“Hard Tack, Salt Pork and Faith”: Middlesex Soldiers and the Civil War

The Civil War took place over 14 decades ago, hundreds of miles distant from Connecticut. Yet few families in the area were left untouched by the conflict. Middletown alone sent off to war more than 800 men, out a population of only 8,620. In all 111 died on the battlefield, of disease or in one of several Southern prisoner-of-war camps.

The experiences of local Union soldiers come vividly to life in a small but meaningful exhibition that juxtaposes the soldiers’ words with their belongings. Beside a blood-stained felt hat worn by Dr. Levi Jewett in 1864, is his description of battle’s terrors and his wounding. A charcoal portrait of 19-year-old George Meech in his Union uniform, holding a piece of hardtack, accompanies his diary describing the soldier’ s lot: “Got wet through, never slept a wink. Such is the life of a soldier.”

A worn shelter half, a stained haversack and scratched tin cups testify to their owners’ hardships in camp; a sword hilt nicked by a bullet speaks of battle’s dangers. Throughout are the letters and diaries and reminiscences of local men whose lives were forever changed by the bloody conflict.