Hoosier Farm Boy in Lincoln's Army: The Civil War Letters of Pvt. John R. McClure

Indiana: Privatley Printed, 1971 Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. First Edition. 8vo. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 72 pp, preface, Introduction by Nancy Niblack Baxter, The Letters (May 7, 1861 - May 19, 1865; Afterword with b&w illustrations throughout. Privately printed for the family of John R. McClure as a memorial tribute on the 110th anniversary of the West Virginia campaign. Introduceds and Edited by Nancy Niblack Baxter: First Edition, 1971. "The letters in this collection were found in a secret compartment of an old bureau in the farmhouse now owned by Judge John L. Niblack. They were written to his sister mary and 'the girl he left behind', Frances Anne Purcell, whom he married in 1866. Among the first volunteers of the Civil War hurrying to rendezvous camp to join Lincoln's army was the eighteen-year-old John R. McClure of Knox County, Indiana. This book is a record of his experiences as a private in the Fourteenth Regiment of the famous Gibraltar Brigade of the Army of the Potomac -- the first Indiana regiment to be organized for three years' duty. Soon dissillusioned, his experiences on the battlefields of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, detailed in the letters, taught him that while war was often adventure, more often it was friendships shattered by guns, muddy marching, and death as the flash of artillery. Having gone out hating an impersonal rebel, John R., it seems returned hating war itself for reasons that become quite clear as the letters unfold in the bloody swamps of Virginia." from the Introduction. Price clipped. Age-toned spine dj. Small closed tear bottom edge rear free endpaper, else, Pristine, no wear. Clean, tight and strong binding with no underlining, highlighting or marginalia. Orange cloth with black lettering to spine, and maps on endpapers..