Early Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

This is from a collection of letters in the N.C. Archives, written by J.F. Shaffner, Surgeon of the 4th N.C.T. His fiance's cousin Alf had been wounded severely in the arm and was home on furlough. Date is September 13th, 1864.

I had a letter from your cousin Alf a few days ago, answered it yesterday. He complains of having occasional “restless spells”, and proposes a visit to the Army is palliative. 

I wonder if his spells of restlessness were because he could'nt adjust back to civilian life, or even being away from the army. Alf's thinking that a visit to the army would help maybe verifies this. Or he possibly had that feeling that is read about in personal accounts of World War 2 soldiers, the feeling of not wanting to be away from buddies, not letting them down, etc. Anyway I thought it was interesting. "Restless spells", possible PTSD?

Winter Quarters

During my visit to the Archives this past Saturday, I was browsing through the John B. Chesson papers. In one particular letter one of Chesson's sons? wrote about preparations for winter quarters at Camp Potomac near Fredericksburg, VA. The 2nd North Carolina State Troops are mentioned, but I have not found a Chesson in the muster rolls for the regiment. Hmmm. Anyway here is what he had to say about winter quarters, written November 16, 1861. I had a hard time transcribing this letter. Penmanship was not this gents. forte nor punctuation. I will do some more searching and see if I can come up with this man's unit. Stay tuned.

The regiment has slightly scattered about the neighborhood erecting winter quarters when we can find the material I am myself however upon the old ground still with one of the companies I am still in a tent though I have dug a small cellar in one side of it and cut a fireplace out of the bank of earth thus obtained. When it does not smoke or let the wooden [illegible] or upper [illegible] afire it keeps me quite comfortable, and at night with all the bedding I can muster I find it difficult to keep tolerably warm. I have not yet tried the newspapers.