"Tell Mother Not to Worry"

Soldier Stories From Gettysburg's George Spangler Farm

Ronald D. Kirkwood

• Publisher: Savas Beatie
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781611217070
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

"Kirkwood's careful analysis of soldiers' letters and veterans' pensions powerfully highlights how the fighting at Gettysburg inaugurated a new and oftentimes lifelong struggle—for soldiers who survived their wounds, no less than their family members... Those interested in the long-term impact battle exacts on soldiers and their families will find this exemplary volume informative, powerful, and noteworthy." -The Civil War Monitor The George Spangler Farm in Gettysburg is a place of reverence. Nurses held the hands of dying soldiers and prayed and spoke last words with them amid the blood, stench, and agony of two hospitals. Heroic surgeons resolutely worked around the clock to save lives. Author Ronald D. Kirkwood's best-selling "Too Much for Human Endurance": The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg established the military and medical importance of the Spangler farm and hospitals. "Tell Mother Not to Worry": Soldier Stories From Gettysburg's George Spangler Farm is Ron's eagerly awaited sequel. Kirkwood researched thousands of pensions and military records, hospital files, letters, newspapers, and diaries of those present at the hospitals on Spangler land during and after the battle. The result is a deeper and richer understanding of what these men and women endured—suffering that often lingered for the rest of their lives. Their injuries and deaths, Yankee and Rebel alike, carried with it not only tragedy and sadness for parents, spouses, and children, but often financial devastation as well. "Tell Mother Not to Worry" profiles scores of additional soldiers and offers new information on events and experiences at the farm, including the mortally wounded Confederate Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead. This sequel also includes another chapter on the often-overlooked First Division, II Corps hospital at Granite Schoolhouse, a wounded list for that division, and a chapter on Col. Edward E. Cross, who died at Granite Schoolhouse in the middle of Spangler land. Kirkwood concludes by continuing the story of George and Elizabeth Spangler and their four children after the war and ends with an uplifting chapter on their modern-day descendants and how they were found after the release of "Too Much for Human Endurance." Kirkwood's sequel increases the understanding of the lives of the soldiers and their families and adds depth to the story of George and Elizabeth Spangler's farm.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Was Armistead Treated Unkindly at Spangler?
• Chapter 2: First Order of Business: The Shell Fragment in Fred Stowe’s Head
• Chapter 3: A Stumble Leads to Spangler: Pvt. James R. Middlebrook
• Chapter 4: Eight Men in a Tent: Part 1
• Chapter 4: Eight Men in a Tent: Part 2
• Chapter 6: Eight Men in a Tent: Part 3
• Chapter 7: The XI Corps Hospital
• Chapter 8: Captain Samuel M. Sprole Goes AWOL
• Chapter 9: Hidden History: The Granite Schoolhouse Hospital
• Chapter 10: Colonel Cross’ Death at the Granite Schoolhouse Hospital
• Chapter 11: Soldier Stories: The Loved Ones Left Behind
• Chapter 12: Letters Tell the Story of Pvt. James D. Quilliam
• Chapter 13: Powers Hill’s Important Place in U.S. History
• Chapter 14: Artillery Reserve Notes: Henry Hunt Chooses Spangler
• Chapter 15: A Fatal Shot in the Dark: Pvt. Joseph Beal, 33rd Massachusetts
• Chapter 16: Soldier Stories: Southerners
• Chapter 17: Soldier Stories: Northerners
• Chapter 18: The Spanglers Move on and Daniel Moves Away
• Chapter 19: The Spangler Descendants Today
• Appendix 1: The Spangler Farm Vernal Pool
• Appendix 2: Updates to the Wounded and Dead Lists
• Appendix 3: The Known Wounded at the First Division, II Corps Hospitals
• Appendix 4: The Eliakim Sherrill Collection
• Bibliography
• Index
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author