Synopsis
When the Civil War threatened to destroy the United States, Joseph, Abner and Charles Wait, three brothers from rural Miami County Indiana, volunteered to fight for their country and help put down the Southern rebellion. This is their story spanning four years of war, hand-to-hand combat in Arkansas, the siege of Vicksburg, Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign, and the death of 19-year-old Charles at a hellish POW camp in Salisbury, North Carolina. Joseph and Abner Wait enlisted in the 26th Indiana Infantry Regiment in 1861 shortly after the Civil War started. Joseph, the oldest brother, wrote a detailed diary from 1862 to 1866 of the struggles that Joseph and Abner and the other Hoosiers in their regiment endured with hunger, sickness, loneliness and grueling marches while posted in Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama. The 26th Indiana fought in Arkansas, at the siege of Vicksburg, in Louisiana and at capture of Mobile, Alabama. The regiment was nearly destroyed and Joseph and Abner barely avoided capture when their unit was surrounded and overrun at Sterling's Plantation, Louisiana in September 1863. Abner suffered a serious injury and was medically discharged in 1864. Despite the hardships, Joseph reenlisted in 1864 and served until January 1866. The youngest brother, Charles Wait, volunteered in February, 1864 and was assigned to the 11th Indiana Infantry regiment and fought in General Philip Sheridan's campaign of destruction in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Benjamin Booth, a Salisbury survivor, passionately describes in his diary the horrors inflicted on 1,400 Union soldiers, including Charles Wait, after they were taken prisoner at the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia in October, 1864. Labeled as "barn burners" for the widespread destruction inflicted on Southern civilians in the Shenandoah Valley, the hated Yankee POWs were first marched to infamous Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. In November they were shipped by rail to Salisbury, North Carolina where during the next four months nearly 40 percent of the 10,000 Union prisoners crammed into a 16 acre stockade slowly died of starvation and disease. Millions of words have been written about the generals and politicians, both North and South, who dictated the campaigns of the Civil War. This is a book about three brothers--common foot soldiers from rural Indiana--who, along with thousands of others, made the sacrifices that saved the Union and gave America a new birth of freedom.
Présentation de l'éditeur
When the Civil War threatened to destroy the United States, Joseph, Abner and Charles Wait, three brothers from rural Miami County Indiana, volunteered to fight for their country and help put down the Southern rebellion. This is their story spanning four years of war, hand-to-hand combat in Arkansas, the siege of Vicksburg, Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign, and the death of 19-year-old Charles at a hellish POW camp in Salisbury, North Carolina. Joseph and Abner Wait enlisted in the 26th Indiana Infantry Regiment in 1861 shortly after the Civil War started. Joseph, the oldest brother, wrote a detailed diary from 1862 to 1866 of the struggles that Joseph and Abner and the other Hoosiers in their regiment endured with hunger, sickness, loneliness and grueling marches while posted in Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama. The 26th Indiana fought in Arkansas, at the siege of Vicksburg, in Louisiana and at capture of Mobile, Alabama. The regiment was nearly destroyed and Joseph and Abner barely avoided capture when their unit was surrounded and overrun at Sterling's Plantation, Louisiana in September 1863. Abner suffered a serious injury and was medically discharged in 1864. Despite the hardships, Joseph reenlisted in 1864 and served until January 1866. The youngest brother, Charles Wait, volunteered in February, 1864 and was assigned to the 11th Indiana Infantry regiment and fought in General Philip Sheridan's campaign of destruction in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Benjamin Booth, a Salisbury survivor, passionately describes in his diary the horrors inflicted on 1,400 Union soldiers, including Charles Wait, after they were taken prisoner at the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia in October, 1864. Labeled as "barn burners" for the widespread destruction inflicted on Southern civilians in the Shenandoah Valley, the hated Yankee POWs were first marched to infamous Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. In November they were shipped by rail to Salisbury, North Carolina where during the next four months nearly 40 percent of the 10,000 Union prisoners crammed into a 16 acre stockade slowly died of starvation and disease. Millions of words have been written about the generals and politicians, both North and South, who dictated the campaigns of the Civil War. This is a book about three brothers--common foot soldiers from rural Indiana--who, along with thousands of others, made the sacrifices that saved the Union and gave America a new birth of freedom.
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