Personal Recollections of the War of 1861: A Young Lieutenant of the 61st New York Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army During the American Civil War

A first rate Civil War memoir of an outstanding Union Army regiment

The author of this book, Charles Fuller, was a young officer of the Union army at war with the Confederacy of Jefferson Davis during the American Civil War. He has written an excellent account of his time serving with ’the Clinton Guard,’ the 61st New York Volunteer Infantry. Given the numerous infantry regiments of the Union Army it is often difficult for general readers to differentiate between them and decide which first hand accounts are worthy of serious attention. All are essential as source works, but some are more entertainingly written than others-Fuller’s book falls into this category. Firstly because he was a naturally good author with a keen eye, but most importantly because of the exemplary and vigorous service of his regiment. The 61st New York was rarely, if ever, up to strength, yet it repeatedly found itself embroiled in the fiercest of the fighting, casualties were very high in proportion to the men engaged and Fuller himself was seriously wounded eventually, losing both an arm and a leg. The 61st saw action at Fair Oaks, Antietam-where it was involved in a brilliant flanking action on Bloody Lane which is well described here-Fredericksburg and the charge on Marye’s Heights, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, where they went into the wheat-field 93 strong and came out of it with just 31 men, and so on through the conflict, being engaged in at least another fifteen major engagements before joining in the final pursuit of Lee’s army at Appomattox. Fuller, who took part in the campaigns of his regiment in full measure has left us a superb and intimate record of his time as a soldier, the men who fought with him and the actions of a magnificent regiment.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.