Sadness and Silence ( Flying Geese Block) 1864

   "Sadness and Silence" Block  (Variation on the Flying Geese pattern, which denotes flight and strife)

I'm starting to work on my next civil war qilt, for my friend, Judy. Always meant to make her something quilted, and now have found the perfect idea. Her Confederate ancestors have a lot of history I can use. I am going to try and tie up some of the quilt squares with the regiments  of Louisiana.Such history to work with. This is the first one square, because the square is sewn in various paths, supposedly symbolizing all the chaos in the war.
     So, for the next little while, I'm going to present the blocks I've chosen for her quilt, and some of the letters that I found in "Civil War Quilt Diary by Rosemary Youngs."  Amazing stuff.....so much thread to sew through....

SADNESS and SILENCE Feb 21, 1864 ( written by Emma Florence Le Conte Furman)
    "The night with its fear of stragglers is past, and we may breathe more freely, but not less sadly.The destruction and desolation around us, which we could not feel while under such excitement and fear now exerts its full sway. Sad?
     "The very air is fraught with sadness and silence. The few noises that break the stillness seem melancholy and the sun does not seem to shine as brightly, seeming to be dimmed by the sight of so much misery. I was at Aunt Josie's this morning, and there learned for the first time the extent of suffering. O God! When we think of what we have escaped and how almost miraculously we have been saved we should never rise from our knees. There is not a house I be in Columbia that has not been pillaged. That that the flames spared were entered by brutal soldiery and everything wantonly destroyed. The streets were filled with terrified women and children, who were offered every insult and indignity , short of personal outrage. They wer allowed to save nothing byt what clothes they wore, and there is now great suffering for food. It would be impossible to describe or even to conceive the pandemonium and horror. There is no shadow of a doubt that the town was burned by Sherman's order.All through Georgia, it is said, he promised his men full license in South Carolina."