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BOOK DESCRIPTION: 8vo, xix, 384 pgs. Four portrait plates. Unit roster (332)-361. Original decorative blue cloth, red cross on cover and with gilt titled cover and spine; top edge gilt. Original dust jacket. Inscribed by author on front free endpaper. CONDITION DESCRIPTION: Near fine with bright, clean cover. Dust jacket is lightly soiled and age-darkened, with small chip at top of spine; now with clear, mylar sleeve. CONTENTS DESCRIPTION: Newton Martin Curtis was a Civil War General who was awarded the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism on January 15, 1865, in action at Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Brigadier General Curtis personally led each of four assaults on the traverses and was four times wounded. On the fourth assault, he became the first man to pass through the stockade gates where brutal hand-to-hand combat awaited him and his men. At the outbreak of the war, he organized Company G, 16th Regiment of the New York Infantry after the first Civil War rally in NY State. From the Preface: "Hence mention is made of the Eighteenth, the Thirty-fourth, the Sixtieth, the Ninety-second, the Ninety-sixth and Ninety-eighth Infantry regiments, of Captain Riley Johnson's Company K, Sixth New York Cavalry, and of Captain Thomas W. Osborn's Battery D, First New York Light Artillery; together with some account of the battles of Bull Run, West Point, Fair Oaks, Gaines' Mill, Savage's Station, Glendale, Crampton's Pass, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Salem Heights, in which one or more of these commands participated. The narrative is based on my personal experience, on the official reports, and on the statements and writings of officers and prominent participators on both sides of the struggle". Here is a fine history in collector's condition with inscription of a recipient of the MOH and with the scarce and seldom seen dust jacket. REFERENCES: Howes NY 245; NEVINS I pg. 77: "A standard, authoritative source by an officer who later served three terms in the Congress; Curtis made much use of official and public documents."; COULTER 106: "The narrative is based on personal records and public documents, and indicates respect for the former enemy." EICHER 1077: "This volume offers a history of a skilled fighting unit of the Army of the Potomac, along with the author's entertaining and often humorous recollections of army life.The author's background and raising of the regiment are described, followed by a detailed chronological journey of the 16th up through the time of Chancellorsville.The book offers more of value in the minor incidents and anecdotes related by Curtis. Much of the feeling for the lives of ordinary soldiers and of the relationship between privates and their field officers emerges in these scenes.".
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