1863 OHIO CIVIL WAR. Rare Memoir of John and Charles Oviatt. Ohio Boys Dead in Kentucky.

A very scarce Ohio Civil War memoir seemingly published privately and in a very small run. Viets & Savage are only traced as having published broadsides and small ephemeral tracts, etc., an appear to have only been in operation from 1860 to 1865 or so. 

Though the title only mentions John, a separate memoir is also included, being that of his brother Charles. Both brothers were earnest Christians, converted under Baptist, Rev. W. E. Lyon, and John himself began studying for the ministry at Hamilton in 1861. He was determined to fight for eternal truth rather than in the Army, but felt deeply conflicted from the onset of the War until the fall of 1861. By October, he had determined to join the Army, and enlisted at Akron. His brother was soon to follow. Both were deployed to Kentucky, though at different encampments, and both died in 1863. 

The memoir is unusual in the way it records John and Charles shared efforts to retain their ethical practices and Christian life in the midst of the War. They write back home regarding everything from the evils and suffering of the war itself and the grind it lays on the soul to the ungodliness of soldiers and their gambling, swearing, drunkenness, etc., with hints at the rampant prostitution and disease that accompanied it. An unusually intimate, religious view of soldier life. 

Inscribed on the ffep as a gift by Hattie Oviatt. 

[Ohio, Civil War, Religion]. Memoir of the Life of John F. Oviatt. Cleveland. Viets & Savage. Book and John Printers. 1863. 126pp.

Fair only. Both boards detached, spine cover lacking. For all that, the textblock remains rather solid and usable with a bit of care. Not traced at auction or in the trade.