Robert Hale Strong was just 19 years old when he marched off to the Civil War with the 105th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He not only survived to tell of his experiences, he provided the best and clearest insights into how the war looked and felt to an ordinary foot soldier. Written by the light of campfires and hastily scrawled while under fire, the Midwestern farm boy's notes formed the basis for his latter-day memoir.
A Yankee Private's Civil War chronicles a soldier's path from starry-eyed volunteer to hardened veteran with a combination of brutal realism and unwavering good humor. Strong's vivid accounts of the intensity of battle and the horrors of war are punctuated by his stories of day-to-day survival tactics and vignettes recounting the quiet heroism of his comrades in arms. His keen observations and perceptions constitute a historical treasure and essential reading for all Civil War buffs.