Go If You Think It Your Duty: A Minnesota Couple’s Civil War Letters
Edited by Andrea R. Foroughi
(September 2008 Civil War News)

Illustrated, notes, bibliography, appendix, index, hardcover, 296 pp., 2008. Minnesota Historical Society Press, C/O Chicago Distribution Center, 11030 South Langley Ave., Chicago, IL 60628, $32.95 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Jonathan A. Noyalas
Jonathan A. Noyalas is a history professor at Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Va., and the author or editor of four books on Civil War era history.

Review:
As sectional tensions escalated to military conflict in the spring of 1861 thousands of men eager to fight for their cause rushed to sign muster rolls and take part in America’s great Iliad. For thousands it was an impulsive decision to enlist, but for thousands more it was a decision that merited consideration on how joining the war effort would impact their families.

The thought of leaving a wife behind plagued many men, but eventually a sense of duty convinced them to leave their homes and fight for their nation. Among the throngs of couples who confronted this difficult choice in the spring of 1861 was James Madison Bowler and his wife Elizabeth whose wartime correspondence appears in Andrea R. Foroughi’s splendidly edited volume Go If You Think it Your Duty: A Minnesota Couple’s Civil War Letters.

 Foroughi, an associate professor of history at New York’s Union College, has compiled more than 200 letters from the Bowlers that are currently housed in the manuscript collections of the Minnesota State Historical Society. Professor Foroughi provides an introduction wherein she succinctly outlines Bowler’s military service with the 3rd Minnesota Infantry and with the 113th United States Colored Troops.

After ably providing historical context Foroughi has divided the massive collection of letters into seven manageable chapters. Although the editor includes brief introductions with each chapter and uses explanatory footnotes, her editorial style is not cumbersome and allows the documents to take center stage.

Bowler’s letters to his wife shed light on operations of the 3rd Minnesota, which saw service primarily in Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas during the conflict. The regiment also participated, after its surrender to Confederate forces in Tennessee in July 1862, in the Dakota War later that summer along the Minnesota River.

James’ letters are full of valuable information on early war recruitment and motivations for enlistment. Militarily the letters do not offer much in the way of battle reflections as the 3rd Minnesota became predominantly a garrison regiment that occupied towns, most notably Little Rock, Ark. The regiment occupied Little Rock from September 1863 until the war’s conclusion. The letters also shed some light on the recruitment of the 113th USCT of which James became major near the war’s end.

Although the value of James’ letters comes largely in offering insight into what occupying armies had to contend with, his letters also offer a window into the personal hardships that soldiers confronted in being away from home. Throughout four years of war James and Elizabeth spent only 12 weeks together.

While James’ letters offer insight into the frustrations he felt being away from home, this volume includes the responses to many of James’ letters by Elizabeth — illustrating the impact the war had on the Northern home front. Elizabeth’s letters are fraught with frustration and longing for James’ safe return. Aside from the personal struggles Elizabeth’s letters offer insight into the various patriotic efforts of Northern women to support the war effort.

Go If You Think it Your Duty has tremendous value. Civil War historians who deal primarily with battles will find this volume of limited interest, but for more socially-minded Civil War historians this volume is a treasure trove for understanding life during occupations and the impact of the war on the Northern home front.