ON THE ALTAR OF FREEDOM

WROTE BY JAMES HENRY GOODING

EDITED BY VIRGINIA MATZKE ADAMS

BY CODY, MATTHEW, AND KATE

THE ENTREECAMP MEIGS, READVILLE, APRIL 3

MESSRS. EDITORS:--THE 54TH PROGRESSES DAILY. THIS WEEK PAST THE MEN WHO HAVE BEEN IN CAMP THE LONGEST TIME HAVE BEEN PRACTICING IN THE

MANUAL OF ARMS. IT REALLY MAKES ONE'S HEART PULSATE WITH PRIDE AS HE LOOKS UPON THOSE STOUT AND BRAWNY MEN, FULLY EQUIPPED WITH UNCLE

SAM'S ACCOUTREMENTS UPON THEM, TO FEEL THAT THESE NOBLE MEN ARE PRACTICALLY REFUTING THE BASE ASSERTIONS REITERATED BY COPPERHEADS10 AND

TRAITORS THAT THE BLACK RACE ARE INCAPABLE OF PATRIOTISM, VALOR OR AMBITION. OFFICERS OF DISTINCTION, WHOSE JUDGEMENTS ARE NOT WARPED BY

PREJUDICE, PRONOUNCE THIS REGIMENT TO BE THE NUCLEUS OF AN ARMY EQUALING IN DISCIPLINE AND MATERIAL THE IMPERIAL HOSTS OF EUROPE. I, FOR ONE,

HOPE THEIR LIBERAL ASSUMPTIONS WILL IN THE END PROVE TRUE--AND IT IS MERELY A QUESTION OF TIME TO MAKE IT SO. OUR FIRST DRESS PARADE TOOK PLACE

THIS AFTERNOON, AND THOSE WHO KNOW SAY THE MEN BEHAVED ADMIRABLY, FOR SO SHORT A PERIOD IN DRILLING.

LAST MONDAY ALL THE ORGANIZED COMPANIES ON THE GROUND WERE MUSTERED IN THE STATE SERVICE; AFTER THIS WAS CONSUMMATED, SOME OF THE

"BOYS" IN CO. B BECAME A LITTLE CLAMOROUS FOR THEIR "BOUNTY"; IN FACT, IT SEEMED AS THOUGH THEY WERE INCLINED TO BE "MUZZY,"11 BUT A SLIGHT

INTIMATION FROM THE COLONEL ABOUT THE "GUARD HOUSE," WEARING PATENT BRACELETS, AND SUNDRY OTHER TERRORS IN STORE FOR PUGNACIOUS

GENTLEMEN, UNDER UNCLE SAM'S TUITION, TENDED TO QUIET THEM WONDERFULLY. THEY APPEAR TO HAVE FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT THEIR GRIEVANCES, IN THE

EMULATION OF THE OTHER COMPANIES IN DRILLING--WHICH I THINK IS VERY GOOD. THE SANITARY CONDITION OF THE MEN IS VERY GOOD, CONSIDERING THE

LOCATION OF THE CAMP, IT BEING SITUATED IN A VALLEY, AND CONSEQUENTLY VERY DAMP. DURING THE WET WEATHER WE HAD LAST MONTH, COLDS AND

COUGHS WERE VERY PREVALENT AMONG THE MEN; BUT NOW THOSE COMPLAINTS ARE MOST WHOLLY ENDED, OWING NO DOUBT TO THE IMPROVEMENT IN

THE WEATHER, AND BECOMING ACCUSTOMED TO THE LOCALITY.

REV. WM. JACKSON HAS BEEN LABORING VERY FAITHFULLY THE PAST WEEK AMONG US, BUT THE FRUITS OF HIS LABOR ARE YET TO BE TESTED. I HOPE THEY WILL

PROVE SUCCESSFUL, AND I HAVE NO DOUBT IN SOME INSTANCES THEY WILL.

THE NUMBER OF MEN IN CAMP IS 459; THERE IS A BARRACK BEING FITTED UP NOW, WHICH IS, I PRESUME, FOR THE RECEPTION OF EXPECTED RECRUITS. TELL THE

YOUNG MEN IN NEW BEDFORD THERE IS AN AMPLE CHANCE FOR THEM TO GET IN THE 54TH YET; NOT TO HANG BACK BECAUSE THERE IS NO RECRUITING OFFICE

OPEN IN THE CITY; BUT COME "RIGHT UP TO THE SCRATCH"; DON'T LET THE BOYS WHO ARE HERE GET ALL THE HONOR, BUT COME, AND WE WILL SHARE IT WITH

THEM.

