The War Outside My Window: The Civil War Diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865

481 Pages·2018·33.741 MB·English

by  Janet Elizabeth Croon

The War
Outside My Window
The Civil War Diary of
LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860 - 1865
edited by
Janet Elizabeth Croon
Savas Beatie
California
© 2018 by Janet E. Croon
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Croon, Janet Elizabeth, author.
Title: The War Outside My Window: The Civil War Diary of Teenager LeRoy
Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865 / Janet Elizabeth Croon, ed.
Other titles: Civil War Diary of teenager LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865
Description: El Dorado Hills, California : Savas Beatie, [2018] | Includes index.
Identifiers:LCCN2018006100| ISBN 9781611213881 (hardcover:alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781611213898 (ebk)
Subjects:LCSH: Gresham, LeRoy Wiley, 1847-1865–Diaries. | United
States–History–Civil War, 1861-1865–Personal narratives, Confederate. |
Teenage boys–Confederate States of America–Diaries. | Teenage
boys–Georgia–Diaries. | Tuberculosis–Patients–Diaries. | Plantation
life–Georgia–Houston County. | Gresham family. | Macon
(Ga.)–History–Civil War, 1861-1865–Personal narratives. | Macon
(Ga.)–Social life and customs–19th century. | Macon (Ga.)–Biography.
Classification: LCC E605 .C94 2018 |DDC973.7/82–dc23
LC record available athttps://lccn.loc.gov/2018006100
ISBN (print): 978-1-61121-388-1
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-61121-389-8
First Edition, First Printing
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Proudly published, printed, and warehoused in the United States of America.
To my daughters Allison and Lauren,
and to all of my “other kids,” my South LakesSeahawkstudents.
May LeRoy inspire you to keep reaching for your best.
And to Dr. Dennis Rasbach,
for tirelessly working to solve the puzzle of LeRoy’s fatal disease.
Without his help, this book would not be as impactful
or important as it now is.
LeRoy Wiley Gresham at about 10 years old in 1857.
Library of Congress
Table of Contents
Publisher’s Preface
ix
Introduction
xv
A Medical Foreword
xxi
Dramatis Personae
xxiii
Map Gallery
xxxiv
Volume 1: June 12, 1860 – March 26, 1861
1
Volume 2: March 27, 1861 – August 1, 1861
17
Volume 3: August 2, 1861 –December 30, 1861
49
Volume 4:January 1, 1862 – December 31, 1862
99
Volume 5: January 1, 1863 – December 31, 1863
195
Volume 6: January 1, 1864 – January 8, 1865
279
Table of Contents(continued)
Volume 7: January 1, 1865 – June 8, 1865
369
LeRoy Wiley Gresham Obituary
402
Addendum. Parental Grief: A Letter from
Mary Eliza Baxter Gresham to Sarah Catherine Julia Baxter “Sallie” Bird
403
Postscript
409
A Medical Afterword
411
Note on Sources
423
Index
425
Acknowledgments
441
PHOTOS AND MAPS
Leroy Wiley Gresham (frontis)
A photo gallery follows page 250
A map gallery follows theDramatis Personae
Saturday night
MaconJany10/57~
My dear Mary.
Upon our return this afternoon from Houston I received your very
welcome letter and read the readable parts of it to our dear boys who were
delighted to hear from you. . . .
It was pretty hard work to keep warm last night, and the wind blew as it
only blows on this hill & in our room. Thomas slept with me, & LeRoy on
Minnie’s couch. He was heard from all night till was late before we had the
courage to reach our toilette this morning.
Thomas enjoyed himself finely killing birds in which he was quite
successful, and poor Loy seemed happy + cheerful, but was not disposed to
takemuchexerciseandremainedmostlyaboutthehouseandyard.Hestood
theridehomeverywell today + sang+ laughednearlyalltheway,whilemy
heart was aching with pain.
Icouldthinkoflittleelseandwouldoftenridewithmyarmsaroundhim—
pressinghimtome—howlittleheoranybutyouknewwhatIfelt.WhenIlost
myhurtboyinyourabsence—andsuchaboy—andhowtobreakthenewsto
you myself, I thought the trial severe, but this—who can tell the anguish—I
can’twriteaboutit+yetIcanwriteaboutnothingelse.PerhapsIwaswrongto
sayIwasperfectlymiserable.IhaveyetotherblessingsleftforwhichIwould
not be ungrateful. But my poor boy!!
...Itistimetogotochurch+willclosefortodaywiththeassuranceofmy
unchanging love and a promise of another letter soon.
Your devoted H.
J.J.G——
IshallletLoygotoschoolinthemorning,buttheDoctorswishtoexamine
him again before giving their advice. I think I should take him North before
long.

Publisher’s Preface
Until
thespringof2017,IhadneverheardofLeRoyWileyGresham.
Odds are you hadn’t either.
Jan Croon, a former teacher and friend on social media living and working in
northernVirginia,passedonalinktomeofa2012articlebyMichaelE.Ruaneinthe
Washington Post entitled “Invalid boy’s diary focus of Library of Congress Civil War
exhibit.” I receive articles like this almost daily, so I nearly skipped past it. What a
mistakethatwouldhavebeen.Iclickedthelinkandstartedreading.Thelengthystory
mesmerized me from the first few sentences.
The Library of Congress was featuring a large display of Civil War material to
mark its sesquicentennial, among them “Gresham’s little-known diary”—a
seven-volume account donated by the family in the 1980s. The writer was a nearly
bedriddenteenageboyfromawealthyslave-holdingfamilyinMacon,Georgia.Some
yearsearlierhehadbadlybrokenalegthatneverfullyhealed.Howhehadhurtitwasa
mystery left unaddressed.
LeRoy (or just “Loy” to his family) spent 1860-1865 recording what he read,
heard, observed, thought, felt, and experienced. He was a voracious reader and
devoured everything he could get his hands on, including Shakespeare and Charles
Dickens.Arithmeticandwordproblemsfascinatedhim,asdidrailroads,science,and
chess—agameheplayedateveryopportunity.Mostofhistimeoutsidewasspentina
smallcustom-builtwagon,pulledaroundtownbyaslaveabouthisownageorhisown
olderbrotherThomas.HislastdiaryentrywasJune9,1865.Hediedeightdayslater.
BythetimeIfinishedreadingthearticle,myfascinationwiththeyoungladhad
changed to one of curiosity. According to the Library of Congress, this remarkable
account had yet to be published. The article was five years old, so surely his diaries
werenowreadilyavailableinbookform.IsearchedtheInternetandfoundasecond
article,thisonewrittentwoyearslaterin2014bythesamereporterinthesamepaper