In 1862, Hillsborough, NH, native Willard Templeton enlisted in the 11th NH Regiment and went off with his fellows to fight the Civil War. He was wounded at Spotsylvania, VA, on May 12, 1864, and served as part of the color guard at the Battle of the Crater during the siege of Petersburg, where he was killed in the mine explosion on July 30, 1864. During the time he was in the army, Templeton wrote several letters to friends and family at home, and 140 of these fascinating accounts are held in collection at the New Hampshire State Library. The documents represented in KSCommons were digitized and transcribed as part of a Keene State College class project called "Letters of Secessia" organized in 2014 by History Professor Graham Warder and College Archivist Rodney Obien. The class project served as a model for the NH Citizen Archivists' Initiative.
