In letters to his wife Mandy, Pvt. Thomas Marion Shields rarely talked about his life as a soldier in the Civil War.
"He never really mentioned the sights, the sounds, and the horrors that must have gone on during that terrible time,” according to his great granddaughter, Columbia’s Aliene Shields, who has penned a book based on the letters that Shields wrote to Mandy from 1861 to 1865. “He gave her advice about how to stay alive—when to plant, harvest, fertilize— his concern was that she never feel uneasy".
It was this rare glimpse into the everyday life of an ordinary soldier that made Aliene Shields, along with co–author Mac Wyckoff, want to document the life and quiet example set by her great grandfather, who was wounded in combat three times, imprisoned, and suffered greatly during the War Between the States.
Rather than simply presenting the letters alone, everything is explained, both in footnotes that clear up confusing language and dates, and with chapters that provide historical context, provided by co–author Wyckoff.
The book outlines the soldier’s trials as he travels through seven states during the war, is wounded three times, goes AWOL in order to attend to Mandy during the birth of their daughter, is imprisoned, and continues to return to service after each event.
On every letter, Shields includes the location and the date, and faithfully signs them, “I remain your husband tell death.”
He probably had about a fifth grade education, so a lot of the words were written as you would hear them.
In a rare glimpse into the suffering of a typical soldier, Shields tells his wife of walking barefoot on a 150–mile march to Gettysburg for the historic, bloody battle that was the turning point of the war.
On March 2, 1865, Shields was captured by the Union Army and held for three days. He was allowed to return home after that, ending the war for Thomas Marion Shields.
He returned to his life of farming with Mandy, had five children, and died in his mid–70s. An ordinary life, perhaps, but one that Shields and Wyckoff believe should be documented.
His main concern was for his family, the farm, and their well–being, much more so than focusing on himself, even in his life of war: battles, wounds, illness, and death of brothers and friends.
Aliene Shields
is the great-granddaughter of Thomas Marion and Amanda Jane Steadman Shields and a life-long South Carolinian. She is a member of several organizations, including the Colonial Dames of the XVIIth Century, Daughters of the American Revolution, and United Daughters of the Confederacy. Ms. Shields inherited twenty-eight letters written by her great-grandfather, during "The War" (1861-1865), to his grandmother. She gives Living History presentations using the content of these letters.
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Mac Wyckoff
is a retired historian from the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park Service and the leading professional authority on Richard Kirkland. Mac was responsible for researching and assembling the majority of source materials that were used in writing this book. His intellectual contributions to this project have been crucial.
Mac is in the process of writing a book on the 2nd South Carolina and “The Angel of Marye’s Heights Controversy.”
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