J. H. G.

https://www.questia.com/read/97535153/on-the-altar-of-freedom-a-black-soldier-s-civil-war#10https://www.questia.com/read/97535154/on-the-altar-of-freedom-a-black-soldier-s-civil-war#11

WHO WAS THE AUTHORTHE AUTHOR WAS CORPORAL JAMES HENNERY GOODING. HE WAS BORN ON 1837, INTO SLAVERY

IN NORTH CAROLINA, BUT HE TOLD EVERYONE HE WAS BORN IN TROY, NEW YORK. HE DIED JULY

19, 1864 IN ANDERSONVILLE, GEORGIA. HE JOINED ONE OF THE CIVIL WARS MOST FAMOUS

REGIMENTS VOLUNTARILY TOO. IT WAS THE FIFTY FOURTH THAT WAS A BLACK REGIMENT. HE

WROTE ABOUT HIS TIME IN THE REGIMENT AND WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM AND WHAT HE ENDURED.

SINCE HE FOUGHT FOR THE FIFTY FOURTH HE WOULD GET FREEDOM IF HE WAS ALIVE WHEN THE

WAR WAS OVER. HIS POEMS WERE PUBLISHED IN 1981 IN THE BOOK ON THE ALTAR OF FREEDOM.

THE POEMS AND LETTERS OF JAMES HENRY GOODING WERE REDISCOVERED THROUGH A SERIE

S OF HAPPY ACCIDENTS. TWO YEARS AGO, GOING THROUGH SOME ODDS AND ENDS TO BE CATA

LOGED FOR THE OLD DARTMOUTH HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S WHALING MUSEUM LIBRARY, I CAME ACR

OSS THE SIX BROADSIDE POEMS. THE ONE ABOUT ELI DODGE LED ME TO CREW LISTS FROM THE NE

W BEDFORD CUSTOMS RECORDS, AND THEN TO THE DISCOVERY THAT GOODING WAS A MULATTO.

WHO IS THE INTENEDED AUDIANCE• IN MOST OF HIS LETTERS OR ENTREES THERE IS NO INTENDED AUDIENCE. WHEN YOU ARE

READING THE DOCUMENTS YOU CAN SEE THAT HE ISN’T WRITING TO ANYONE BECAUSE

HE WAS WRITING TO COMFORT HIMSELF AND TO RECORD EVERYTHING THAT WOULD

HAPPEN.

• JAMES NEVER PUT A TO OR FROM BUT HE WOULD RECORD THE DATE AND ANYTHING THAT

WOULD HAPPEN IN A DAY OR WEEKS TIME. TO FINISH AN ENTRÉE HE ALSO PUT HIS

INITIALS “J.H.G”

WHEN WAS THE LETTER WROTE

• THE LETTER WAS WRITTEN DURING ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S PRESIDENCY AND IT WAS WROTE

DURING A TIME PERIOD WHEN THERE STILL WAS SLAVERY IN AMERICA. IT WAS WRITTEN IN

1863, BUT NOT PUBLISHED FOR ONE HUNDRED AND 21 YEARS AFTER IN 1991.

OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS

• IF YOU FOUND THIS LETTER WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?

• IF YOU WERE JAMES H. GOODING WOULD YOU HAVE WROTE LETTERS OR KEPT DOCUMENTS

LIKE THIS?

• WHY WOULD JAMES H. GOODING LIE ABOUT BEING BORN INTO SLAVERY IN NORTH

CAROLINA? WOULD YOU HAVE DONE THE SAME?

LAMSON OF THE GETTYSBURGWRITTEN BY ROSWELL LAMSON

EDITED BY JAMES M. MCPHERSON AND PATRICIA R. MCPHERSON

THE LETTER

ROSWELL TO FLORA

U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY

MARCH 22, 1861

. . . WHEN I KNEW YOU WERE IN WASHINGTON I CAST MANY WISHFUL GLANCES AT THE

WALLS, AND DID WISH MYSELF BEYOND THEM MOST INTENSELY. . . . I SHOULD HAVE ENJOYED

THE OPERA WITH YOU VERY MUCH. . . . I FULLY RECIPROCATE YOUR PATRIOTIC SENTIMENTS, AND

AS FOR THE "FLAG," WHY I HOPE TO LIVE AND DIE UNDER IT AND SHALL BE MOST HAPPY IF I

CAN CONTRIBUTE EVEN IN A SMALL DEGREE TO ITS PROSPERITY AND GLORY. EVERYTHING HERE

IS IN STATU QUO, WE ARE AWAITING THE DEVELOPMENT OF EVENTS, ALL READY TO TAKE THE

CONSTITUTION TO SEA IF NECESSARY, IN THE MEANTIME PURSUING OUR STUDIES AND DUTIES

AS USUAL. IF THERE IS NOT FURTHER TROUBLE WE SHALL GO TO SEA IN THE SLOOP OF WAR

PLYMOUTH1 IN JUNE.

