In this literary history of early American veterans, Benjamin Cooper reveals how soldiers and sailors from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War demanded, through their writing, that their value as American citizens and authors be recognised. Relying on an archive of veteran authors, Cooper situates their perspective against a civilian monopoly in defining American citizenship and literature.

In this literary history of early American veterans, Benjamin Cooper reveals how soldiers and sailors from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War demanded, through their writing, that their value as American citizens and authors be recognised. Relying on an archive of veteran authors, Cooper situates their perspective against a civilian monopoly in defining American citizenship and literature.