The Greatest Trials I Ever Had: The Civil War Letters of Margaret and Thomas Cahill

This edited collection of Civil War correspondence between Col. Thomas Cahill and his wife, Margaret, offers a rare glimpse into the symbiotic relationship between soldiers and their home communities. In the only substantial extant collection of letters from an Irish American woman on the northern home front, Margaret’s pivotal role as a go-between in the financial affairs of men in the regiment and their wives is made evident, as is the broader interplay between the community of New Haven,...