Thomas Jackson wrote these long letters recording first hand his experiences during the American civil war. Reading the letters, it is hard not to feel that he was keenly aware that he was recording history as it was unfolding. At some point early in his time in America, he witnessed a slave market and that seemingly radicalized him to become a lifetime advocate for the abolition of slavery and a strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln.

In many of his letters, Thomas records his disgust with members of the Tory party in England whom he saw as shameless supporters of the South and the continuation of slavery. He was particularly angry that many leading politicians in his old homeland seemed willing to overlook the clear immorality of slavery in favour of protecting their cotton supplies.

In an effort to correct that, he started to write letters that had virtually no family pleasantries but contained voluminous details and personal commentary about the war, the horrors of slavery and the illegality of those states that were leaving the union