Author Nick K. Adams will be appearing at the La Selva Beach Library on Friday, March 2, at noon to talk about his books featuring letters from his Great-Great Grandfather, Civil War soldier David Brainard Griffin.
What would a soldier write to his loved ones back home? What if that soldier was a Yankee fighting in the Civil War? And what if he never returned?
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My Dear Wife and Children: Civil War Letters from a 2nd Minnesota Volunteer offers a poignant look into that dark period in American history, when brother fought brother, and father fought son. These powerful, historical letters provide a fascinating insight into the everyday experiences of a common soldier fighting in the 1860s.
This true story of endurance and loss during the American Civil War opens with David Brainard Griffin’s farewell to his family, as he heads off to fight, promising to return to his farm in Minnesota. But Brainard never returns. His wife and their children, ages 7 years, 5 years, and 9 months, are left behind to run the farm on their own.
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Away at War is based on 100 letters Brainard wrote his family, mostly from Kentucky and Tennessee during his two years with the 2nd Minnesota. The letters ended with his death at the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia.
These letters were Griffin’s last mementos his family had to remember him by were preserved and handed down over the past 150 years. Adams presents further generations a wonderful legacy that will keep these letters alive forever.
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After retiring from a career in elementary education the author continues to speak at schools, libraries, service clubs, and Civil War Round Tables. Adams is also an avid Civil War re-enactor celebrating his great- great grandfather who wrote these letters as he fought to preserve the Union. Author website: www.Civil-War-Letters.com