Book and Lyrics by

Frank Wildhorn, Gregory Boyd

and Jack Murphy
Music by Frank Wildhorn
Directed by Jeff Calhoun

March 27 to May 24, 2009

WELCOME!
Welcome to Ford’s Theatre Society’s TABLE OF CONTENTS
Companion Guide for The Civil War! This is a
year of big change at Ford’s, as we celebrate A Civil War Timeline.................................................... 3
President Lincoln’s 200th birthday with an An Interview with the Director...................................... 5
updated theatre space, newly redesigned Abraham Lincoln........................................................... 6
museum, and a whole host of new educational Frederick Douglass........................................................ 8
programming. Sullivan Ballou .............................................................. 10
Wartime Letter-Writing................................................. 12
This Guide is designed to support and enrich the Hannah Ropes................................................................ 15
experience of seeing The Civil War. On many Activities and Additional Resources ............................. 16
pages, questions for discussion or journaling are
highlighted in black. Throughout the Guide, we
explore historical context, theatrical techniques
and contemporary connections. A short
bibliography at the end of the Guide provides
resources for further inquiry. Please feel free to
print out as many copies of this Guide as you
would like.

Companion Guides will be produced for all of

our shows next season. We hope you will join us
for these shows in our newly reopened theatre!

For group sales information, please call (202)

638-2367. For more information on our
educational programming, please call (202) 638-
2941 ext. 567 or email education@fords.org.

We hope you enjoy the show!

Guide created by Nicole Murray, Education Programs Manager

THANK YOU
American Airlines is the official airline of Ford’s Theatre.
Production made possible by Nortel, Raytheon Company, ExxonMobil, Southern Company
and The Freed Foundation.
Ford’s Theatre Stages Built by The Home Depot.
Chevron, a 2008-2009 Season Sponsor.
Amtrak is the official rail sponsor of Ford’s Theatre.
Ford’s Theatre is grateful to the following for their generous support of educational programming:
American Express Company, Bank of America Foundation, Mars Foundation,
Motorola Foundation, National Education Association,
The William Randolph Hearst Foundation and U.S. Department of the Interior.
Education programs are also funded in part by the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency
supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

2
 A Civil War Timeline
1860
November 6 Abraham Lincoln is elected president.

December 20 South Carolina secedes from the Union, followed within two months by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.

1861
February 9 Secessionist states form the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis as president.

March 4 Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as 16th President of the United States.

April 12 At 4:30 a.m. Confederates under Gen. Beauregard open fire upon
Union-occupied Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C. The Civil War begins.

April 17 Virginia secedes from the Union, followed within five weeks by
Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina.

July 21 First Battle of Bull Run, or First Manassas. Confederate victory. VA. Library of Congress

1862
February 6-16 Battles at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. Union victories. TN.

March 8-9 Naval battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac. Inconclusive. VA.

April 6 Battle of Shiloh. Union victory. TN.

August 28-30 Second Battle of Bull Run. Confederate victory. VA.

September 17 Antietam, the bloodiest day in U.S. history. Inconclusive. MD. !

September 22 Lincoln issues the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Library of Congress
December 11-15 Battle of Fredericksburg. Confederate victory. VA.

1863

April 30-May 6 Battle of Chancellorsville. Confederate victory. VA.

July 1-July 3 Battle of Gettysburg. Union victory. PA. !

September 19-20 Battle of Chickamauga. Confederate victory. GA.

Library of Congress

November 19 Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address.

3
 A Civil War Timeline

1864
March 12 Lincoln promotes Ulysses S. Grant to General-in-Chief. !

May 5 Battle of the Wilderness. Confederate victory. VA.

May 8-May 21 Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. Inconclusive. VA.

May 31-June 12 Battle of Cold Harbor. Confederate victory. VA.

National Archives (NARA)

July 11-July 12 Battle of Fort Stevens — Failed Confederate attempt to capture Washington, D.C. President Lincoln,
observing the battle, comes under Confederate fire.

Library of Congress
November 8 Abraham Lincoln is re-elected President.

November 16- Sherman's March to the Sea — Union General Sherman

December 21 lays waste to the South. GA. !

