Stemple, David, Jr. Lydia A. Bishoff collection of Civil War correspondence [decimalized]

The collection consists of letters written to Lydia Bishoff by various friends and relatives from District four, Preston County, West Virginia. The four primary authors of the collection are John C. Fogelsong, David H. Shafer, Daniel Swisher, and James S. Swisher. The collection also includes 2 Memorial booklets, 3 poems, 14 photographs, and 2 undated letters. Topics include Antietam, Fredericksburg, and anti-emancipation sentiment.

The Lydia A. Bishoff collection of Civil War correspondence contains letters written to Bishoff by various friends and relatives from District 4, Preston County, West Virginia. The four primary authors of the collection are John C. Foglesong (#3, #5, #8, #9, #10, #12, #33), David H. Shafer (#15, #18, #24) Daniel Swisher (#6, #7, #11, #14, #17, #19, #20, #21, #25, #27, #32), and James S. Swisher (#22, #23, #26, #28). Daniel Swisher and James S. Swisher were Lydia A. Bishoff's step-brothers (Lydia's father, John Bishoff, married Daniel and James's mother, Mrs. Mary-Jane Swisher, after the death of his first wife). John C. Foglesong was Lydia A. Bishoff's cousin, and David H. Shafer seems to have been unrelated to Bishoff. There are also two letters in the collection written by Bishoff's cousin John H. Stemple (#1, #2), one letter written by Bishoff's cousin D.P. Heckert (#16), and another letter which is simply signed "Sam" (#4).

Many of the letters in the collection provide detailed descriptions of the specific military engagements of the 7th West Virginia Infantry. Foglesong recounts the Union army's pursuit of Stonewall Jackson during Shenandoah Valley campaign in April 1862, and assesses that, "the Rebles are in the hardest ro of stirrups that ever they were in va" (#9). Swisher predicts in March 1862 that the "Bloodyists Battles Ever was fought on the north American continent … will be right down here in Eastern Virginia," (#7) and he subsequently provides first-hand accounts of the battles of Antietam (#14) and Fredericksburg (#20). Although Swisher did not participate in the fighting at Antietam as a result of being barefooted, he vividly describes his feelings walking over the battlefield, which "for 1 mile wide and 4 miles long . . . was so Thickly Covered [with bodies] that it looked like logs lying on a Cleering." He also reports that Foglesong was killed during the battle by a shot through the head (#14). In his description of Fredericksburg, Swisher devotes much attention to the looting of the town that took place after the battle, confessing that Union soldiers "got in to a Jewelry store and got a Haversack full of watches and Jewelry" (#20).

Swisher and Shafer also both candidly discuss their vehement anti-emancipation sentiments (#17, #18). Shafer reports that the soldiers in his regiment "don't like old abs procklamation" and he claims that he "shal not fite for the black cuses" (#18). Swisher similarly tells Bishoff that he is waiting to see whether "Mr Abram" is going to put his Emancipation Proclamation into effect, for if "old Abraham is going to free the niggers" then he intends to "Desert in spite of old Abe and all his Abolition Army" (#17). But while Swisher did not enlist in the Union Army in order to further the abolitionist cause, he does seem to harbor genuine ideological motivations for fighting. He explains that, "as long as I am Fighting for the right Cause I would Rather Die at the point of the Enemys Bayonets than to Have the name of A Deserter" (#17).

Swisher and Foglesong both describe many hardships commonly endured by Civil War soldiers. Foglesong complains of drilling for eight hours a day (#3), marching through sand and mud shoe-top deep, and drinking water taken out of creeks "the color of grass and thick and stinken" (#12). Swisher repeatedly discusses his regiment's strenuous marching (#14, #17), and claims it is "enough to Kill up any set of soldiers" (#14). Another letter in the collection describes a camp in which many soldiers are lacking shirts, pants, and overcoats, and that has only "2 camp kettles for all 8 or 9 hundred men to cook" (#16). Swisher also laments the dearth of "sutlers" - that is, merchants who sold various supplies to Civil War soldiers - since all of these men "skedaddled to the Rear . . . when Ever a Battle takes place" (#20).

Many of the letters in the Bishoff collection also reveal severe homesickness. Shafer tells Bishoff that there is "no plase like old preston" (#15) and he later asks to hear "all the partickulars" (#24) of a party that Bishoff has recently thrown back home. Most of the soldiers seem very interested in any kind of news from the home-front (#1, #3, #5, #8, #11, #15, #22, #24, #25, #27, #28), and they all urgently plead for prompt responses to their letters. "Tell him that he would better write to me if he dident [sic] want another gander fight," one soldier remarks (#1). In addition to such adamant demands for letters, many of the soldiers in the collection also request that they be sent the "likenesses" of various girls from home (the girls at home similarly request that they be sent the soldiers' likenesses) (#5, #14, #17, #19, #23, #25).

Finally, the letters touch on a variety of other interesting topics - ranging from discussions of the war's effects on love (Swisher remarks that "love in the army is not profitable nor it aint worth while for girls to love soldiers" (#25)) to descriptions of Confederate women's fearful reactions to Union soldiers' entering their towns ("if we Happen to march Through a town Here the woman goes in locks The Doors and shuts Dow[n] the window Curtains and Keep . . . still" (#11) Swisher explains).