain's colonial mission of La Purisima, near my hometown of Lompoc, California, I was intrigued by artifacts--helmets worn by Spanish soldiers, for example--and learned bits and pieces of Spanish history.  When I started graduate school at Northwestern, I initially planned to study German history, but quickly decided that Spain had better food, an easier language, and fewer historians as my potential competitors.  I've never regretted making the switch, especially when I am in in Madrid.

As far as teaching, I blame it on Dr. Michael Robinson, a professor of Korean history I had as an undergraduate at the University of Southern California.  During my sophomore year, I was visiting him in his office, and he remarked: "You are pretty good at this history thing.  Have you thought about becoming a professor?  It's a great life--around young people all the time, summers off, and trips overseas if you don't study the United States."  He convinced me immediately, and from then until now being a college professor was my dream.

Which of your books/essays did you enjoy researching for the most?

My first book, Spaniards and Nazi Germany: Collaboration in the NewOrder, which began as my dissertation, was my first academic passion.  Thanks to financial support from the ITT Corporation, as well as from Northwestern University, I was able to spend nine months in Madrid doing nothing but combing through archives, conducting oral history interviews, and reviewing newly declassified Spanish documents from the Franco Era.  It would be hard to re-create the luxury of that time, focus, and single-mindedness now. However, I have enjoyed all of my subsequent projects, and consider myself very blessed to be in a profession where I am paid to speak, read, write and research in fields--modern Spanish and Mediterranean history--that are an endless source of rediscovered stories.
 
What is your favorite city in Spain and why?

Madrid, without question.  Not only is it the political, cultural and economic capital, it is the location for nearly all the important archives and libraries, at least those with a national focus.  Having conducted research there for a combined total of almost two years, starting as far back as 1993, I can arrive there on one day, and be already immersed in the archives on the next.  In fairness, however, I have yet to make it to Barcelona.  Three untimely rail strikes prevented me from making the trip when I had the time and money, as did poverty during my first few visits to Spain.

What was your favorite book in high school?

I read a lot of science fiction, especially Robert Heinlein, but also the novels of Ayn Rand, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Tom Clancy.  On my shelf was William Shirer's mammoth Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, but if I had a time machine I would go back and warn my teenage self to be pretty dubious of that particular volume's historical perspective.

What are your hobbies/interests outside of your profession?

I am in my twenty-first year of service in the Army Reserve, where I am a lieutenant colonel and battalion commander.  It's been a wonderful balance to my university career, reminding me of the cost of the liberty we all enjoy.  A tour in Iraq, while difficult in many ways, also broadened my professional interests, resulting in two books on the region and a secondary teaching field. When I am not in uniform, I enjoy spending time with wife (Kendra) and two boys (Sam, 6, and Nathan, 2), building blanket forts, playing in the park, or pretending to be dinosaurs, monsters and wild animals.

If you could read a book for the first time again, which one would it be?

The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  OK, it's actually three books, but one amazing story arc. Tolkien's vision is timeless, and yet rooted firmly in his own time.  Many fantasy writers create the framework of another world, but his was more complete, more spectacular, more dramatic, and yet more authentic, than any others.

Shades of Blue and Gray, Part III

by Pamela Chase Hain and Robert C. Plumb

This is the third installment in a series of posts about the Civil War experience from the perspective of two soldiers, George McClelland from the Union and Thomas Wragg from the Confederacy. Click here to read Part I and Part II.

What were their living conditions?

Blue - George McClelland

Much of George McClelland’s time while serving with the 155th Pennsylvania was spent on the march. Consequently, living conditions during those times of being mobile were difficult and, at times, unhealthy. Tents provided the shelter when available and sleep was taken on the bare ground with a blanket for cover. “[A]ll we want are tents of some kind to protect us from the weather.” (September 30, 1862)

“It commenced raining and has rained ever since. No shelter and it is enough to kill every man in the Regiment … Friday night it rained all night and I lay in it ‘til morning, soaking wet and a cold wind blowing.” (October 14, 1862)

The situation changed significantly when the Army of the Potomac went into winter encampment. “My present residence is composed of logs built up about four feet from the ground, two shelter tents on top. It is 11 feet long in the inside and six feet wide. Then in one end there is a three-cornered fireplace, while a bunk in the other end …. The winter is upon us. It is cold, bitter cold (that is outside.) It’s pretty comfortable where I’m sitting now.” (December 19, 1863)