https://www.questia.com/read/62419204/lamson-of-the-gettysburg-the-civil-war-letters-of#1

WHO WAS THE AUTHOR

• THE AUTHOR OF THE LETTERS WERE LIEUTENANT ROSWELL H LAMSON. ROSWELL

WAS BORN MARCH 30, 1838 IN BURLINGTON, IOWA. HE GRADUATED THE UNITED

STATES NAVEL ACADEMY SEPTEMBER 20, 1858 WITH THE RANK OF ACTING-

MIDSHIPMAN AND THEN HE COMPLETED TRAINING AND GOT TO SEE ACTION IN

THE CIVIL WAR. HE WROTE SEVERAL LETTERS TO COMMUNICATE WITH FRIENDS

WHILE HE SERVED IN THE NAVY. SADLY HE PASSED ON AUGUST 14, 1903 IN

PORTLAND, OREGON.

WHO WAS THE LETTER INTENDED FOR

• ROSWELL WROTE TO FLORA IN THIS LETTER AND TALKED ABOUT HOW HE REGRETTED NOT

SEEING HER. AT THIS TIME HE WAS ALSO STILL IN TRAINING, SO HE WAS WRITING FROM THE

ACADEMY. IT SEEMS HE WROTE THE LETTER TO THANK FOR THE FLAG AND HER GRATITUDE. HE

ALSO STATED HE WANTED TO SERVE THE COUNTRY IN A WAY OF SAYING THANK YO TO THE

NATION.

WHEN THE LETTER WAS WRITTEN? IS THERE BIAS IN THE LETTER?

• THERE WAS NOT A BIAS BECAUSE IF YOU READ THE LETTER HE DOESN’T STATE THAT ANYTHING

IS UNFAIR.

• THE LETTER WAS WRITTEN MARCH 22, 1861 BUT THE WHOLE BOOK WAS PUBLISHED JULY 22,

1999.

OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS

• IF THIS WAS WROTE TO YOU HOW WOULD YOU REACT?

• WHAT DO YOU THINK HE MEANT BY “I CAST MANY WISHFUL GLANCES AT THE WALLS, AND

DID WISH MYSELF BEYOND THEM?”

• HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A SITUATION WHERE YOU WOULD SEND THE QUOTE ABOVE TO

SOMEBODY?

DEAR SISTER

THE CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF THE BROTHERS GOULD

WRITTEN BY JAMES GOULD

THE LETTER

CAMP BLISS [ VIRGINIA]

NOV. 20TH 1862 [THURSDAY]

DEAR SISTER,

I WILL NOW TRY TO ANSWER YOUR LAST LETTER. I RECEIVED IT LAST THURSDAY. I WAS GLAD TO HEAR THAT YOU WAS WELL. I AM WELL

AND I HOPE THESE FEW LINES WILL FIND YOU THE SAME. I SAW NICK LAST NIGHT. HE IS GOING TO WRITE TO YOU TO DAY. WE HAD SOME

RAIN HERE LAST NIGHT. JUST ENOUGH TO MAKE IT SLIPPERY. THE WIND IS IN THE NORTH WEST THIS MORNING AND IT IS GETTING COLDER.

