Who were they?

I think about the civilians of the Civil War often. They had it rough. Not only did they have to hand over their loved ones to serve and fight in the war, but in many instances, they were forced to experience the war first hand. Often, these men, women and children were caught right in the middle of battle.

I was thinking these thoughts as I was walking around Harpers Ferry last week. For those who have never had the priviledge to go to Harpers Ferry, the National Park consists mostly of the lower town. As such, many of the buildings in this part of town (if not all of them) are owned by the NPS and are pretty much open to the public at any time. Most of these buildings are places where you can walk in the front door and stand in a little roped in area. What you see when you look into these buildings can only be described as stepping back in time. You can look into a room and see what shops looked like in the 1860's or someones living room or apartment, or just about anything. When I look into these glimpses into the past, I imagine what these shops and homes must have been like when things were bustling. I love to watch TV shows that are based on the 1800's. Mostly I watch (thanks to Netflix) Little House on the Prairie and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. As I look into these rooms, I picture the dry goods store to be the Olson's Mercantile or Loren Bray's General Store. I look into these homes and see the homes of the Ingall's, the Quinn/Cooper family, or any of the other characters in these homes. I see many people moving around inside these buildings....purchasing their food, shopping for yarn (to knit socks, of course), looking at bolt fabric, and children looking at the latest toys and yearning for some licorice sticks. What I see in my head is what I have seen on TV. I wonder what life was really like for these people? Life was tough, but life was so much simpler than it is today.

When the Civil War arrived, many of the civilians were forced to either leave their homes or to hide out in their basements. Neither plan was ideal. If you stayed in your basement, you ran the risk of getting hurt or worse, killed. If you left your home, you had a much higher chance of coming back to nothing. What do you do? They did both. And unfortunately, many people died in the process of doing both....not just at Harpers Ferry but at all the Civil War battlefields. These were innocent people.

As I walk around and look at these buildings...interiors and exteriors....I can't help but feel proud for these people. They worked hard and made themselves a life in which they were able to survive. But then the war came.....