December 22 Sherman captures Savannah. GA.

1865

March 4 Lincoln delivers his second inaugural address.

April 2 Third Battle of Petersburg — Grant defeats Lee. VA.

April 6 Battle of Sayler's Creek. Union victory. VA.

April 9 Battle of Appomattox Courthouse — Lee's forces surrounded. He

subsequently surrenders to Grant. VA. !

Library of Congress

April 14 President Lincoln shot by John Wilkes Booth while NARA

attending a production of the play Our American Cousin at

Ford’s Theatre. He dies the next morning at the Petersen
House, a boarding house across the street. !

Did any major battles of the Civil War take place near where you live?

What do you notice in the paintings and photos on this and the previous page?
How was warfare during the Civil War different than it is today?

4
 The Civil War: A Musical Remembrance
Though The Civil War features songs and words dealing with 1860s America, the production at Ford’s
Theatre is being produced as a “contemporary musical event.” Instead of having performers in period
costumes adopting the role of soldiers and other figures from that time period, they will be in modern
dress, remembering the war through words and music. Director Jeff Calhoun describes his concept below.

This production will probably have a different look and feel than what audiences might expect from a
title like The Civil War. How did you come up with the concept?

I was captivated by a 9/11 memorial ceremony that played on TV in the lobby of a rehearsal studio where I was
in the midst of mounting a new production. I found the memorial ceremony to be poignant and deeply moving.
Viewers watching the ceremony may or may have not personally know any of the 9/11 victims, but the speakers
who came to the podium and recounted stories about the victim’s lives gave them a face. As viewers, we had the
opportunity to get to know the 9/11 victims through the remembrances of friends, family and civil servants. To
me, The Civil War has given humanity and faces to the people who didn’t make the history books. The show is
about a woman named Sarah who lost her husband, a soldier named Bill who never came home and a dying
soldier’s last words to his father. Frank Wildhorn writes popular music, so to do a Civil War enactment with
popular music felt a bit at odds. Having this production take place in the present tense, using Frank’s sound,
allows us to create a tribute to those who died hundreds of years ago.

How have these ideas informed the rehearsal process?

This concept allows us to sit together and talk about how we feel as 16 present-day individual ensemble
members sing about and/or recall a particular historical moment. It allows us to make relevant and pertinent the
emotions of the Civil War, of yesteryear, in our lives today. The concept also facilitates our ability to engage in
open dialogue about our prejudices and our fears. I’m not separating the experiences of the slaves from the
soldiers. I’m not just having the white men sing about the soldiers. I’m not just having the African-Americans
sing about the slave experience. One group or another may take the lead on a given song, but the other race is
omnipresent, having to witness these things. It would be easy to leave one group or the other offstage and not
share in the complete experience. I want the entire cast to be on stage sharing each other’s experiences, the way
the audience will experience the show from their seats.

What would you like for the audience to come away with from this production?

First and foremost, I want them to be entertained, and I’d also like them to be moved and reminded that they’re
part of our nation’s tapestry. I hope this production awakens them. It’s easy to sleepwalk through life. I think
my hopes would surprise people given the title. I know when I first heard the title, I thought, “I have to sit in the
theatre and watch the Civil War on stage as a musical?” And now I can say the way we’re doing it, as more of a
contemporary musical event, I say it’s absolutely intelligible and germane. The Civil War is a metaphor for
everything we feel today. People may feel like this show is of another time, that it may not resonate with them,
but I believe that The Civil War addresses the same challenges we face in our daily lives. It’s about our familial
relationships, being in love, friendship, persecution and bigotry. This show is a mirror for all of that, in the
context of the huge tragedy of the Civil War.

What are the benefits to “modernizing” a play set in the past? the drawbacks?
What issues might you face in modernizing a play?

What other historic events do you think could be remembered

in this kind of concert format?
5
Abraham Lincoln

Interspersed with the songs of The Civil War are

excerpts from speeches and writings of famous
Americans of the time. Many are Abraham Lincoln’s
words and are taken from the works on this and the next
page. As you read through these pieces, think about
what Lincoln was trying to communicate in each. Why
would the writers and director of The Civil War want to
include these thoughts? How do they connect to the
songs being performed?

FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS [abridged]

Washington, D.C.
March 4, 1861

NARA
Fellow-citizens of the United States:

In compliance with a custom as old as the government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly, and
to take, in your presence, the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, to be taken by the
President "before he enters on the execution of this office."

Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States, that by the accession of a Republican
Administration, their property, and their peace, and personal security, are to be endangered. There has never
been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all
the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him
who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose,
directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have
no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." Those who nominated and elected me did so
with full knowledge that I had made this, and many similar
declarations, and had never recanted them.

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not

in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The
government will not assail you. You can have no conflict
without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath
registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I
shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and
defend it."

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.

Though passion may have strained, it must not break our
bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory,
stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to
every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land,
will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched,
as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
At the time of this speech, the Capitol was still being built. NARA.

6
MEDITATION ON THE DIVINE WILL
Washington, D.C.
September 1862

This fragment was found and preserved by John Hay, one of President Lincoln's White House secretaries,
who said it was "not written to be seen of men." Hay said that in this writing, "Mr. Lincoln admits us into
the most secret recesses of his soul... Perplexed and afflicted beyond the power of human help, by the
disasters of war, the wrangling of parties, and the inexorable and constraining logic of his own mind, he
shut out the world one day, and tried to put into form his double sense of responsibility to human duty and
Divine Power; and this was the result. It shows—as has been said in another place—the awful sincerity of a
perfectly honest soul, trying to bring itself into closer communion with its Maker."

The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both
may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the
present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either
party—and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as
they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I
am almost ready to say that this is probably true—that God
wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By his
mere great power, on the minds of the now contestants, He
could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a
human contest. Yet the contest began. And, having begun
He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet
the contest proceeds.

SPEECH TO THE ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-SIXTH

OHIO REGIMENT
Washington, D.C.
August 22, 1864
Lincoln visiting the battlefield at Antietam. Library of Congress.
I suppose you are going home to see your families and
friends. For the service you have done in this great struggle in which we are engaged I present you sincere
thanks for myself and the country. I almost always feel inclined, when I happen to say anything to soldiers,
to impress upon them in a few brief remarks the importance of success in this contest. It is not merely for to-
day, but for all time to come that we should perpetuate for our children's children this great and free
government, which we have enjoyed all our lives. I beg you to remember this, not merely for my sake, but
for yours. I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am a living witness that any one of your
children may look to come here as my father's child has. It is in order that each of you may have through
this free government which we have enjoyed, an open field and a fair chance for your industry, enterprise
and intelligence; that you may all have equal privileges in the race of life, with all its desirable human
aspirations. It is for this the struggle should be maintained, that we may not lose our birthright—not only for
one, but for two or three years. The nation is worth fighting for, to secure such an inestimable jewel.

Was there anything in these speeches and writings that surprised you?

Why do you think the writers of The Civil War chose not to include
Lincoln’s most famous speech, The Gettysburg Address?

How did being in the place where Lincoln was shot affect your
experience seeing the show?

7
Frederick Douglass
Like those of Lincoln, the works of Frederick Douglass
play an important role in The Civil War. Douglass was a
former slave and abolitionist whose powerful words were
an important weapon in the fight to free enslaved people.
In the first speech presented here, Douglass addresses the
Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Association. Though they
had asked him to speak on July 4th, he instead spoke on
the 5th, and used the opportunity to demonstrate that while
white Americans can celebrate their freedom on
Independence Day, the holiday is meaningless to enslaved
blacks.

The second piece, “Men of Color, To Arms!,” is an

editorial Douglass wrote to urge blacks to join the Union
army. The response was overwhelming; in fact,
Douglass’s first two recruits were his sons Lewis and
Charles, who joined the 54th Massachusetts Infantry.

WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?

Rochester, N.Y. [abridged]
July 5, 1852
NARA

What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?

Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or
those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and
of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called
upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout
gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?

Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these
questions! Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there so cold, that a
nation’s sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would
not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish, that would not give his voice
to swell the hallelujahs of a nation’s jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? I
am not that man. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the "lame man leap as an hart."

