Your Brother in Arms: A Union Soldier's Odyssey

Acknowledgments

xiii Acknowledgments During the preparation of Your Brother in Arms there were scores of persons who helped me ferret out facts, understand the battles of the Army of the Potomac, explore the ground where George McClelland and his comrades fought, learn about the regimen of a Civil War soldier, and appreciate the limitations of medicine as practiced in the mid-nineteenth century. I was fortunate to launch my research efforts with the guidance of Ed Bearss, National Park Service Historian Emeritus, who provided welcome encouragement and identified the fundamental resources required to begin the process. A lecture on Civil War records research by Timothy Duskin, Archive Technician at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., was invaluable in helping me set priorities at the start of my archival research. I am also indebted to the guidance provided by the late Charles Jacobs of Rockville, Maryland, at the start of my project. What began as a promised half-hour interview in his home turned into a two-hour discussion and tour of his extensive Civil War library. It was Jacobs who confirmed that George McClelland and the rest of the 155th Pennsylvania passed within a few miles of my home on their march from Washington to Frederick, Maryland, in the late summer of 1862. Staff at the Carnegie Library and the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh helped bring McClelland’s prewar life into sharper focus. Likewise, the professional and volunteer staffs at the Davenport Library were gracious and efficient as they helped me flesh out McClelland’s postwar life in Iowa. The staff of the Richardson–Sloane Special Collections Center at the Davenport Library, led by Amy Groskopf, was particularly helpful to one who always had “just one more question” or an information request that often occurred at the end of the work day. Deb Williams at Oakdale Memorial Gardens in Davenport, Iowa, helped me locate McClelland’s grave site and provided important information regarding the internment dates of McClelland’s wife, Juliet, and their infant son, Charles. xiv Acknowledgments At the U.S. Army Military History Institute in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, I was treated as a respected colleague from the very start of my research. Richard Sommers and his associate Arthur Bergeron provided a level of diligent investigative inquiry and sage advice that was unmatched during the research phase of my project. An important part of McClelland’s experience was his medical history. Michael Rhode at the National Medical Museum and Library in Washington helped me sort through volumes of medical information on Civil War wounds and their treatment to find the relevant facts about McClelland’s injuries . Terry Hambrecht, M.D., read an early draft of Your Brother in Arms and provided his valuable insights on both McClelland’s wounds and his probable medical condition leading up to his death in 1898. Dr. Hambrecht is a respected physician and consultant to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland. I am also greatly indebted to those Civil War historians who helped me understand the relevant details of the 155th Pennsylvania’s involvement in the battles of the Army of the Potomac stretching from Gettysburg to Petersburg and numerous places in between. Ed Bearss provided vivid and compelling insights into battles, including Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign and Petersburg. I was also guided by Chris Calkins and Terry Chernault of the National Park Service (NPS) at Petersburg and Five Forks, Virginia; Frank O’Reilly of the NPS at Fredericksburg; and Gordon Rhea for the Battle of the Wilderness. Gordon, a practicing attorney, author, and recognized expert on the Overland Campaign, also read and critiqued early chapters of my manuscript . Chris Calkins read the chapters dealing with Petersburg and Five Forks and gave me a candid assessment of my approach and cleared up inconsistencies in my manuscript. Clark Hall added greatly to my understanding of the winter encampment of the Union army in Virginia 1863/1864. He also reviewed an early draft for accuracy. Also reading early drafts of the manuscript was John Hennessy of the NPS. John, author and historian, was incisive in his critique of the work and of invaluable help in streamlining the narrative. In addition to his help in my research at the U.S. Army Military History Institute previously mentioned , Richard Sommers read preliminary chapters dealing with the siege of Petersburg and later read the entire manuscript, providing his perspective on the letters, the preceding contextual narrative, and the literary approach. His critique was an invaluable...