Longfellow undertook the large-scale project in part to combat grief over the death of his wife Fanny in 1861. While writing it, he also dealt with his personal struggles during the American Civil War, including his oldest son's illnesses and injuries while serving in the Army of the Potomac. As he wrote to a friend in England, "I have been through a great deal of trouble and anxiety... However, I have managed to get a volume of poems through the press". Longfellow originally intended to call the collection "The Sudbury Tales", but was worried it sounded too similar to Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales". As early as October 11, 1862, however, he considered the alternative title "Tales of a Wayside Inn". He wrote in his journal that day: "Write a little on the Wayside Inn. A beginning only."