But, such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included
within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable
distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich
inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you,
not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This
Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand
illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and
sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? If so, there is a
parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose
crimes, lowering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in
irrecoverable ruin! I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people!
8
MEN OF COLOR, TO ARMS! [abridged]
March 21, 1863

When first the rebel cannon shattered the walls of Sumter and drove away its starving
garrison, I predicted that the war then and there inaugurated would not be fought out
entirely by white men. Every month’s experience during these dreary years has confirmed
that opinion. A war undertaken and brazenly carried on for the perpetual enslavement of
colored men, calls logically and loudly for colored men to help suppress it. Only a
moderate share of sagacity was needed to see that the arm of the slave was the best
defense against the arm of the slaveholder. Hence with every reverse to the national arms,
with every exulting shout of victory raised by the slaveholding rebels, I have implored the
imperiled nation to unchain against her foes, her powerful black hand. Slowly and
reluctantly that appeal is beginning to be heeded. Stop not now to complain that it was
not heeded sooner. It may or it may not have been best that it should not. This is not the Sgt. Maj. Lewis Douglass
time to discuss that question. Leave it to the future. When the war is over, the country is National Gallery of Art

saved, peace is established, and the black man’s rights are secured, as they will be,
history with an impartial hand will dispose of that and sundry other questions.

Action! Action! not criticism, is the plain duty of this hour. Words are now useful only as they stimulate to
blows. The office of speech now is only to point out when, where, and how to strike to the best advantage.
There is no time to delay. The tide is at its flood that leads on to fortune. From East to West, from North to
South, the sky is written all over, "Now or never." Liberty won by white men would lose half its luster.
"Who would be free themselves must strike the blow." "Better even
die free, than to live slaves." This is the sentiment of every brave
colored man amongst us. There are weak and cowardly men in all
nations. We have them amongst us. They tell you this is the "white
man’s war"; and you will be "no better off after than before the war";
that the getting of you into the army is to "sacrifice you on the first
opportunity." Believe them not; cowards themselves, they do not wish
to have their cowardice shamed by your brave example. Leave them
to their timidity, or to whatever motive may hold them back.

I have not thought lightly of the words I am now addressing you.

More than twenty years of unswerving devotion to our common cause
may give me some humble claim to be trusted at this momentous
crisis. I will not argue. To do so implies hesitation and doubt, and you
do not hesitate. You do not doubt. The day dawns; the morning star is
bright upon the horizon! The iron gate of our prison stands half open.
One gallant rush from the North will fling it wide open, while four
millions of our brothers and sisters shall march out into liberty…
Gilder-Lehrman Collection

These two pieces were written more than 10 years apart. What are the differences
between them? What part does audience play in these differences?

How do you think the audience of the first speech might have reacted at the time?

Excerpts from the writing on this page are read by a number of actors, rather
than one actor portraying Douglass. Why do you think the director made this
choice?
9
Sullivan Ballou’s Letter to Sarah

In The Civil War, the song “Sarah” is a touching love letter from a
soldier to his wife. The song is inspired by real-life soldier Sullivan
Ballou, a major in the Union Army from Rhode Island who died in
the First Battle of Bull Run. As in all wars, it was common for
soldiers to write a “just in case” letter to their loved ones back home,
to be delivered if they die in battle. The following is the full text of
the letter Sullivan Ballou wrote to Sarah.

My very dear Sarah:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few

days—perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write U.S. Army Military History Institute

you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.

Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure—and it may be one
of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it is necessary
that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about,
or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or
falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the
Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood
and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing—perfectly willing—to lay down all my joys
in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.

But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and
replace them in this life with cares and sorrows—when, after having eaten for long years the
bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little
children—is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and
proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should
struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country?

I cannot describe to you my feelings on this calm summer night, when two thousand men are
sleeping around me, many of them enjoying the last, perhaps, before that of death—and I,
suspicious that Death is creeping behind me with his fatal dart, am communing with God,
my country, and thee.

