pWhen citizen-soldier Alvin Coe Voris wrote his first letter to his beloved wife, Lydia, in 1861, he embarked on a correspondence that would span the duration of the Civil War. A former Ohio legislator, Voris filled his letters with keen insights into the daily life of soldiers, army politics, and such issues as the morality of combat and the evils of slavery. Often heartwrenching and invariably gripping, the 428 letters collected in this volume form an unbroken and unique Civil War chronicle. pVoris's personal merit and political influence earned him the rank of brevet major general of volunteers. Known among his men as Old Promptly, he strongly emphasized the soldierly precepts of order and duty on the battlefield. As leader of the 67th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Voris fought in the First Battle of Kernstown, Stonewall Jackson's only defeat. Though wounded in the attack on Fort Wagner during the siege of Charleston, he served in northern Virginia until General Lee's surrender