When Grant took command as general in chief, snug, permanent winter encampments became a thing of the past. The Army of the Potomac was kept on the move and George McClelland was feeling the effects of temporary shelter as the weather turned cold. “We are now turned out of house and home in the dead of winter (and real winter it is), compelled to build huts again in our new position near Hatcher’s Run. My fingers are stiff with cold – I sigh in vain for my cozy little hut with the alcove that I shall see no more forever.” (February 15, 1865)

Gray - Thomas Wragg

During Thomas Wragg 's first summer in the Confederate Infantry, sleeping outside would not have been too unbearable. The northern Virginia climate in June through August would have been warm enough for a single blanket at night. As the weather turned colder, Wragg began to ask his family for an extra blanket, as the Confederate Army did not provide one. By 26 December 1861, however, he complained that the weather was turning cold and their thin tents left them very uncomfortable "although most of us have fireplaces built out of sod." At the time, it had snowed only a little, but he was expecting more. He told his father that the regiment had spent a little more than a week preparing to go into winter quarters by cutting down trees to build six "houses," or as he added, "in other words stables" as they only had a slant roof and no flooring. Each company would have six houses for 12 men each. Wragg feared that with so many men crowded together there would be a great deal of sickness. As it turned out, he was right, and he himself was a victim--not of upper respiratory infection but of dysentery. It landed Wragg in a hospital in Richmond in March, 1862. He had already been sick since December and would be granted a leave of absence until May. Again in November and December 1862 he was reported to be "absent, sick".

Instead of returning to the 8th Georgia Regiment in December, he joined the Confederate Navy--the Savannah Squadron. Since his home was Savannah, it is possible he lived at home during his training in ordnance and gunnery on the ironclad ship, the CSS Georgia. It was common practice for the men and officers assigned to ironclads to sleep outside the ship. An ironclad in the summer in the South would have been like an oven, and extremely unbearable at night.

Today in History

some thoughts on today in history by Ned Stuckey-French, author of The American Essay in the American Century

Today is the 125th anniversary of the birth of the great American naturalist and writer Aldo Leopold who wrote, "Conservation is getting nowhere because it is incompatible with our Abrahamic concept of land. We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”

Today in History

some thoughts on today in history by Ned Stuckey-French, author of The American Essay in the American Century

Today is the 138th (!) birthday of the great American novelist, short story writer and essayist Willa Cather. Here is the opening of A Lost Lady (1923): "Thirty or forty years ago, in one of those grey towns along the Burlington railroad, which are so much greyer today than they were then, there was a house well known from Omaha to Denver for its hospitality and for a certain charm of atmosphere. Well known, that is to say, to the railroad aristocracy of the time; men who had to do with the railroad itself, or with one of the “land companies” which were its by-products. In those days it was enough to say of a man that he was “connected with the Burlington.” There were the directors, the general managers, vice-presidents, superintendents, who names we all knew; and their younger brothers were auditors, freight agents, departmental assistants. Everyone “connected” with the Road, even the large cattle- and grain-shippers, had annual passes; they and their families rode about over the line a great deal. There were then two distinct social strata in the prairie States; the homesteaders and hand-workers who were there to make a living, and the bankers and gentlemen ranchers who came from the Atlantic seaboard to invest money and to “develop our great West,” as they used to tell us."

I love the ominousness of "greyer," the way the word begins to hint at decline and at a critique of American exceptionalism; the list of titles and "connectedness" that reminds us of the incorporation of America during the last half of the 19th century; the mixed and souring nostalgia for the railroad without mentioning explicitly that the Road is being replaced by the automobile and Fordism; the ironizing quotation marks and veiled dig at a nepotism that undercuts the meritocratic American Dream; and finally, especially, the subtle shift to a first-person plural in which that disembodied narrative voice is at least partially embodied and placed in an "us" that is talked to and at by that aforementioned ruling class of "connected" corporate managers and land speculators.

The photo is of Cather and her college sweetheart/friend Louis Pound, who would become a noted folklorist and the first woman president of the Modern Language Association.