I have sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive in thus
hazarding the happiness of those I loved and I could not find one. A pure love of my
country and of the principles have often advocated before the people and "the name of
honor that I love more than I fear death" have called upon me, and I have obeyed.
10
Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing
but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind
and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel
most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to
give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have
lived and loved together and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have,
I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me——
perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar—that I shall return to my loved ones
unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last
breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I
have often been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your
happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from
harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you
buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part
no more.

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they
loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night—amidst your
happiest scenes and gloomiest hours—always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your
cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit
passing by.

Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again.

As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father's love and care.
Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics
with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in
your maternal care and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers his and hers
I call God's blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead
thither my children.

Sullivan

What makes this letter moving?

How do you think Sarah, Willie and Edgar may have

reacted to receiving this letter?
11
 Soldiers’ Letters Through American History
Letter-writing has always been an important way for soldiers to communicate with their families during
wartime. Today, we can use these letters to learn what life was like for soldiers in wars past, and to
examine how warfare has changed (and stayed the same) over centuries. Below are excerpts from letters
written by soldiers fighting in wars throughout American history. What do these letters tell us about
military life? How are they similar or different?

William Barton to his father; Camp Valley Forge; February 18, 1778

...I should wrote oftener but have been in expectation of Coming home
but this day find my expectations blasted, and have no manner of hope to
get home Until April...I have Received my Coat & boots by Capt.
Weycoff and am Inform'd you have procured me some shirts which I am
Extremely Glad of as l shall be in Great need of them in a short time. I'm
at this Present time in health, and hope these may find you all in Perfect
health, if to the reverse at any time Please to give me intelligence
Thereof and I shall come home at all Events. I have not Receiv'd a Letter Library of Congress
from you since at home, should be very Glad to be favour'd with a few lines if Convenient and Likewise a few
pounds of Sugar and A little Chocolate...there is a Scarcety of those articles in this Place...Camp does not very
well agree with me...

George Pickett to Sallie Corbell; Gettysburg; July 6, 1863

On the Fourth— far from a glorious Fourth to us or to any with love for his fellowmen— I wrote you just a line
of heartbreak. The sacrifice of life on that bloodsoaked field on the fatal 3rd was too awful for the heralding of
victory, even for our victorious foe, who, I think, believe as we do, that it decided the fate of our cause. No
words can picture the anguish of that roll call — the breathless waits between the responses. The 'Here' of those
who, by God's mercy, had miraculously escaped the awful rain of shot and shell was a sob — a gasp — a knell
— for the unanswered name of his comrade called before his. There was no tone of thankfulness for having been
spared to answer to their names, but rather a toll and an unvoiced wish that they, too, had been among the
missing. But for the blight to your sweet young life, but for you, only you, my darling, your soldier would rather
by far be out there, too, with his brave Virginians — dead. Even now I can hear them cheering as I gave the
order, 'Forward!' I can feel their faith and trust in me and their love for our cause. I can feel the thrill of their
joyous voices as they called out all along the line, 'We'll follow you, Marse George. We'll follow you, we'll
follow you.' Oh, how faithfully they kept their word, following me on, on to their death, and I, believing in the
promised support, led them on, on, on. Oh, God! I can't
write you a love letter today, my Sallie, for, with my great
love for you and my gratitude to God for sparing my life to
devote to you, comes the overpowering thought of those
whose lives were sacrificed — of the brokenhearted
widows and mothers and orphans. The moans of my
wounded boys, the sight of the dead, upturned faces flood
my soul with grief; and here am I, whom they trusted,
whom they followed, leaving them on that field of carnage,
leaving them to the mercy of — and guarding 4,000
prisoners across the river back to Winchester. Such a duty
for men who a few hours ago covered themselves with
glory eternal.

Gettysburg National Military Park 12

 Adrian Edwards to his mother; Somewhere in France; May 1918
...Do not grieve that I am among the missing, but
rather rejoice that you have given a son in sacrifice to
make the greatest military caste of all time lay down
the sword — to save civilization, to prevent future
wars, to punish the Germans, who have disregarded
every law of God and mankind, whose only god is
the god of war and military force — and to make the
world safe for democracy. War was absolutely
necessary on the part of my country, and although I
was thirty-four years old and nobody expected me to
go, yet some one had to go; some one must make the
sacrifice, some mother must lose her son.
In the light of these facts, and knowing our country's
N.Y. Times

great need, I volunteered, and have never for one

moment regretted my decision, and I will not,
although my life and a useful career must end. Life is
not the highest boon of existence. There are ideals that are superhuman, interests greater than life itself, for
which it is worth while fighting, suffering, and dying.

