Overview

A rare glimpse into the life of one young man who chose not to fight Nearly three million white men of military age remained in the North during the Civil War, some attending institutions of higher learning. College life during the Civil War has received remarkably little close attention, however, in part because of the lack of published collections of letters and diaries by students during the war. In Untouched by the Conflict, Jonathan W. White and Daniel Glenn seek to fill that gap by presenting the unabridged letters of Singleton Ashenfelter, a student at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, to his closest friend at home near Philadelphia. Ashenfelter was arrogant, erudite, witty, impulsive, self-interested, reflective, and deeply intellectual. His voice is like none other in the published primary source literature of the Civil War era. Following the war, he became a newspaper editor and the US attorney for the Territory of New Mexico. The letters' recipient, Samuel W. Pennypacker, went on to become the 23rd governor of Pennsylvania. Covering the years 1862–1865, Ashenfelter's correspondence offers a rich, introspective view into the concerns and experiences of a young, middle-class white man who chose not to enlist. His letters reveal, too, the inner world of a circle of friends while they mature into adulthood as he touches on topics of interest to scholars of 19th-century America, including romance, religion, education, social life, friendship, family, and the war.

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9781606353837

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"""A delight to read, Singleton Ashenfelter's letters help to demystify intellectual and cultural life at colleges. Those of us researching and teaching about 19th-century students long have suffered from a dearth of published sources. Jonathan W. White and Daniel Glenn's transcribed and annotated edition gives us an accessible and satisfying entry into that hidden world. Students and historians of higher education, the Civil War home front, youth, religion, sexuality, and male friendship will learn much here.""—Michael David Cohen, author of Reconstructing the Campus: Higher Education and the American Civil War ""In a field awash in combat literature, White and Glenn present a rare and candid look into the daily life and challenges of the home front through the eyes of a college youth teetering on manhood. The Ashenfelter letters are a study of midcentury masculinity, while also offering insight into courtship, friendship, personal behaviors, intellectual curiosity, and an uneven maturation. The author prides himself on being thoughtful, but not studious, preferring partying and pranks to classroom preparation. This carefully edited volume is a must-read for those interested in a 'coming of age' saga from the perspective of one of thousands of young men for whom the bloodshed of the Civil War occurred on the margins of their lives.""—John M. Belohlavek, University of South Florida ""In recovering and contextualizing the letters of Singleton Ashenfelter, Jonathan White and Daniel Glenn have provided a wonderful education in 19th-century college life and the singular importance of friendship for young men like Ashenfelter and his friend Sam Pennypacker, men with ambition and hope for the future but no certainty about what it held for them. This is a gift to students and scholars alike.""—Nicholas L. Syrett, author of The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities"

A delight to read, Singleton Ashenfelter's letters help to demystify intellectual and cultural life at colleges. Those of us researching and teaching about 19th-century students long have suffered from a dearth of published sources. Jonathan W. White and Daniel Glenn's transcribed and annotated edition gives us an accessible and satisfying entry into that hidden world. Students and historians of higher education, the Civil War home front, youth, religion, sexuality, and male friendship will learn much here. --Michael David Cohen, author of Reconstructing the Campus: Higher Education and the American Civil War In a field awash in combat literature, White and Glenn present a rare and candid look into the daily life and challenges of the home front through the eyes of a college youth teetering on manhood. The Ashenfelter letters are a study of midcentury masculinity, while also offering insight into courtship, friendship, personal behaviors, intellectual curiosity, and an uneven maturation. The author prides himself on being thoughtful, but not studious, preferring partying and pranks to classroom preparation. This carefully edited volume is a must-read for those interested in a 'coming of age' saga from the perspective of one of thousands of young men for whom the bloodshed of the Civil War occurred on the margins of their lives. --John M. Belohlavek, University of South Florida In recovering and contextualizing the letters of Singleton Ashenfelter, Jonathan White and Daniel Glenn have provided a wonderful education in 19th-century college life and the singular importance of friendship for young men like Ashenfelter and his friend Sam Pennypacker, men with ambition and hope for the future but no certainty about what it held for them. This is a gift to students and scholars alike. --Nicholas L. Syrett, author of The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities

Author Information

"Jonathan W. White is associate professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University and is the author or editor of nine books, including ""Our Little Monitor"": The Greatest Invention of the Civil War, with Anna Gibson Holloway. Daniel Glenn is the author of several articles on the Civil War era that have appeared in Military Images, the Federal Lawyer, and Civil War Navy."

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