Jas. McWhirter Civil War Letter, Sumner Co., TN

Letter sent while encamped
at Camp Trousdale to:
James S. McWhirter
1837---18 Apr 1862 at Shiloh
24th TN Infantry, Co. E

"...these dead shall not have died in vain."
Abraham Lincoln, 1863

Isaac and Adaline (Miller) McWhirter's eldest son, James, who was reared by his step-mother Emaline Anderson (Tyree), was among those who were mustered into the Confederate Army. As of September 15, 1861, he was a member of the 24th Infantry Regiment, Company E, serving under Captain Baskerville, stationed at Camp Trousdale.
Here, at Camp Trousdale, troops anxiously awaited from the ranks above the orders that would send them to the battlefields to defend their glorious South. While encamped at Camp Trousdale, James spent nights thinking of home and hearth, of mother, brothers, and sisters, and of the beautiful young girls he had met at church socials. Twinges of homesickness intermingled with his feelings of deep-seated patriotism to his Southern heritage.
In these early years of the war, civilians were invited to visit the camps where fresh-faced young men dressed proudly in their bluish-grey finery bedecked with brass buttons and company insignias. Here, the chapperoned girls blushed as they passed rows of tents, smoldering campfires, and observed the young, strong men conducting maneuvers, drilling, eager to meet the enemy on the battlefield.
Here, by flickering lamplight, James composed letters to his family, expressing his curiosity of conditions at the homeplace and of family and friends. On one of these lonely nights, awaiting his participation on the battlefield, James penned a letter to his young female friend, Lucinda Stone, and asked if she, too, could come and visit the camp and bring with her stories of conditions of the folks at home. Lucinda eloquently replied:

"Castilian Springs Sept. 15th 1861
Mr. James McWhirter
Respected Sir, It is with pleasure that I avail myself of the present opportunity of answering yours of Sept. 11th which was recieved and read with pleasure but it came very unexpected to me for indeed I thought that I was quite forgotten by you but I am happy to think that I am not.

You seem anxious for me to visit Camp Trousdale. It has been my intention for sometime to visit the camp but having never met with a suitable opportunity I have delayed it till the present time but you may look for me before long for I feel deeply interested in the soldiers at Camp Trousdale more especialy those with whom I am acquainted. I am sorry to hear that there is so much sickness among the soldiers for it grieves me to the heart to hear of the death of one of our good brave southern men but it is God's will that it should be so and what can poor feeble man do with the great God of heaven and earth.

I have no news of interest to write to you at the present time I have just returned home from a visit to Lebanon. Times are very dull in Wilson County. I saw Captain Etherlys Company start from there yesterday morning there was a company started from there last Thursday and one on Sunday and there is another one making up. I expect they will start next week. I received a letter last Sunday from Brother Ben he is well at this time but he has been very sick indeed with the typhoid fever the doctor said that he was very low John Stone also has been very sick with the fever but is mending sloly Thomas Dickerson is well he writes that they are going to fortify at Evensport and that they expect to be in a battle every day I am very uneasy about them Cousin Tom writes that he expects to come home this winter and stay a while I do not know whether Ben is coming or not he is having such a nice time with the girls at Fredricksburg that I expect he had rather not leave them I expect he will marry and bring his lady home with him. But for fear I will weary your patience with writing so much so I will close for the present. Answer this immediately and write me all the news and believe me ever to be your sincere friend and well wishes.

Lucinda A. Stone
Mr. James McWhirter, in the care of Captain Baskerville, Camp Trousdale, Tenn."
James soon left the camp to join Southern troops as they met the North on the battlefield at Shiloh. James, a young man of only twenty-four, marched with other childhood friends and acquaintances to face the enemy. In the thick of the battle, he was viciously wounded in the arm and ordered to retreat to a field hospital, but refused; he pled to remain at the front with the other brave Southerners.
After the smoke and dust of battle had settled, he was taken to the hospital at Corinth, Mississippi where he lay and suffered for days until on April 18, 1862, he succumbed to death. At his side, a conscientious friend cut off a brass button from his coat and sent it to his grieving (step)mother, Emaline. James was laid to rest in the nearby field which was to become a monument to the fallen dead at Shiloh.
Emaline, James' step-mother, was said to have been sitting among the faithful gathered at church service at the Dry Fork Presbyterian Church when news was brought to her of her stepson's valiant death in battle. Not yet twenty-five, James S. McWhirter had not known the joy that marriage and fatherhood could bring, his name now joined the names of thousands whose lives were lost in the War Between the States.

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