Bill Chapin to his wife; Linz, Austria; May 15, 1945

...Right now there are a few of us here in a hospital waiting for hospital airplanes to evacuate us to England.
Probably right now you are worried about my condition after reading about the atrocities in Stalags. You
may rest assured that I am not suffering from malnutrition, and don't look like the pictures you've seen. We
had them too, but they were not Americans.

I don't know if any of my letters from prison reached you. After I was wounded the Germans amputated my
right foot. Again I assure you that it was necessary, because it was practically off anyway. After you get
over the initial shock you will come to realize that it is of very little consequence with the artificial limbs
they give you now. There are plenty of us like that, (four in our little group) and our morale is very very
high, I assure you. We baffle the doctors and they have a difficult time keeping us from crutching all over
town here. I read, here, of a P.38 pilot, (P.W.)
now playing major league baseball with a

NARA
wooden leg, so judge for yourself. I shall have
to have another operation on the leg when I get
home, but that is normal.

Naturally I have enough to tell you to fill a

book, and want to be with you when I do it, so
I'll only give you the barest details here. In
short, it was dammed rough, but as you can see
by the way they treated their political prisoners
& civilian prisoners it could have been a
thousand times worse. I expect it's been just as
bad for you, what with worrying, but it's all
over now. So cheer up and don't worry about
me. I'm alive and very much kicking.

13
 Douglas McCormac to his friend Stephen; Kontum Province, Vietnam; August 13, 1968

...I think perhaps this experience is changing me. Of

course, it would—but it is happening not as I expected. I
have not found much opportunity to “help” people, as I
once almost romantically rationalized. But I’ve learned
a little here—I’ve learned to dislike this war more.

What I’ve seen is the superabundant American economy

overflow with its war effort into the Vietnamese
peasants’ and citydwellers’ environment….The high-
ranking grab for the rake-off and black-market profits,
and the rest of the crowd reap the scraps and burdens of
the casualties.
NARA

Of course, Americans are dying, and I would not belittle anyone who served “with proud devotion” and
faith in this enterprise. It may not have been a terribly wrong theoretical idea at one time. But the foreign,
introduced offensive, the consequent corruption and then the contempt that developed between people and
groups—it makes a mockery of the “noble” words used to justify this war. It belies the phony enthusiasm
with which those words may be delivered. It’s now a war of survival….

Joshua Byers to his parents; Iraq; June 5, 2003

A couple of days ago, my squadron commander told me that I would be taking command of Fox Troop in
June, after all. . . . SWEET! I left my conversation with him walking on air! Not only will I soon be a
cavalry troop commander (the most lethal combination of
fire power that a captain can be in command of, in any
service), BUT I will have the opportunity and the incredible
responsibility of commanding in combat. I have to admit
that I am really nervous and just pray that I am up to the task
out here to lead 120 men in combat operations. I will give
them everything I have to give—I love them already, just
because they're mine. I pray, with all my heart, that I will be
U.S. Marine Corps

able to take every single one of them home safe when we

finish our mission here.

Where to Write to a Soldier

Some soldiers don’t get many letters. Consider writing to one of the Americans serving overseas. You
can find names and addresses at these websites:

www.anysoldier.com www.soldiersangels.org www.adoptaussoldier.org

What does each letter tell us about that war? About that time period in history?

How has technology affected the tradition of letter-writing?

In what ways is the experience of fighting in a war universal?

In what ways has it changed since the Civil War?