 

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Before FDR went to Congress to ask for a Declaration of War and brand Dec. 7 "a day which will live in infamy," Eleanor published her daily column: "WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 8, 1941 - I was going out in the hall to say goodbye to our cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Adams, and their children, after luncheon, and, as I stepped out of my room, I knew something had happened. All the secretaries were there, two telephones were in use, the senior military aides were on their way with messages. I said nothing because the words I heard over the telephone were quite sufficient to tell me that, finally, the blow had fallen, and we had been attacked.

Attacked in the Philippines, in Hawaii, and on the ocean between San Francisco and Hawaii. Our people had been killed not suspecting there was an enemy, who attacked in the usual ruthless way which Hitler has prepared us to suspect.

Because our nation has lived up to the rules of civilization, it will probably take us a few days to catch up with our enemy, but no one in this country will doubt the ultimate outcome. None of us can help but regret the choice which Japan has made, but having made it, she has taken on a coalition of enemies she must underestimate unless she believes we have sadly deteriorated since our first ships sailed into her harbor.

The clouds of uncertainty and anxiety have been hanging over us for a long time. Now we know where we are. The work for those who are at home seems to be obvious. First, to do our own job, whatever it is, as well as we can possibly do it. Second, to add to it everything we can do in the way of civilian defense. Now, at last, every community, must go to work to build up protection from attack.

We must build up the best possible community services, so that all of our people may feel secure because they know we are standing together and that whatever problems have to be met will be met by the community and not one lone individual. There is no weakness and insecurity when once this is understood."

Photo - Eleanor visits Pearl Harbor in 1943.

Author Spotlight

By: Sarah Mason, Sales Intern

The Press's December spotlight is author Nancy McCabe, author of Crossing the Blue Willow Bridge: A Journey to My Daughter's Birthplace in China.

What first got you interested in teaching?

I never really set out to be a teacher. I always wanted to be a writer. But I got a teaching assistantship to support myself through my MFA, and I realized what a privilege it is to be able to make a living just sharing what I love with others--words, images, sentences, stories, writing, literature. While many writers feel that teaching and grading papers drains away their energy for writing, when I was young and for many years teaching four sections of freshman composition a semester, I never felt that way; for me, teaching and writing seemed to feed each other. Teaching mostly creative writing and journalism these days, I still find there to be a symbiotic relationship between teaching and writing and gain a lot of inspiration from my students. But it also seems like there is never enough time to follow up on all of the writing ideas and book recommendations and intriguing conversations that arise from my work with students.

What is your favorite thing about China? Any advice for new travelers to China?

I love seeing China through my daughter’s eyes. She feels so comfortable and happy there and is always willing to give other people the benefit of the doubt, which is an important lesson in the fascinating and exasperating attempt to bridge the gap between two vastly different cultures and languages.

Any advice for new travelers?

The differences in Chinese languages and English, particularly the way we use tone, mean that we even express emotions differently so there is so much potential for misunderstanding. Sometimes Americans translate differences in the ways we use tone as hostility. For instance, many adoptive parents travel to their children's orphanages and are sure that their requests are being ignored or turned down when in fact they are often not being understood. Last summer, we returned to my daughter’s orphanage for a second time, and I had a very specific request. I kept getting answers that sounded like “no,” but I kept rewording, pantomiming, re-enacting, whatever I could do to get the question across because I wasn’t sure that I was being understood. Sophie wanted me to give up, but I asked about 24 times in 24 different ways, and suddenly someone got it and once that happened, everyone was eager to help us. Sometimes people will seem to be saying no because they don’t understand and they’re embarrassed and want to save face, and you have to be persistent and keep your sense of humor if you want to communicate.

Do you plan to write again about the opportunities and challenges of your adoption experience?

To me, the joy of creative nonfiction is the chance to explore subjects that nag at me, about which I have questions, not pat answers or resolutions. So it's natural that, as an adoptive parent, I've found myself writing about the subject quite a bit. I've always loved learning new things, and creative nonfiction is a way to do that--to ask questions and do research and share the process and the results with readers. So I don't really consider myself an adoption writer or an adoption expert, but just someone who uses writing as a way to explore the challenges I face. My daughter is thirteen now, and I’ve got a lot of other projects in the works, and I’ve vowed not to write any more about us or adoption—but I’m working on a couple of essays about our time in China last summer. And there’s an adoption story in my family history that I’d like to write about at some point. In the end, subjects choose you more than you choose them, so who knows?

What are your hobbies/interests outside of your profession?

