Civil War letters inspire author

Chris Oates was in sixth grade when he learned that his family had preserved a packet of letters that his great-great-great grandfather had written home as a Union soldier in the Civil War.

Reading through rich descriptions of the drama and drudgery of a common soldier's life, Oates was inspired to learn more about the war and the role that his ancestor Alfred K. Oates played in it.

So began a quest that led the now 21-year-old Canton resident to write a book that recounts his paternal great-great-great grandfather's wartime experiences, and the larger events of which they were a part.

``Fighting for Home," which draws heavily from the letters of Alfred Oates -- most of them to his mother -- is set to be issued formally next month by Warren Publishing, but an initial run of 1,500 copies is in print.

``It's a great feeling," Oates, a senior year at Brown University, said of seeing his work in book form.

In addition to the thrill of having authored a book, Oates said he is happy to have undertaken a project that helps him connect with his ancestor.

Alfred Oates survived the war, returning to his native Pennsylvania, where he worked as a blacksmith and died at age 71 in 1907.

``It's strange because I inherited these letters, so it's as if I inherited not money from him but a chance to write this book and better understand the Civil War. He was roughly the same age as I am," Chris Oates said of Alfred Oates during his days as a soldier. ``So I can really empathize with him and see myself in the same situation."

Though a true account, Oates calls the book a work of ``dramatic nonfiction," reflecting the fact that it is told as a story, with, he hopes, ``some real emotion."

Oates had ample drama to draw upon given that his ancestor, a member of the Fifth Regiment of New York's Excelsior Brigade, saw action in many of the most momentous battles of the war, from Gettysburg to Chancellorsville, to the Second Battle of Bull Run.

Passages describe his first battle, when Union forces in 1862 met rebels defending Fort Magruder, near Williamsburg, Va.

``They moved forward into the hail of cannon fire from Fort Magruder just as their own artillery was falling back around them. . . . Fort Magruder was blazing away with enfilading fire of grapeshot, fist-size cannon shot loaded nine at a time, designed to spread out upon firing and blast holes in infantry lines," Chris Oates wrote.

``The smoke of battle gave way in patches and Oates could sense through the thick veil of gunpowder and fear that his baptism of fire was about to descend into the hammer stroke of combat."

Equally vivid are the book's descriptions of life in camp -- how soldiers put on plays and concerts, and played ball -- and of Alfred Oates's anxiety about the welfare of his family back home.

Chris Oates got the idea of writing a Civil War book in 2002, five years after he first encountered the letters of Alfred Oates. Then a junior at the private Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury, Chris Oates initially intended to write a book about the Excelsior Bri gade.

By the time he entered Brown in 2003, that book was largely written. But under the guidance of a retired Brown history professor, the late Jack Thomas, and later an associate history professor, Michael Vorenberg, Oates decided to write a different book that would draw on Alfred Oates's letters to provide a personalized view of the war. Vorenberg also helped Oates find a publisher.

Cathy Brophy, president of Warren Publishing of North Carolina, said it was not until after she had read the book and taken an interest in it that she discovered how young the author was. That gave her pause, she said, but, ``As I talked to him, I realized there was a level of scholarliness you don't ever really see in young people."

``I think he just had a passion for it," said Chris's father, Robert Oates, explaining what drove his son to complete the book. Adds Michael Pojman, a teacher and assistant headmaster at Roxbury Latin, ``It doesn't surprise me he would take on a project and do it." Chris Oates, he says, is very much a ``self-starter."

Chris Oates said he anticipates publishing a book of just his great-great-great grandfather's letters, but has no immediate plans for writing another himself.

Immersing himself in the Civil War helped convince him of the importance of diplomacy in avoiding war, an insight that has contributed to his decision to apply to graduate schools to study international relations.

Meanwhile, Oates hopes his book ``provides people with a deeper appreciation for the past. . . . We remember history as a collection of dates and figures, without realizing it was someone else's present."

Oates's book can be purchased via his website, web.mac.com/croates.