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9781557530929 Academic Inspection Copy

Letters of a Civil War Surgeon

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From September 1862 until May 1865, Major William Watson served as surgeon with the 105th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, which fought at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and elsewhere. Over the course of three years at war, he wrote 91 letters to his family, in which he describes his own war against death and disease. This well-educated and sensitive young man has left us a variety of impressions of camp life, marches, and battles; of a soldier's matter-of-fact willingness to accept -- though not without grumbling -- the rigors of his lot, of concern with the job at hand and with immediate needs like food and shelter; and of a veteran's indifference to the flag-waving of professional patriots. In spite of his often acute criticisms of the Union's military leadership, Watson never faltered in his belief in the Union cause and the ultimate outcome of the war nor in his dedication to Lincoln's major goals.
Paul Fatout retired in 1965 as a professor emeritus of English at Purdue University, where he taught for thirty-eight years. Best known as an expert in Mark Twain, he has published seven books and numerous articles in the fields of American literature and American History, his twin interests.
"These letters may be regarded as among the finest in recent years . . . Fatout has skillfully integrated the best of Dr. Watson's letters with an artfully written and vivid historical text." Tradition
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