WE HAVE SUDDEN CHANGES IN THE WEATHER HERE. IT WILL BE WARM ONE DAY AND THE NEXT DAY VERY COLD, SO IT IS VERY UNHEALTHY

HERE. THERE IS ABOUT ONE FORTH OF OUR REGIMENT SICK AND UNFIT FOR DUTY. TWO OF MY TENT MATES IS SICK. THEY HAVE GOT VERY

BAD COLDS. WILLIAM IS TROUBLED WITH THE SORE THROAT. THERE IS NOT MUCH FIGHTING AT PRESENT. I WISH THE[Y] WOULD GO TO

FIGHTING AND NOT STAY DOWN HERE AND LET THE MEN ALL DIE OFF WITHOUT FIGHTING FOR THERE COUNTRY. FOR MY PART I WOULD

LIKE TO GO TO FIGHTING AND GET THROUGH WITH IT, AND THEN IF I LIVE THROUGH IT I COULD COME HOME AND, IF I DID NOT LIVE THEN

I SHOULD NOT WANT TO COME HOME, BUT IF WE LAY IDLE HERE THIS WINTER THERE WILL BE ONE HALF OF US THAT WILL BE UNFIT FOR

DUTY. LEAVE OUT THEM THAT WILL DIE THIS WINTER, AND THEN WHEN SPRING COMES WE THAT ARE ALIVE AND WELL WILL HAVE TO FIGHT,

SO I WOULD RATHER DO THE FIGHTING NOW AND COME HOME IN THE SPRING. IF THE LORD WILL AND IF HE SEES FIT TO NUMBER ME

WITH THE MANY THOUSANDS THAT WILL FALL IN BATTLE OR DIE BY DISEASE, MAY THE LORD PREPARE ME FOR ETERNAL LIFE BEYOND THE

GRAVE. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU ALL, BUT IF I COULD COME HOME AND STAY TWO OR THREE WEEKS I WOULD NOT DO IT, FOR I SHOULD

HATE TO PART WITH MY FRIENDS [FAMILY] AGAIN. I HOPE THE WAR WILL CLOSE BY SPRING, BUT IT MAY NOT FOR I THOUGHT ONE YEAR

AGO THAT IT WOULD BE CLOSED BEFORE THIS TIME. I SHALL HAVE TO BRING MY LETTER TO CLOSE. YOU MUST EXCUSE MY SHORT LETTER.

GOOD BY WITH MY LETTER, NOT WITH MY HART. KISS LOISA [GERTRUDE] FOR ME AND TELL HER THAT UNCLE JIM WILL NOT FORGET HER AS

LONG AS HE LIVES. WRITE WHEN YOU GET THIS, HANNAH, FROM YOUR BROTHER, JAMES GOULD

WHO WAS THE AUTHOR

• JAMES GOULD WAS BORN IN 1835. HE HAD FOUR OTHER BROTHERS AND ONE SISTER. JAMES

WENT TO HANCOCK, NEW YORK. THERE HE JOINED A DELAWARE COUNTY REGIMENT. IN

AUGUST 1862 HE JOINED COMPANY F, 144 NEW YORK VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. JAMES WAS

TWENTY-SIX AND WILLIAM TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE AT THE TIME. JAMES MARRIED IN 1860

AT AGE TWENTY-FOUR AND MARRIED MARY HUGHS ON MARCH 4, 1860. THEIR DAUGHTER

MARTHA, OFTEN CALLED LIBBIE, ARRIVED BEFORE JAMES ENLISTED. JAMES GOULD DIED 1881.

WHEN WAS THE LETTER WRITTEN?WAS THERE A BIAS? WHO WAS THE INTENDED

AUDIENCE?

• THIS LETTER WAS WRITTEN NOVEMBER 20, 1862 BUT IT WAS PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 24, 1998

• THERE WAS NO BIAS IN THIS LETTER. AS YOU CAN SEE HE DIDN’T STATE AN OPINION OF

SOMETHING BEING UNFAIR.

• HIS SISTER WAS THE PERSON INTENDED TO READ THIS LETTER.

OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS

• HOW DO YOU THINK HIS SISTER FELT AFTER READING THIS LETTER?

• IF YOU WERE PUT IN JAMES’ PLACE HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT WHAT HE HAD TO DEAL

WITH?

• WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO LIVE WITHOUT YOUR FAMILY LIKE MOST SOLDIERS HAD TO?

SOURCES SITED

• HTTPS://WWW.QUESTIA.COM/READ/6482939/DEAR-SISTER-THE-CIVIL-WAR-LETTERS-OF-THE-

BROTHERS

• HTTP://CIVILWAR.WIKIA.COM/WIKI/ROSWELL_LAMSON

• HTTPS://WWW.NPS.GOV/ANDE/LEARN/HISTORYCULTURE/J-H-GOODING.HTM

https://www.questia.com/read/6482939/dear-sister-the-civil-war-letters-of-the-brothershttp://civilwar.wikia.com/wiki/Roswell_Lamsonhttps://www.nps.gov/ande/learn/historyculture/j-h-gooding.htm