Yours for the Union
Subtitle: the Civil War letters of John W. Chase, First Massachusetts Light Artillery
By: edited by John S. and Bonnie B. Collier.
Contributors: Collier, John S.; Collier, Bonnie B.
Edition: 1st ed.
Series: The North's Civil War series,; no. 29; North's Civil War ;; no. 29.
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Published: 2004
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 464
Subjects: Chase, John W. b. 1825 -- Correspondence; United States. Army. Massachusetts Light Artillery Battery, 1st (1861-1864); Soldiers -- Massachusetts -- Correspondence; Massachusetts -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives; Massachusetts -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental histories; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental histories; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Artillery operations; Roxbury (Boston, Mass.) -- Biography; Boston (Mass.) -- Biography
Genres: Correspondence.; Personal narratives.; Biography.
Description: "Yours for the Union takes us into the life and mind of John W. Chase during his service with the Army of the Potomac. Chase was a 36-year-old cabinetmaker from Roxbury and a widower with four small children when he enlisted as a private in the First Massachusetts Light Artillery. John Chase's frequent letters to his brother, Samuel S. Chase, were well written in plain language from the perspective of the common soldier." "Of his letters, 172 that have survived are included in this book; they cover a four-year period from October 1861 until the war ended in April 1865. The letters are divided into chapters covering the different arenas where Chase served during the war, from Alexandria, the Peninsula Campaign, Maryland, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville to Gettysburg, Warrenton and Brandy Station, the Overland Campaign, the Shenandoah Valley - and, finally, to Petersburg." "A brief historical overview introduces each chapter, placing it in context. The letters portray a man trying to provide for his children, maintain his finances, and obtain food and clothing to supplement his meager rations, all while marching in the mud and fighting a war. They reveal his patriotism and enthusiasm for preserving the Union. As the war progresses, though, his increasing cynicism becomes apparent and his criticism of the Union officers and leadership in Washington grows in intensity."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes index.