As a single parent with two jobs, my schedule is almost always maxed out, and my survival strategy is to not compartmentalize, but make everything a part of everything else—all that to say that there aren’t a lot of boundaries between my professional and personal life. I’m a parent and I’ve written a lot about parenting, and when I’m obsessed with something, say, fiction about time travel—I can create a course in time travel fiction. My daughter is a gymnast and I spend a lot of time at meets, so I find myself immersed in a world and a language that at first felt foreign to me, but I enjoy learning about it and imagine writing about it someday. Other hobbies and interests (all of which I have also written about) include travel, music, and dance (I was part of a tap dance group for several years.) I read voraciously—fiction, memoir, psychology, children’s and young adult literature, poetry. My daughter and I read a lot of the same books at the same time on our Kindles when we were in China last summer. I’d laugh and she’d say, “Oh, you got to THAT part” or she’d groan and I’d say, “Oh, I know, I thought so too.” It’s one of my favorite memories of our trip.

Why did you decide to write about your experiences, instead of sticking to fiction?

I started out as a fiction writer. I preferred the disguises of fiction even when what I was writing was autobiographical. So I wrote a story about a 20-year-old who honeymoons in the Lily Tomlin Shrine Room of Rosalea’s Hotel in downtown Harper, KS, and questions her ill-conceived marriage and her whole existence. I wrote another story about a woman’s terrifying experience of being awakened by an intruder shining a flashlight in her eyes. I wrote another story about a burnt out crisis counselor who has what feels like a psychic experience.

None of those stories felt like they were quite working, and eventually I realized that they made a lot more sense when I admitted that I was the 20-year-old in the Lily Tomlin Shrine Room, a place that became even more bizarre and surreal and less a seemingly strangely placed symbolic element when it was clear that it wasn’t a creation of my imagination but something that had really existed. I was the woman who had encountered the Flashlight Man, and I was the exhausted domestic abuse counselor who woke in the night at the moment a neighbor’s husband set her bed on fire. I came to understand that fiction was actually pulling me away from the stories I needed to tell. Casting those stories as fiction was like observing them through gauze; stripping that away, and addressing what had really happened, and why, restored the drama that fiction had drained away. But I still write fiction, too. It’s freeing to be able to make stuff up sometimes.

Good Books for Traveling

by Sarah Mason, Sales Intern

As the holidays approach, we are all busy planning our highly anticipated trips to visit our friends and family. During those long rides in the car, plane, bus or train, we all look for something to entertain us to avoid just looking out the window as the buildings or clouds roll by. I'll be book shopping for a few flights I have and wondered what others have enjoyed. I asked a few of the Press's affiliates what kind of books they enjoyed reading during their many travels, and here's what they recommended:

I've been particularly impressed with the beautiful The Art of the Missouri Capitol: History in Canvas, Bronze, and Stone by Bob Priddy and Jeffrey Ball.  While this might not be a convenient book to throw in an overnight bag, it will inspire readers to travel to Jefferson City to visit one of Missouri's architecture and artistic treasures. Priddy and Ball do a wonderful job of telling the story of the building's completion and Lloyd Grotjan's photographs are stunning.
--Greg Olson, author of The Ioway in Missouri

I like some light reading while traveling. On a recent weekend trip, I read the Hunger Games trilogy, which was a fabulous quick and action-packed adventure. Well-written thrillers are also a favorite; I just finished The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams and am eagerly awaiting the next Dublin Murder Squad installment.
--Jennifer Gravley, publicity manager

I'd recommend Melissa Coleman's memoir, This Life Is In Your Hands; it's a raw and moving account of growing up the child of back-to-the-landers in Maine in the 1970s. Sad and startling and redemptive, it is the best sort of memoir to my way of thinking: a personal story that illuminates our collective history. 
--E.J. Levy, author of Amazons: A Love Story

One of the books I always highly recommend to folks is River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard. It's a true adventure story about a little-known part of Roosevelt's life. Both men's and women's  book clubs in our area have read it and the book gets accolades from all. Read it when you're traveling and I guarantee that no matter how many inconveniences you experience, they pale by comparison with Roosevelt's trip down the Amazon River.
--Bob Plumb, author of Your Brother in Arms: A Union Soldier's Odyssey

