This books offers a rare insight into the history of the Civil War in the western theatre through the eyes of a regimental surgeon. The newly graduated Dr. Thomas S. Hawley served in one of the premier fighting regiments of the Union Army. This collection of letters is important for two reasons: They detail his four and a half year career in the army through firsthand accounts of the various campaigns and his numerous duties, and they chronicle his interactions with captured Confederate soldiers, his encounters with pro-Southern and pro-Northern civilians in areas occupied by the Union Army,...