Frederick H . Dyer Frederick Henry Dyer ( July 2 , 1849 – September 21 , 1917 ) served as a drummer boy in the Union Army during the American Civil War . After the war , he wrote " A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion " – a complete record of every regiment formed under the Union Army , their histories , and the battles they fought in – taking forty years to compile . Background . Born in 1849 , Dyer lost both his parents in childhood . In July 1863 , at the age of 14 , already two years into the civil war , Dyer and a friend ran away from school with the intention of joining the army . Although his friend ' s aunt provided guardian consent for him to enlist as a minor , Dyer ' s friend decided not to sign up . Dyer carefully assumed his friend ' s surname , Metzger , to avoid being traced and returned to school . On July 25 , having passed the routine physical examination , he became a drummer boy in Company " H " of the 7th Connecticut Infantry Regiment . Army life . Dyer continued to serve with Company " H " during the remaining two years of the war . It is unknown whether he actively participated in any fighting , and most likely would have helped the wounded during engagements . The 7th Connecticut was equipped with Spencer carbine s in December 1863 , making it better equipped to fight than those armed with the slower muzzle - loaded Enfield rifle . The regiment saw action in several battles , during Dyer ' s service , including : On July 20 , 1865 , the regiment was mustered out of service , the war having ended in April . Post - war years . Dyer stopped using his false name after the war . He attended Russell Military Institute and Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven , Connecticut , reclaiming the education he left to become a soldier . From the age of 18 , he became a commercial traveller – an occupation he maintained for about fourteen years – moving between various cities in the states of Pennsylvania and New York . He moved to Philadelphia in 1870 , where he manufactured and sold escutcheons to veterans . In 1875 he was married in Bridgeville , Delaware and moved to Pittsburgh until the fall of 1876 , then moved to Washington , Pennsylvania . Whilst living in Washington he went into business with a H . Frank Ward , forming " Dyer and Ward – Printers , Stationers and Binders " , which ran from 1881 until 1885 . Dyer moved around on business , residing in several cities between 1885 and 1912 , before settling his family in Cleveland , Ohio . In 1904 he set up a temporary residence in Des Moines , Iowa , and dedicated himself to working in isolation on the " Compendium " , compiling his collection of around names and dates , for almost five intense years . Dyer ' s Compendium . In 1867 Dyer became a member of the Grand Army of the Republic ( GAR ) , a patriotic society of civil war Union veterans . It was around this time that he started to acquire details about Union regiments . His job as a commercial traveller brought him in touch with many veterans and officials , from whom he gathered official figures . The statistics he collected expanded into further areas , from regiments to details of formations , battles , movements , and similar data . He began to research using official records in various state capitals , and continued speaking to ex - soldiers and high - standing officers , such as General Sherman , who expressed interest in a comprehensive compendium and welcomed its future publication . Dyer utilized the official materials available at the War Department , namely the " Official Records of the War of the Rebellion " . After 35 years of information gathering , he moved into a single room in Des Moines to start producing a compendium worthy of print . He made seven revisions , each taking around seven months , as he sifted through piles of paperwork and notes , to produce an accurate account of the Union army . Working day and night , sleeping in a bed placed close to his desk , he toiled over the " Compendium " from 1904 until 1908 , producing a 4 , 025 page typed manuscript . Published on February 15 , 1909 , by " The Dyer Publishing Company " , through which he personally funded , wrote and promoted his work , printed by Torch Press of Cedar Rapids , Iowa , a total of 4 , 500 copies of the " Compendium " were issued in a single - volume edition , measuring ( imperial octavo ) , spanning 1 , 796 pages , and consisting of three parts : Part II also contains 90 photographs of Union soldiers and officers , maps and drawings of uniforms and battles from the civil war , but also includes reproductions of Dyer ' s 1863 recruitment medical form , and several personal letters . The original " Compendium " , which was bound in morocco leather and pebbled cloth , sold at $ 10 apiece ( equivalent to $ in 2013 terms ) . Death . Dyer died on September 21 , 1917 , aged 68 , of coronary sclerosis , survived by his wife and one of three children . He was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery , Boston , Massachusetts , in the GAR New Veterans lot on Webster Avenue , in an unmarked grave ( no . 125 ) . It was his own request to be interred without a monument , stating that his " Compendium " would serve as a memory to his life , long after any monument had crumbled away . Works . Since its original publication in 1908 , " Dyer ' s Compendium " has been reprinted several times in the US due to its popularity amongst Civil War historians and enthusiasts . Editions are as follows :