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‘Stunning’ Walt Whitman? Letter From A ?Dying Civil War Soldier Discovered

By Ny MaGee
Published on: 12:34 PST, Mar 12, 2016

A volunteer sorting through various Civil War files at the National Archives found a rare letter written by poet and essayist Walt Whitman for wounded soldier, Pvt. Robert N. Jabo of the 8th New Hampshire infantry. The letter was discovered last month while pension files for Civil War widows were being prepared to be digitized and placed online. The Fresno Bee notes that it “is one of three such wartime letters written by Walt Whitman known to exist.”

“It doesn’t get much bigger, in my eyes.” said Jackie Budell, an archive specialist who oversees the project. “It’s just simply stunning. … We’re not going to find another one like this, probably, for a while.”

Pvt. Jabo was dying of tuberculosis in Washington’s Harewood Hospital, he was also illiterate, so Whitman offered to write for him, as he did for many sick soldiers who wanted to send “parting thoughts” to concerned wives and family members. Jabo died in the hospital 11 months after the letter was written, The Washington Post reports.

Washington, Jan. 21, 1865(6)

My Dear Wife,

You must excuse me for not having written to you before. I have not been very well + did not feel much like writing – but I feel considerably better now – my complaint is an affection of the lungs. I am mustered out of service, but am not at present well enough to come home. I hope you will try to write back as soon as you receive this + let me know how you all are, how things are going on – let me know how it is with mother. I write this by means of a friend who is now sitting by my side + I hope it will be God’s will that we shall yet meet again. Well I send you all my love + must now close.

Your affectionate husband,
Nelson Jabo

Written by Walt Whitman
a friend.

Researchers have yet to find most of the original letters Walt claimed to have written for hundreds of soldiers that he visited in hospitals. However, many of his diary entries from his time during the war are collected in the book Memoranda During the War.

“He just literally visited people. And he bought stationery and he would bring it with him and he would offer to write letters home for them,” Jackie tells NPR’s Michel Martin. “I’m sure many of [the soldiers] kind of knew what was about to happen to them,” Budell says. “And so they didn’t want to worry family at home, but at the same time still wanted to give some parting thoughts to a wife or a mom who wondered where they were.”

The head of the National Archives agency, David S. Ferriero, sent a scan of the letter to Whitman scholar and handwriting expert Kenneth M. Price, at the University of Nebraska. Price examined it and noted the unique way Walt wrote letters and how he often used a plus sign instead of the word “and.” His signature in the letter resembles other Whitman signatures, Price said, according to reports.

Whitman’s work was deemed controversial and obscene at its time because his subject matter often dealt with bisexuality, humanism and realism. His most celebrated piece is his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was used as a plot device in the mid-season finale of season five of Breaking Bad. Whitman died on March 26, 1892, from complications of bronchial pneumonia. A public viewing of his body was held at his Camden, New Jersey home and over a thousand people visited. He was buried in a tomb he designed and had built on a lot in the historic Harleigh Cemetery. Walt is considered one of America’s most important and groundbreaking poets.

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Walt worked as a freelance journalist and visited wounded soldiers at New York City–area hospitals, and dispensed snacks and money. Whitman described his visits in an 1864 New York Times article.

“Many sick and wounded soldiers have not written home to parents, brothers, sisters, and even wives, for one reason or another, for a long, long time. Some are poor writers, some cannot get paper and envelopes; many have an aversion to writing because they dread to worry the folks at home — the facts about them are so sad to tell. I always encourage the men to write, and promptly write for them.”

“Hospitals during the Civil War were not a safe place to be, so it’s really very admirable that he chose to be a volunteer in the hospitals,” Budell says.

Walt Whitman’s letter will be housed in a vault at the National Archives, which preserves government and historical records, and other valuable documents.

[Images via Mathew Brady/ShutterStock]

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