Granddaddy Joe: Links In The Chain Of My Life

"I was thinking back to that day when I was at Seminary Ridge. I can still remember it clearly to this day. The bullets were flying all around me. Cannonballs were swooping past. I saw my cousin, George, killed right before my eyes. I ran with all my might, constantly firing. I followed Armistead over the wall. ….. The Federals were coming from everywhere. It was chaos. It was so loud from the bullets and cannons, but I think I was in shock because it seemed silent; everyone was running around, smoke was everywhere. Yet, I seemed numb, and then I fell to the ground. I felt a pain in my leg and looked down. There was blood gushing out of my leg! Oh, dear God, please don’t let me bleed to death! Then, they were upon me, my head was spinning, the bright sun caused a glare and I could not see faces. ..... " Excerpt from the book, Granddaddy Joe This chronicles the account of a young boy who, at the age of eighteen, went off to war to fight in the American Civil War. He was so young, why did he have to go? What led up to the war? His narrative gives detailed accounts of his early life’s experiences, the battles he fought in, and life in a Union prison. It brings to light a misunderstood aspect of a time in the South, which, up to this time, has not been articulated in a personal journal. Joseph Purvis grew up in the mountains of Virginia, before there was a West Virginia, and while the Western Frontier of the United States was being settled. It was a time when boys worked for their fathers on the farm and daughters helped their mothers with the canning and making butter and lard, as well as washing the clothes by hand. He experienced things and circumstances that we can only create in our minds as they no longer exist in our modern, technological age. He thought he had his life planned out; then the war changed everything. The things he valued most were to become clear to him. What about his future? That would be governed by the war. What about his family? Would he see them again? Would he live to marry and have a family? With his country and homeland torn apart in different directions, what would become of his beloved United States? What would become of his homeland of Virginia? He was tormented as everything seemed so uncertain. What things did he struggle with? What was foremost in his mind? What of dreams and promises? Would anyone know of him when all was said and done? You will note the charming lexis used back then is quite unlike how we express ourselves today. Joseph Purvis evolved just as surely as culture and education progressed. Read more