This greatly detailed book is the complete History of the 51st Indiana Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment in America's Civil War. The Regiment was one of the most active of the War, involved in the major engagements of the War's Western arena. The Regiment's service was more lengthy than many, beginning in 1861, not mustered out until early 1866. The history, written in relaxed, easy reading, enjoyable style, is an astounding eyewitness description of daily life of individual soldiers, and just as often of people, cities, and countryside around them, during the years of America's Civil War. This volume also includes, as nearly as the author was able to assemble, the names of all Union soldiers who fought in the 51st Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Civil War letters from soldiers serving in a German regiment Organized by Colonel August Willich, a former Prussian army officer who led troops during the German Revolution of 1848, Indiana's German 32nd Indiana regiment fought in the Western Theater of the Civil War. The 32nd Indiana forged an enviable combat record on the battlefields at Rowlett's Station in Kentucky; at Shiloh, Stones River, and Missionary Ridge in Tennessee; and at Chickamauga and Pickett's Mill in Georgia. The letters collected here originally appeared in German in wartime issues of German American newspapers. These rare documents connect the contemporary reader to the world of the patriotic immigrant soldier and his hard-fighting regiment, revealing personal motivations, wartime experiences, opinions, ethnic pride, and bravery, as this regiment engaged in some of the most bitter fighting in the West. These gripping letters also provide insight into the social, political, and cultural dimensions of the war and reveal the competing ethnic identities, nativism, and immigrant acculturation of late-nineteenth-century America. The Germans of the 32nd Indiana proved themselves to be "Gallant Dutchmen" in the fight to save the Union. Gallant Dutchmen is a valuable addition to Civil War studies and will also be welcomed by those interested in ethnic and immigration studies.

On Many a Bloody Field follows one of the Civil War's most famous combat organizations - Company B, 19th Indiana Volunteers of the Iron Brigade, in a vivid account of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Alan D. Gaff follows the men from recruitment through mustering out, from the tedium of camp to the excitement of battle. Marches and battles are described in detail, but Gaff also devotes close attention to how the war affected individuals, both physically and emotionally. Formed into a brigade with the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin, these Indiana soldiers fought their first real battle at Brawner Farm. Over four difficult years they fought on many a bloody field: Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Fitzhugh Crossing, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Laurel Hill, North Anna River, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Weldon Railroad. With meticulous care, Alan Gaff recounts the experience of war from the soldier's perspective, often in the words of the men themselves. This intimate portrait of men at war is an important contribution to the literature of the Civil War.

The ninety letters in this collection document the Civil War career of Col. Edward Jesup Wood, an officer of the 48th Indiana. Evocative and rich in detail, A Fierce, Wild Joy offers a view of the war from an officer's perspective and provides important insights into the day-to-day administration of a Civil War regiment. Wood was born in Florida to a Connecticut father and slave-owning mother, and orphaned in early youth. He was raised in New England to be an abolitionist, and at the age of fifteen he entered Dartmouth College. His military career began in 1861, and over the course of the war Wood's regiment participated in several key battles and campaigns, including Corinth, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and the March to the Sea. Thoughtful, intelligent, and articulate, Wood was a keen observer of details during his time in the Western Theater. His letters vividly bring the war to life as he describes the events of some of its most important campaigns. His change in perspective over time is evident: readers will witness Wood's naïve optimism for a quick and sure victory transform to dawning realization about the long haul and horrors of war. Readers will appreciate Wood's broad view of the military campaign, political exigencies surrounding the war, and the effects of war on both North and South. A stark reminder of the war's costs are emphasized by Wood's later tragic life. He returned home and committed suicide before his fortieth birthday. A Fierce, Wild Joy includes biographical essays that put Wood in context and aptly remind readers that many who served in the war did not go home to peace and happiness. Stephen E. Towne is assistant university archivist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. His articles have appeared in Indiana Magazine of History, Journalism History, and Civil War History.