I have a pretty full plate of literary and non-literary activities, so my casual reading is catch-as-catch  can.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) my wife and I travel a good deal so I have some airplane-and-motel time to catch up.   The novels of Alan Furst about spies and expats in late 30's and early World War II Europe are always fascinating.  The author has researched time and place exhaustively and it shows to great effect.  Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a marvel and a delight to read. Equally informative and well written is any book by Simon Winchester who outdoes himself in his latest effort, Atlantic.  Erik Larson's In The Garden of the Beasts is also well-worth a read.
--Lisle Rose, author of Explorer: The Life of Robert E. Byrd

Usually, around this time of year, I read Hilaire Belloc's essay, "A Remaining Christmas," a really wonderful essay with Belloc at the height of his power.  This year I am also tackling a new biography of Jacques Barzun and the new edition of Eliot's letters.
--Gerald Russello, author of The Postmodern Imagination of Russell Kirk

The new edition of Eric Voegelin's Autobiographical Reflections should be on every American's bookshelf.

--Ellis Sandoz, author of Republicanism, Regilion, and the Soul of America   

 

My addition would be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen because I enjoy Elizabeth Bennet's strong character. 

No matter if you're in to sci-fi, current events, history, psychology, or a good romantic novel, there's nothing like picking up a great book that draws you in that you just can't put down. Happy reading! And happy traveling!

Shades of Blue and Gray, Part II

By Pamela Chase Hain and Robert C. Plumb

This is the second installment in a series of posts about the Civil War experience from the perspective of two soliders, George McClelland from the Union and Thomas Wragg from the Confederacy. To read the first post, please scroll down to the September 28 posting or simply click here.

What was the soldier’s attitude toward generals and other officers?

Blue- George McClelland

The further up the chain of command that officers were, the more critical George McClelland seems to be of them. At the company level, the lowest rung of the officer command level, McClelland finds his F Company commander, Edward E. Clapp, “The noblest soul I ever met.” (July 3, 1864)

On the other hand, the officers commanding the Army of the Potomac are generally scorned by McClelland. “McClellan’s strategy is played out. Pope is not much better. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson is a match for the whole of them.” (August 1862) “Joe Hooker is in command now. Well, my opinion is that he is not the man.” (February 14, 1863) “A soldier can see a great difference or change since Meade was placed in command. Short rations – one day we marched 28 miles without bread, meat or coffee.” (July 19, 1863) “Meade was afraid of a few rifle pits and let [Lee] escape without loss …. The fact of the matter is Meade was afraid of Lee.” (July 21, 1863) “The Army has no confidence in Meade since that slip at Williamsport [following Gettysburg].” (July 31, 1863)

Early in his tenure as general in chief, Grant does not generate an unfavorable or favorable opinion from McClelland. The soldier is ambivalent when Grant first takes command. “I can’t get it into my thick noddle that Grant is the man. I want to believe and hope he is, but there it is. I cannot explain it.” (April 23, 1864) As the war moves into 1865, McClelland does not write a negative opinion of Grant. By the absence of an unfavorable judgment, we can assume that McClelland is neutral or even slightly positive about Grant. His later references to Grant suggest that McClelland and Grant will win the war together as they wear down the Rebels. McClelland never questions Grant’s competence.

McClelland does soften his opinions of McClellan and Hooker over time. Perhaps this change in his impressions of the two generals is influenced by camp gossip and the opinion of his peers. Soldiers in the Army of the Potomac generally have move favorable opinions of McClellan and Hooker after the generals have left their positions of leadership.

Gray- Thomas Wragg

Following the Battle of Bull Run, in August 1861, Wragg said that the troops preferred Beauregaard over Johnston, since when the Army was in or near Martinsburg, Johnston retreated to Winchester instead of attacking the enemy there. Wragg, however, felt that Johnston knew what he was doing and said he would follow Johnston was well as Beauregard or anyone else. His greatest complaint about his superiors was in their failure to pay the troops and for the poor rations.The end of August he wrote: It is very strange that we have not been paid one cent since we have been in the service of the C. S. and it is going on to 4 months from the time we enlisted, our officers have been paid up for the last 2 months and it is my opinion that they don’t bother themselves about us or our pay. It would be a great help to us, but they don’t seem to care whether we get it or not." Wragg's first earnings were in September when he was only paid up to 1 July.

