“My Own Dearest Maggie”: The Last Letters of a Scottish Soldier of the American Civil War

Irish in the American Civil War

My work on the widows and dependent pension files of American Civil War soldiers has revealed many hundreds of letters relating to Irish emigrants in the Union military. During the course of my research I have also come across files relating to other immigrant groups. Among them are many Scottish soldiers, whose dependents– like those of their Irish counterparts– often included letters written by their loved ones from the front in their pension applications. I...