¶ … generation to consider what the Civil War must have been like. Horrible fighting conditions, brother against brother, massive loss of human life - it was a bloody war on American soil. The wonderful, informative website, The Valley of the Shadow, takes an in depth look at two communities, close in proximity, fighting against each other during our nation's battle against each other.
The website is enormous - it offers pre-war information, war information, and post-war information for both the Staunton, Virginia region as well as the Franklins County, Pennsylvania region. There are countless photographs, documents, letters, journals, church records, government records, newspapers, and maps. All of these items collectively offer faces and names to associate with a war that happened so many years ago. As a college student, learning about the Civil War is somewhat tedious - it is hard to put yourself into something that happened so long ago, and really grasp the impact of the war. This site not only captured my attention, it drew me into the past, into the war, and taught...
IN April 1862, he is discussing how he wants mail from her so badly; he also talks of the fear that is in the people of Staunton and Harrisonburg. Most touching is how he concludes - asking for her to write him a long letter, and that "I am still your husband." Sadly, after
reading two of his letters and feeling as if you know him and his wife Mary, there is a third letter from Edward Walton to Mary Baylor telling of William Baylor's
death. Baylor was said to have sought out God during his last days, which of…
