by Donald Allison & Michael Sutton
Experience romance and adversity in the Civil War through the eyes of a man who lived it, Lt. Col Luther Strong of Ohio.
For four years, Luther Strong wrote 44 heartfelt letters home as he courted his future wife, Mary Milliman. He grapples with his emotions as the initial adventure of war turns violent and bloody. Luther comes to know hardship, hunger, and grief, yet tries to find solace where he can – in nature, battlefield successes, and his budding relationship with Mary.
Intended at the time for Mary’s eyes only, Luther’s Letters take today’s readers back to the most tumultuous time in our nation’s history.
These letters are articulate and insightful, and a significant addition to Civil War scholarship. They help people of today feel in a very deep way the struggles of Americans during the War of the Rebellion.
When the Civil War erupted, Luther Strong was a young man studying at the Seneca County Academy in Republic, Ohio. In 1861, a few months after the war’s start, Luther decided he would volunteer for the Union army. He didn’t just volunteer, though; he worked to raise a company of 100 men himself. He was successful, and even though he was only 21, he was elected by the soldiers he recruited to be their captain.
Within days after leaving Ohio for the seat of war, which in this region in 1861 was in Kentucky, Luther wrote home to a young lady from Republic, Mary Milliman. We haven’t been able to learn exactly how they met or the details of their relationship before Luther left for the war, but it seems the academy where Luther was studying in Mary’s hometown played a role in how their paths crossed.
The fact that Luther wrote to Mary within days of leaving home tells us she was very much on his mind.
Courtship in that era tended to be very formal, and Luther’s letters definitely reflect that. He doesn’t come right out and state his affection for her in his writings, but reading between the lines, it is very apparent.
Luther’s letters, which have never before been published, are extremely important in two ways. One is the light that shines on a Victorian long-distance relationship. He gives clever hints about his jealousy when other young men vie for Mary’s attention, and tries to downplay jealousy she apparently revealed in her own letters when the shoe is on the other foot.
The difficult and regrettable part of the project has been the lack of any letters from Mary to Luther. He references those letters often, and how much he looks forward to her messages and appreciates them, and misses them when she hasn’t written in a while. The sad reality that her letters are lost to time makes sense. Mary could save Luther’s letters to her, but Luther would not have been able in the field to have saved hers to him.
Luther’s letters are also important because they offer deep insight into a man grappling with the hardships and sacrifices of war service. He writes in eloquent detail about the adversity and the loss of friends and family members in the army. He also grapples with the loneliness of being far from home, and his despair over a war that seems may never end.
With nearly 40 illustrations, notes, bibliography, and index.
- Release date: June 30, 2025
- 232 pages
- paperback