The American Civil War - This Mighty Scourge of War

230 The American Civil War

The personal suffering and loss would
gradually heal in many instances, but the
destruction of more than 620,000 lives could
not be erased. Margaret Junkin Preston, one
of the leading female authors in the country,
wrote a condolence letter to a friend whose
brother had just fallen victim to what
Preston called 'this horrid and senseless war.'
Maggie's heart-felt emotions capture what so
many millions of others went through.

I cannot refrain from mingling my grief with
yours ...It is dreadful to have our loved ones die
... [We are] utterly shaken by the uncontrollable
outthrusting of our mere human grief at seeing

Margaret Junkin Preston, whose condolence letter to a

stricken friend was one of many millions written during the

American Civil Wan (Virginia Military Institute Museum)

the pleasant face never never more ... the tender

eyes shut, not to be opened again - the sweet

interchange of thought, feelings, emotions - all

all over! ... The Blessed God comfort you under

this sense of loss which will press upon you so

agonizingly.

A few weeks after she wrote this tender

letter, Maggie faced the same ordeal when

her own 17-year-old stepson fell mortally

wounded in action.