Love and War

The Civil War Letters and Medicinal Book of Augustus V. Ball

Edited by Donald S. Frazier and Andrew Hillhouse

Compiled by Anne Ball Ryals

Introduction by Donald S. Frazier

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2011 Award of Merit by the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) Leadership in History Awards.

Love and War: The Civil War Letters and Medicinal Book of Augustus V. Ball is not a typical Civil War letter collection. Ball's circumstances and experiences allowed him to glimpse the war through two sets of eyes, that of a loving husband, and of an increasingly disillusioned physician.

The inclusion of Ball's medicinal recipe book is the first of its kind to appear in print completely annotated. Readers will find themselves not only sympathetic to the struggles of one newlywed couple, but educated about the medical and herbal lore of that era.

During the war, Ball and his wife, Argent, managed to stay in contact, not only with each other, but with their various friends and family throughout the South. Ball's letters home give an account of one man's experiences in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the Civil War with the Twenty-third Texas Cavalry, and later with McMahan's Light Artillery Battery. The mail he and his wife received from others a cross-section of the Southern experience in general.

About the Author

DONALD S. FRAZIER is Professor of History at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas. He is the award-winning author of three books on the Civil War, including Blood and Treasure: Confederate Empire in the Southwest; Cottonclads! The Battle of Galveston and the Defense of the Texas Coast; and Fire in the Cane Field: The Federal Invasion of Louisiana and Texas, January 1861-January 1863. His other work includes serving as co-author of Frontier Texas, Historic Abilene, The Texas You Expect, Abilene Landmarks, as well as general editor of The United States and Mexico at War.

ANDREW HILLHOUSE, is a recent graduate of the University of Missouri in Columbia with a Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, where he sought to determine genetic and hormonal factors that contribute to Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

ANNE BALL RYALS trained at the Dental School, University of Alabama-Birmingham, she taught Dental Assistanting in the first accredited school for Dental Assistants in the United States, located in the Vocational Department of the Birmingham School System. She received her Masters Degree in Elementary Education and taught at Maxwell Air Force Base until retirement.

Reviews

"...with its extensive, authoritative annotations and chapter introductions, this volume is a fine addition to studies of Civil War Texas, one that anyone examining the war in the Trans-Mississippi West will want to peruse. In addition, the appended medicinal book provides an intriguing tour of botanical remedies of the era."

Published by State House Press

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