Journey back Inside The Blanket Fort this week as we revisit the book In Their Letters, in Their Words: Illinois Civil War Soldiers Write Home edited by Mark Flotow.
Written by soldiers who hailed from counties throughout the state, served in different branches of the military at different ranks, and represented a variety of social experiences, these letters provide a unique window into the soldiers’ daily lives. Extensive quotations reveal soldiers’ reasons for enlisting, the nature of their training, mundane details like food and sleep, slavery, disease, and more.
Blanket Fort Radio Theater is a storytelling initiative of SIU Press in collaboration with the SIU Creative Writing Program and WSIU Radio.