The 8th Georgia, in which Wragg served, saved their greatest dislike for Thomas L. Cooper, who, in August 1961 was placed in charge of the regiment and promoted from Major to Lt. Col.. The entire regiment, both officers and men, signed a petition to have him resign as their commander. They gave their petition to Cooper, who refused. Then, the end of December, Cooper was thrown from his horse in an accident, and died. Cooper's hometown newspaper, contrary to Wragg's report, stated that Cooper was a man of "great personal worth and popularity." Wragg felt that, although no one liked him, they were sorry to hear of his death.

What was the food quality and quantity that soldiers ate while in the field?

Blue- George McClelland

The availability and quality of food significantly improved as the Army of the Potomac’s logistics and commissary capabilities were enhanced as the war progressed. At the beginning of George McClelland’s service, the food provided by the army was supplemented with items foraged by the soldiers. “We go to an adjacent cornfield, get some corn. Next get a tin plate …. then grind our corn into meal, boil it and, for a change, fry it…. Had to kill a couple of hogs and dress them. I, in company with three others, went down to a house and bought a couple of chickens, got some potatoes and corn, borrowed a sauce pan, built a fire and had a nice chicken pie.” (Near Shepherdstown, VA [later West Virginia], September 25, 1862)

Resourcefulness in supplementing their army-supplied fare with local fish also occurred. “The mess dined on fresh fish – caught with pin hooks – and fried mush.” (October 14, 1862)

When supply wagons lagged behind the troops on the march, regular meals suffered. “Short rations – one day we marched 28 miles without bread, meat or coffee. Reason? Supply train wasn’t up.” (July 19, 1863)

Occasionally food from home was sent along with personal items to McClelland as was the case with many soldiers in the Army of the Potomac. “I’ve received in a box some nice underclothing, a can of delicious peaches and a box of sardines, together with a pair of boots.” (November 3, 1862) However, due to irregular mail service, some food boxes from home with perishables did not fare well. “Lizzie, I got that box which was sent from Pittsburgh. The eatables were pretty badly spoiled being almost a month on the way.” (December 19, 1863)

One staple in the Union soldier’s diet – hard tack crackers – drew a sarcastic report from George McClelland: “It is astonishing the variety of dishes we have. Had hard tack plain, crackers ala mode, ‘tack Americanaise,’ cracker scouse [stew], crackers roasted, fried and boiled.” (January 10, 1863)

Gray- Thomas Wragg

Almost from the beginning of Wragg's service in the Confederate Army he complained about the food, or lack of it. In June 1861 he wrote his father that he was getting tired of military life, but that he didn't think he would if they gave them enough to eat. He complained that the food was not fit to be eaten by a dog, the "fatest kind of bacon and spoiled at that." Coffee was supplied once a day and was "not fit to drink." On June 17 he wrote his brother that there were orders, no food could be sold in camp due to their fear the food might be poisoned. Instead, one man sold eggs and butter at 12 1/2 cents per dozen and pound. Another man sold 800-900 eggs every day. In a name that said it all, their camp near Winchester on July 9 was named Camp Starvation.

Wragg was continually asking his father for money which he needed to buy extra food. He explained that they only got a small allowance of molasses to sweeten their coffee which they received once a day or not at all. If they had a little change, they could buy brown sugar or milk. Their rations included a piece of salt meat, some flour and water mixed (and made) into bread. The three days they were in Martinsburg they had nothing to eat but a piece of meat and bread in the morning at 4 a.m. and nothing until the next day. Many a night he said he went to bed with nothing to eat.

By the end of July, he told his sister that the money she sent was of no use as there was nothing to buy. It was only rarely possible to send to Richmond for food. Instead he started asking his family to send him a trunk with food: ham, smoked beef, sardines, sugar and coffee. He saw one soldier with a watermelon and he couldn't get it out of his mind for several months, repeatedly asking his family to send him one. In October Wragg told his sister that "the Confederate States gives us in place of coffee one gill of Whiskey a day," but as he didn't drink he exchanged it for molasses. In October, the trunk Wragg asked for finally arrived. Based on what he asked for, it contained food, a pair of boots, pants, and other clothes--all carefully provided and made at much effort and sacrifice by his grandmother and sisters. Sadly, however, the Eighth Georgia was forced to send all their surplus clothing to the Station, including his trunk, clothes, and two blankets, a box of "eatables" from his grandmother, where it was later burned along with quantities of provisions and baggage of all sorts that could not be brought with them when the army evacuated Manassas Junction and moved back to Winchester.