14
 Hannah Ropes
One of the characters in The Civil War is a nurse
who sings about her experiences with the young
wounded soldiers she treats in her hospital. This
character was inspired by Hannah Ropes, a Civil
War nurse whose diaries and letters were printed in
1980 and give us a first-hand glimpse of the daily
workings of a Civil War hospital. Below is an
excerpt from her diary. The “Miss Alcott” she refers
to is Louisa May Alcott, who went on to write the
classic novel Little Women.
From Frank Leslie’s The Soldier in Our Civil War, 1893

December 27, 1862

“Thank you, madam, I think I must be marching on.” So said Lewie as he passed away. Sitting on one side of
him was his nurse, Miss Alcott, on the other the matron. The remark was made to the latter, as she gave him a
swallow of water. For ten days they have anxiously looked and longed and lingered over the possible facts in his
favor. Three wounds under the shoulders, one bullet at least in the lungs or their vicinity—how could they hope
for his recovery?

But there was in the man such a calm consciousness of life, such repose on its secure strength. There he lay, his
broad chest heaving with obstinate breath, but the face as composed in its manly beauty, as though he were
taking natural rest in sleep. The dignity of the man, considering the circumstances, was wonderful. In a room
with a dozen others, a stony sort of room, close into the street, without one pleasant, attractive quality—it
seemed as if he, in his individual force of purpose, must have revolted. But no, he did not—he was content to
wait. And yet I do not think he was unconscious of the people thrown down about him from the same battlefield,
or the disorder of the room. Feeling this, the matron took
every care of his own bed, for he was a man, having his
own views, a brave soldier who took up arms, having
evidently counted the cost. And here he lies. Eight
o’clock in the evening, the gas burned brightly. A man
with one arm lying tenderly watching him on one side,
and one with a fearful wound through the thighs on the
other, who at last turns his face away, covering it with his
blanket. Two hours before, Lewie had reached his right
hand into Miss Alcott’s lap and firmly grasped her wrist.
He could not talk but a word at a time. The matron is left
alone when the breath ceases—she, still watching with
loving sympathy and a farther reaching consciousness of
this process through which he is passing, keeps close by
with her hand on his forehead, as though she would cross
palms with the angels commissioned to take her work out
NARA

of her hands.

What does Hannah Ropes’ diary entry reveal about nursing and
medicine during the Civil War?

How does Ropes feel about death?

How have women’s roles in wartime changed since the Civil War?

15
Activities and Additional Resources
Activities and Journal Prompts
1. Many of the characters we meet in The Civil War communicate by writing letters. Write a letter to someone
you know who is far away or, if you’d prefer, use one of the websites on page 14 to find an overseas soldier
to write to. How is writing a letter different from writing an email or talking on the phone?

2. Choose one character that sings a solo in the play, and describe the music to their song. What does this tell
you about the character’s personality? Feelings? Actions?

3. Unlike other musicals that have set characters and a story to follow, the authors of The Civil War attempted
to create “a new music-theatre event.” The show is mostly made up of music and song, with only a few
speeches and passages of dialogue. Why do you think the authors made this choice?

4. How does this representation of the Civil War differ from other accounts (textbooks, films, poetry) that you
have read or seen? How is it similar?

At the Show...
While you are at the show, look for the following things:

The box where Lincoln was sitting when he was shot.

A mix of modern and period costumes.

The use of projected words, images and video.

Different kinds of music to tell different stories.

Additional Resources
Basler, Roy. Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings (1946).
Burns, Ken. The Civil War (documentary, 1990).
Carroll, Andrew. Letters of a Nation (1997).
Colaiaco, James. Frederick Douglass and the Fourth of July (2006).
Douglass, Frederick. A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845).
Hyslop, Steve. Eyewitness to the Civil War (2006).
Lowenherz, David. The 50 Greatest Letters from America’s Wars (2002).
Ray, Delia. Behind the Blue and Gray: The Soldier’s Life in the Civil War (1996).
Ropes, Hannah. Civil War Nurse: The Diary and Letters of Hannah Ropes (1980).
Ford’s Theatre American Experience: War Letters
www.fords.org www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/warletters/letters/index.html

Civil War Era Documents Library American Women in WWII

teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?category=2 www.nwhm.org/Partners/exhibitentrance.html

The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns Civil War Photographs

www.pbs.org/civilwar/ lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/
16