Yours for the Union: The Civil War Letters of John W. Chase, First Massachusetts Light Artillery, gives voice to a soldier whose battles were fought as much in his consciousness as by his hands. His letters to his brother at home in Boston express his joys, triumphs, defeats, hopes and support of the Union.

Yours for the Union was co-edited by Chase’s great-great grandson, John S. Collier, and his wife, Bonnie Baldwin Collier ‘66. Bonnie Collier says, “We were given this collection of letters written in the 19th century that are now stored in our 21st century computer. We transcribed the letters into a digital format so that they could easily be shared with family and, perhaps, with a few historians.” The end result was the 464-page book published by Fordham University Press as part of the press’ series The North’s Civil War.

“We did considerable research in Washington and in New England to supplement the letters and to help put the letters in the context of the war,” said Bonnie Collier. “We organized the letters by campaigns, wrote chapter introductions, found relevant historical images, and drew maps of Chase’s travel routes during each campaign. Included in the 108 illustrations are copies of some of his letters and three photographs of Chase taken during the war. It was both a challenging and a satisfying endeavor.”

The Colliers edited the letters only by adding punctuation for easier reading. “We felt that these 172 letters provided an important source of unedited, unofficial and rather opinionated reflections of one common soldier,” says Bonnie Collier.

Long before the Colliers’ book, Chase’s letters had already proven their value to history. During the 1950s, Civil War historian Bruce Catton borrowed the letters and quoted Chase several times in his book, This Hallowed Ground.

A cabinetmaker, Chase was 36 when he enlisted in the First Massachusetts Light Artillery. He served from October 1861 until April 1865. He was a widower with four small children and a Northerner with a fierce loyalty to General George McClellan. He was a man who was trying to provide for his family while daily wrestling physically and mentally with the horrors of war. His writings show that he cherished letters from home, as they momentarily took him away from the difficulties of daily living, and that writing letters home kept him connected to those he missed.

Enclosing in one of his letters a magnolia blossom for a loved one, Chase wrote, “I don’t send this Magnolia for its beauty for that like mine has departed but you can get some Idea of the scent of them.”

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