About the Author
Missouri native Jeff
Toalson earned a BS in business management from Missouri
State University.
After the successful 2006 release of No Soap, No Pay,
Diarrhea, Dysentery & Desertion, a groundbreaking study
of life during the final sixteen months of the
Confederacy, Jeff began work on the wartime letters of
Richard and Mary Watkins.
He lives in Williamsburg, Virginia with his wife, Jan.
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Contact Jeff <-------------> Buy His Books from Amazon.com |
Now Available
Mama, I Am Yet Still Alive: A Composite Diary of 1863 in the Confederacy
Mama, I Am Yet Still Alive is a groundbreaking study of life in the Confederacy during 1863 and a companion volume to No Soap, No Pay, Diarrhea, Dysentery & Desertion.
Civil War studies normally focus on military battles, campaigns, generals and politicians, with the common Confederate soldiers and Southern civilians receiving only token mention. Using personal accounts from more than two hundred forty soldiers, farmers, clerks, nurses, sailors, farm girls, merchants, surgeons, chaplains and wives, author Jeff Toalson has created a compilation that is remarkable in its simplicity and stunning in its scope.
These soldiers and civilians wrote remarkable letters and kept astonishing diaries and journals. They discuss disease, slavery, inflation, religion, desertion, blockade running, and their never-ending hope that the war would end before their loved ones died. Most of these unpublished documents were made available by the Brewer Library of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
With this, his third significant contribution to Civil War literature, Jeff Toalson joins the select company of Thomas W. Cutrer and Bell I. Wiley as historians who have devoted their body of work to preserving the ‘voices’ of common Confederate soldiers and civilians.
Order a signed copy directly from the Author
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Send Me a Pair of Old Boots and Kiss My Little Girls:
The Civil War Letters of Richard and
Mary Watkins, 1861-1865
Toalson's April 2011 interview about this book. - Read Book Reviews
Between 1861 and 1865, Confederate Captain Richard Watkins and his wife Mary exchanged detailed and heartfelt letters. Richard had enlisted with Company K of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry after Virginia seceded from the Union. Mary remained living near Meherrin, (Prince Edward County) Virginia raising their three daughters and managing the farm. Sharing their letters with future generations was likely something the pair never envisioned.
Editor Jeff Toalson, however, discovered, transcribed and annotated this extraordinary rare collection of more than 300 unpublished letters. Held by the Virginia Historical Society, the letters convey detailed information about the war and daily life during a critical time in our nation’s history. Unlike military accounts of Civil War maneuvers and battles, the letters bring a clear sense of humanity to the conflict and its affects on those who lived through the time.
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Richard and Mary’s letters are touching and intriguing, weaving both a love story and an intense eyewitness account of the war. All of the major campaigns in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania are covered. Jeff’s editing and attention to detail bring this heart-warming and engaging story to life. Despite the hardships, fears, disease and separation, you’ll be fascinated by the humor, depth and the stark realities of the Watkins’s lives. Author Jeff Toalson shown above at left as "Richard Watkins" |
“The letters of Richard and
Mary Watkins are a treasure. A rare perspective offering
tremendous insight into the daily life of both as they
struggle with the hardships of war, farm operations and
family concerns. A must read.”
- Neal Wixson, editor,
Echoes from the Boys of
Company H
Read also the Books in STYLE - Review by Jean C. Keating and the United Daughters of the Confederacy Book Review
Order a signed copy directly from the Author
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No Soap, No Pay, Diarrhea, Dysentery & Desertion: A Composite Diary of the Last 16 Months of the Confederacy from 1864 to 1865
No Soap, No
Pay, Diarrhea, Dysentery & Desertion is a groundbreaking
study of life during the final sixteen months of the
Confederacy.
Civil War studies normally focus on military battles,
campaigns, generals, and politicians, with the common
Confederate soldier and Southern civilians receiving only
token mention. Using personal accounts from more than two
hundred seventy soldiers, farmers, clerks, surgeons,
sailors, chaplains, farm girls, nurses, nuns, merchants,
teachers and wives, author Jeff Toalson has created a
compilation that is remarkable in its simplicity and
stunning in its scope.
These soldiers and civilians wrote remarkable letters and
kept astonishing diaries and journals. They discussed
disease, slavery, inflation, religion, desertion, blockade
running, and their never-ending hope that the war would be
over before their loved ones died. As in all wars, these are
the people who suffer the most—and glory is hard to find
amid lice, dysentery, starvation, and death.
A significant contribution to Civil War literature, No Soap,
No Pay, Diarrhea, Dysentery & Desertion will open vistas to
a side of the war with which most are only mildly familiar.
The words of these individuals are an honest, powerful, and
poetic portrayal of the war’s effect on their lives.
Order a signed copy directly from the Author
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