One of the most prominent nurses to serve in the American Civil War, Ada Smith was at the center of action. She met Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Dorothea Dix, Clara Barton, and many of the other military men and civilians in the conflict. This lively and engaging memoir is like many of those by nurses of the Civil War. They saw the horrible cost of the war in terms of shattered bodies and shattered minds. They held the hand of many a dying man and Ada's story is very much the story of the human side of war. But they also heard the guns and had rifle balls whistling through their hospital tents. After the war, Ada continued her work to help veterans, as well as engaging in the fight for women's suffrage. Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever. For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

Nearly blind from an accident in childhood, deaf from complications of scarlet fever, and perpetually suffering from an ankle injury, Emily Parsons nevertheless enrolled in nursing school at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. Already 37, she never married and made the care of others her fearless purpose in life. Despite her handicaps, she was appointed head of nursing on a large riverboat at Vicksburg during the siege of that city. She was stricken with malaria and sent to New York to recover. Upon recovery, she later headed nursing at the 2,500-bed Benton Barracks Hospital in St. Louis. Her abilities and tenderness with soldiers was remarked upon by many. In this wonderful collection of her letters to family (with an introduction by her father), you'll come to know this remarkable woman. Available for the first time as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers, Emily Elizabeth Parson's great service to others deserves to be read by a new, modern, and wider audience. Emily Elizabeth Parsons (March 8, 1824 --.May 19, 1880) Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.

They were young, they were old, they were mothers, sisters, wives, widows, and neighbors. They were ladies of high social position, farmer's wives, and school teachers. Shells and bullets flew through the very tents and hospitals in which they worked. They worked with African-American soldiers, freed slaves, and rebel soldiers. They not only gave up their time and exhausted themselves serving others, many lost their lives to the same diseases that killed the soldiers for whom they were caring. They even fought as soldiers. They were the Union women of the American Civil War and their role in support of the cause was vastly broader and more essential than most people realize. Here are the stories of some of the prominent and the not-so-prominent. Clara Barton, Dorothea Dix, and Emily Parsons are only three of the many women profiled in this work written right after the Civil War. Without their leadership and tireless efforts, the outcome of the war would have been very different. For less than you'd spend on gas going to the library, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

One of the most remarkable collections of letters to come out of the American Civil War is this compilation by the Woolsey family. Educated, aware, and closely affectionate, the family exchanged and kept letters throughout the war. Included in the set are those from family members serving in hospitals, taking collections for soldiers at home, and a soldier serving on the front lines with Grant, Sheridan, and Meade. What was life like for those who watched their country rent by war? The desperate anxiety and despair of the early war and the hopeful expressions later on give a vivid and very human face to an event that, though long past, is still apart of who we are as Americans today. There is also humor and gossip, and an incredible awareness of what was going on in battles far from home. That the collection includes letters from various family members provides a view into Civil War life as no other. For less than you'd spend on gas going to the library, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

"Great anxiety is expressed by all to reach home by the Fourth of July, which at present looks very probable. But, dear Journal, I cannot write, I feel too good." Jenk Jones would make it home on the 3rd of July, 1865. After three long years away from home with the 6th Wisconsin Artillery Battery, his reunion with family was, to him, indescribably joyful. Much had changed but the bonds remained the same. Along the way he'd seen horror and bloodshed, heartbreak, lost friends, and final victory. He was at Vicksburg and other major battles and kept "Mr. Journal" throughout, with the exception of his time in quarantine for smallpox. He recorded the ecstasy of news that Richmond had fallen, followed by Lee's surrender soon after. He writes of the sorrow he and his comrades felt at the news of Lincoln's assassination and how they all felt they'd lost a family member. Frontline diaries of the Civil War bring an immediacy to a long-ago event and connect us to these everyday men and women who lived it. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.

She was called "The Florence Nightingale of America." From the fighting at Gettysburg to the capture of Richmond, this young Quaker nurse worked tirelessly to relieve the suffering of soldiers. She was one of the great heroines of the Union. Cornelia Hancock served in field and evacuating hospitals, in a contraband camp, and (defying authority) on the battlefield. Her letters to family members are witty, unsentimental, and full of indignation about the neglect of wounded soldiers and black refugees. Hancock was fiercely devoted to the welfare of the privates who had "nothing before them but hard marching, poor fare, and terrible fighting."