Soldier Boy: Letters and History of an Illinois Union Soldier Who Left His Family and Farm and Fought in Sherman's Destructive Army - Paperback

Eugene McBride Swaggart was born in 1840 in Salem Township, Illinois. He was a farm boy, and when war broke out between the northern and southern states he enlisted in the 92nd Illinois Infantry. The author has documented the history of the 92nd Illinois with the help of a number of Civil War resources. This historical narrative provides the background for the family letters, which present a more personal view of the war. This book follows Swaggart and the 92nd from his enlistment in 1862 through Kentucky and Tennessee, then to Chickamauga, Alabama, Atlanta, Savannah and "the Carolina Mud March." Numerous names affiliated with the family are mentioned throughout, as are the names of many famous Civil War figures. The letters reprinted here were written by Eugene McBride Swaggart, Henry Holt, Henry Lego, Elvira Van Alstine/Swaggart, Amanda Ludisky Van Alstine/Swaggart, Jennie Van Alstine, Anna Swaggart, Mary Ann Miller, S. Whitman Dodge, Maria Van Alstine and Mary Crosit. A full-name index is included, along with a separate subject index. A glossary is provided to help clarify the meaning of the terminology used during the war. Illustrations include facsimiles of many of the letters, as well as family documents and other Civil War ephemera.