This collection of letters bears witness to the Civil War of the common soldiers and junior officers of the Army of Tennessee. Brothers Alex and Tom Spence described to their family in detail not only the many battles in which they served, but the hardship of campaigning (they marched literally thousands of miles), the pride of serving in battle-proven units, and the pain of losing comrades to bullets and disease. The Spences were a wealthy family who owned land, slaves, and the main hotel in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. With their successful careers and extensive property, they were among Clark County's most prominent families when the shadow of secession fell across Arkansas. Four years later, Arkansas would be ravaged by war, and Tom and Alex Spence would lie in soldiers' graves, far from home. Mark Christ has assembled their powerful letters from a collection in the Old State House Museum, weaving in other letters from their extended family and friends, brief but thorough introductions to each chapter, and evocative photographs. The story moves chronologically from the outset of war to the final letter from Alex's grieving fiancée.

It is unnecessary to spend words denying the position of Middlesex County in New England history, or to assert its preeminence over some of her sister counties of the commonwealth. The fact is that three separate counties in Massachusetts are entitled to the distinction of " historic counties," and to each of them belongs distinguished and peculiar honor for the parts they have severally borne in the civilization of New England, and in contributing to the patriotism, valor and intelligence of the century. The history is given in twenty-six divisions, beginning with the history of the Massachusetts Company, giving biographies of the leaders, their religious ideas and political ambitions; next treating of the Pequot and King Philip's wars; the period of historic transition from the Colonial to the Provincial government, and the events immediately preceding the Revolution. Naturally the interest in Mr. Drake's narrative centres in the great events attending the outhreak of the Revolution, and we accord high praise to his treatment of the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill, the feeling of the country at the beginning of hostilities, and its condition after the investment of Boston.