Heritage Rediscovered
I am writing to express my appreciation for running the story about my great-grandfather, Johnadab Bowles, in the “Gallery” department of the June Civil War Times. Seeing that article in print was the culmination of a dream I have held in my heart for the last 13 years.
When I was a child my father tried to interest me in my family history as it related to the Civil War. He took us to Gettysburg and told about his grandfather fighting in Pickett’s Charge. To a 10-year-old girl this meant nothing. Finally he gave up talking about the war. I’m sure he was disappointed in me.
Shortly after dad’s death, my husband and I were watching a television program about the war. It suddenly hit me that I was here today because my great-grandfather survived when so many others didn’t. I decided then that I would learn as much as I could about my great-grandfather.
I obtained his military and pension records from the National Archives. My husband and I spent 10 days one summer exploring the battlefields where Johnadab fought. We started at Culpeper Court House and proceeded to the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Cold Harbor, Antietam and Gettysburg.
At each visitor center I contacted park rangers, who pulled out maps and showed me where the battery [2nd U.S. Artillery, Battery G] was located during the fighting there. It became an obsession for me. My original goal was to write the biography of John’s life. However, I have a terminal illness and feared I wouldn’t live long enough to see his story in print. When I was informed that his story would be in the June issue, I was ecstatic.
When Johnadab left his New York home in 1861 to join the war effort, his father gave him an 1857 dime and told him as long as he had that dime he would never be broke. Johnadab gave it to my grandfather with the same message.
In turn, my grandfather gave the dime to my father, telling him about all the places where it had traveled during the war, and shortly before his death my father passed it on to me. Whenever I think about all my ancestors who have held that dime, I am honored that it is now in my possession.
Thank you for making my dream of telling my relative’s story a reality.
Mary Bowles McBride
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Another Dixie Diarist
It was with great interest that I read the article “Dueling Diarists in Winchester” in the June 2006 “My War” department. After reading this article I was curious to reread what my favorite diarist of the war, Cornelia Peake McDonald, had to say on those very same days. Mrs. McDonald was also a resident of Winchester until she became a refugee in July 1863.
Her accounts add yet another layer to the information that Kate Sperry related on Confederate sympathies in Winchester. Her descriptions of the battle raging literally around her house are quite vivid. She goes on to describe the atmosphere in the town on the 16th of June:
Went to town to help make a Confederate flag out of two captured ones. Made it by the new pattern. White flag with the battle flag for the [Confederate] Union. We had to work hard for Gen. Ewell waited to see it float before he left for Pennsylvania. I stood on Mrs. Hopkins’ porch holding it up to see how it looked, when Mr. Williams passed. Men were going by, Yankees and all. “It is imprudent,” said Mr. Williams, “to let them see you with it.” I laughed at his fears, feeling so triumphant, and so secure that our army was there for good.
Shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg, Cornelia Peake McDonald, as well as her children, began new lives as refugees—she never again returned to her home in Winchester.
As a longtime subscriber to your magazine, I am always delighted to read about the lives of citizens who were affected by the conflict. I hope that you will consider having more articles along these lines in future issues.
Deborah Pomerantz
Fair Lawn, N.J.
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