In the January 2008 issue, the article "Memorialized: Sam Davis, Boy Hero," the boyhood home is in Smyrna, Tennessee, not Georgia! Otherwise thank you so much for writing a great piece on Sam Davis.

Anita Teague
Executive Director, Sam Davis Home
Smyrna, Tennessee

Sharpsburg battle losses

In the September 2007 issue you highlighted the losses of William Roulette's farmstead, along with the document that detailed the inventory taken. I have a farm that has been in my family since 1858 near Sharpsburg as well. Dr. Thomas Maddox owned the property during the time of Antietam and the retreat of the Confederate army from Gettysburg to Williamsport, Maryland.

We own a similar document that itemizes the property taken by Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick's command while they were on the property during 1863, and family lore has it that the debt was never repaid by the U.S. government. My question is this: Is there a resource that can be contacted to see if, in fact, this debt was ever repaid? Thanks and I look forward to every issue!

Tom Alexander
Mount Pleasant, S.C.

Editor's note: Check the National Archives to determine whether a claim was filed. The Web site www.archives.gov provides instructions on how to request information.

Looking for Italian connections

I am a 27-year-old America's Civil War Italian subscriber, fond of the American Civil War since my first journey to the USA in 2002.

Recently I visited the Gettysburg battlefield and Richmond, Va., and heard something about the existence of a Northern unit dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi. Could you give me more information about the story of that unit and about the offer made by Lincoln to Garibaldi? Are there other links between my country and the Civil War? Could you suggest to me some meaningful books about this subject? Thank you for your good work! I look forward to reading your next issues!

Cosimo Fanfani
Rome, Italy

Editor's note: The Lincoln administration in 1861 offered Garibaldi a major general's commission in the Union army. Garibaldi responded that the only way he could serve would be as commander in chief and if the war's aim was declared to be abolition of slavery. While they failed to reach agreement, Garibaldi later praised Lincoln when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Italians fought for both the North and South in the American Civil War. One Northern unit, the 39th New York Infantry, was known as the "Garibaldi Guard." A useful book is The Italian-American Experience: An Encyclopedia (Kindle Reference Library of the Humanities, 2007).

Send letters to America's Civil War Editor, Weider History Group, 741 Miller Dr., SE, Suite D-2, Leesburg, VA 20175, or e-mail to acw@weiderhistorygroup.com. Please include your name, address and daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to