Overview

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. AUTHOR: Ronald D. Kirkwood is retired after a 40-year career as an editor and writer in newspapers and magazines, including USA TODAY, the Baltimore Sun, Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News, York (PA) Daily Record, and Midland (MI) Daily News. Ron edited national magazines for USA TODAY Sports and was NFL editor for USA TODAY Sports Weekly. He won state, regional, and national awards and managed the copy desk in Harrisburg when the newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012. Ron has been a Gettysburg Foundation docent at the George Spangler Farm Civil War Field Hospital Site since it opened in 2013. He is a native of Dowagiac/Sister Lakes, MI, and a graduate of Central Michigan University, where he has returned as guest speaker for journalism classes as part of the school's Hearst Visiting Professionals series. Ron and his wife of almost 50 years, Barbara, live in the deer-filled countryside near Murrysville, PA, just outside of Pittsburgh. 91 images, 7 maps

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9781611217063

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""Ronald Kirkwood's ""Tell Mother Not to Worry"" is a brilliantly researched and well-written book that will be of interest not only for those looking for information about lesser-known aspects of the Battle of Gettysburg, but about the human experience at a Civil War hospital as well. Too often, Civil War soldiers are presented as statistics; Kirkwood's work helps restore their humanity to a twenty-first century audience.""-- ""Emerging Civil War""

Author Information

Ronald D. Kirkwood is retired after a 40-year career as an editor and writer in newspapers and magazines, including USA TODAY, the Baltimore Sun, Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News, York (PA) Daily Record, and Midland (MI) Daily News. Ron edited national magazines for USA TODAY Sports and was NFL editor for USA TODAY Sports Weekly. He won state, regional, and national awards and managed the copy desk in Harrisburg when the newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012. Ron has been a Gettysburg Foundation docent at the George Spangler Farm Civil War Field Hospital Site since it opened in 2013. He is a native of Dowagiac/Sister Lakes, MI, and a graduate of Central Michigan University, where he has returned as guest speaker for journalism classes as part of the school's Hearst Visiting Professionals series. Ron and his wife of almost 50 years, Barbara, live in the deer-filled countryside near Murrysville, PA, just outside of Pittsburgh.

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