A Minor War History Compiled from A Soldier Boy's Letters to "The Girl I Left Behind Me"

Compiled near the end of his life as a legacy to his friends and family, this book is a collection of letters written by the author, Martin Alonzo Haynes, when he was a soldier in the Second New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. After having read these epistles, one will have a better feeling of what it was like to be a soldier in the ranks at the time of this great conflict, which ultimately decided what sort of nation "these United States" would be. While his loyalty and patriotism are above reproach, Haynes' lack of animosity toward "the Johnnies," ─ the enemy, is remarkable. Many anecdotes of camp life are enjoyable and humorous, especially when one of his tent mates feigned insanity in order to get a discharge. The manner in which his sanity was restored to him by an Irishman who could bear no more is amusing. This is a book which gives a look into the lot of a soldier, both good and bad, funny, and sad.