Union victory in the Civil War was far from guaranteed. The Northern war effort depended upon local communities to raise the troops and supplies needed for the battlefield. The history of Litchfield County highlights the challenges Northern communities faced. Armed confrontation erupted over the flying of secession flags. Supporting the war effort provided women with skills and experiences that would aid in the suffrage movement. Scandal swirled around the local army medical examiner. Family and friends actively supported their loved ones as they transformed from civilians to soldiers. Author Peter C. Vermilyea uses first-hand accounts-many never published before-to investigate these events and show how the process of preparing for war created a lasting bond between a community and its soldiers.

Local historian Peter C. Vermilyea tells stories of some forgotten moments in Litchfield County, CT from Native American legends to Cold War relics. Traces of Litchfield County's past are hidden in plain sight. Vestiges of long-abandoned railroad tracks crisscross the county while a decaying and unmarked cinder block structure in Warren is all that remains of a cornerstone of national defense. All but forgotten today, a fire roared through Winsted in 1908, causing residents to flee their rooms at the Odd Fellows boardinghouse. In Bantam, art deco chairs made by the Warren McArthur Corporation prompted the War Department to order bomber seats from the company during World War II. Author Peter C. Vermilyea explores these and other obscure tales from the history of Litchfield County, Connecticut.

Thieves, rumrunners and rapscallions all color the unsavory side of Litchfield County history. Townspeople accused women of witchcraft simply for not bearing enough children in the early days of the region. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Owen Sullivan and William Stuart took advantage of the county's isolated stretches and a currency shortage to build counterfeiting empires. In 1780, Barnett Davenport's brutal actions earned him infamy as the nation's first mass murderer. Small-time speakeasies slowly took hold, and the omnipresence of alcohol-fueled crime led to the birth of the nationwide prohibition movement. Local historian Peter C. Vermilyea explores these and other devilish tales from the seedier history of Litchfield County.

Historians have given much attention to the Civil War’s prominent players—its generals, politicians, and other public leaders—but they have devoted less attention to the common soldiers and civilians—the “plain folk”—who actively participated in the conflict. In his study of popular thought during the Civil War era, Randall C. Jimerson offers a grass-roots perspective on the war by examining the thoughts and ideas of these ordinary men and women. The Private Civil War derives much of its power from the author’s deft use of personal letters and diaries. Separated from home and family, virtually every soldier and many civilians wrote frequent and informative letters or recorded daily experiences and thoughts in journals. Jimerson has consulted a broad cross section of these documents, culling information from letters and diaries written by people from every state and from all social classes and military ranks. These documents, remarkable in many instances for their depth of feeling and eloquence, provide rich, detailed information about sectional perceptions and ideology as well as many private reflections.

Windham and Litchfield Counties are Connecticut's "bookends;" positioned, respectively, in the northeast and northwest corners of the State and separated at their closest borders by fewer than one hundred miles. In 1860, they were similar in many respects; largely agrarian, overwhelmingly white and primarily Congregationalist. Lincoln carried both counties in the 1860 election, but the outbreak of war saw a significant and influential faction of Copperhead dissenters in Litchfield. And while Windham's immediate reaction to the conflict was vocal, decisive and united, Litchfield's response was silence and inaction. This thesis addresses two questions: why did reactions to the war differ so drastically in Litchfield and Windham, and what circumstances created pro-Southern sympathies in Litchfield but not in Windham. It relies heavily on period newspapers; and also utilizes numerous county histories compiled between 1845 and 1920. These minutely detailed narratives were used as both primary and secondary sources, as their strong biases reflect the values and prejudices of their subject communities at the times they were written. With an eye toward tracing the evolution of local political thought and social consciousness, the study examines the histories of Windham and Litchfield, focusing on five key elements: demographics of early settlement; the affect of Congregationalism on the introduction and growth of religious diversity; the Revolutionary War; the demise of Federalism and issues of race and slavery within the context of the abolitionist movement. It also considers topography as it related to each community's ability to travel and access information. The thesis finds that the conditions of their earliest settlements caused a tradition of unquestioned conservatism to develop in Litchfield that rendered the County homogeneously Congregationalist until well into the mid-nineteenth century. In Windham, the religious diversity generated by the Great Awakenings lent itself to questioning authority and acceptance of more liberal thought within the community. This religious diversity also contributed to the growth of abolitionism in Windham, although the primary catalyst was outrage over the persecution of Prudence Crandall and the fear of outside indignation. Participation in the Revolutionary War had a strong unifying effect in northeastern Connecticut, which did not develop in Litchfield County due to its isolated location and the presence of a strong Tory faction. Bitterness over the demise of Federalism in the Jeffersonian Period further reinforced conservative tradition in Litchfield among the upper socioeconomic class; while in Windham the absence of any significant wealthy upper class -- and a vocal non-Congregational minority -- allowed the community to complete the transition more quickly, with less rancor and less polarization. These divergences in local history shaped local political thought, the emotional community and, ultimately, response to the Civil War. As scholars turn to the more narrow lenses of race, gender and class to better understand America's bloodiest conflict, it is important to move beyond the simple questions of political partisanship and the presence or absence of abolitionism and determine why these attitudes existed. Answering these questions is crucial to understanding and accepting our past, in fact, rather then propagating a version of history that suits our twenty-first century sensibilities. Ultimately, these answers will help to illustrate how local history and community perceptions customized the issues faced by all Connecticut citizens -- and all Americans -- throughout the Civil War.

The Eighth Connecticut Infantry was one of the longest-serving Union volunteer regiments in the Civil War and saw action throughout the Eastern Theater, from Burnside's expedition in North Carolina to the battles at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Cold Harbor and Petersburg, and campaigns throughout Virginia. Drawing on soldiers' letters and diaries, this first-ever regimental history of the Eighth chronicles four years of combat service, with maps newly created from historical accounts.

“Serves as a model of what a state-level survey of the Civil War can achieve . . . a potent combination of description and analysis.” —The Civil War Monitor Connecticut in the American Civil War offers a remarkable window into the state’s involvement in a conflict that challenged and defined the unity of a nation. The arc of the war is traced through the many facets and stories of battlefield, home front, and factory. Matthew Warshauer masterfully reveals the varied attitudes toward slavery and race before, during, and after the war; Connecticut’s reaction to the firing on Fort Sumter; the dissent in the state over whether or not the sword and musket should be raised against the South; the raising of troops; the sacrifice of those who served on the front and at home; and the need for closure after the war. This book is a concise, amazing account of a complex and troubling war. No one interested in this period of American history can afford to miss reading this important contribution to our national and local stories.

Stories of New England soldiers who perished in this bloody battle, based on their diaries and letters. The Battle of Antietam, in September 1862, was the single bloodiest day of the Civil War. In the intense conflict and its aftermath across the farm fields and woodlots near Sharpsburg, Maryland, more than two hundred men from Connecticut died. Their grave sites are scattered throughout the Nutmeg State, from Willington to Madison and Brooklyn to Bristol. Here, author John Banks chronicles their mostly forgotten stories using diaries, pension records, and soldiers’ letters. Learn of Henry Adams, a twenty-two-year-old private from East Windsor who lay incapacitated in a cornfield for nearly two days before he was found; Private Horace Lay of Hartford, who died with his wife by his side in a small church that served as a hospital after the battle; and Captain Frederick Barber of Manchester, who survived a field operation only to die days later. This book tells the stories of these and many more brave Yankees who fought in the fields of Antietam. Includes photos