"Based on close examination of the letters and records left behind by individual soldiers from both the North and the South, Carmichael explores the totality of the Civil War experience--the marching, the fighting, the boredom, the idealism, the exhaustion, the punishments, and the frustrations of being away from families who often faced their own dire circumstances"--Provided by publisher.

Comrades, camp, and community --Providence and cheerfulness -- Writing home -- Courage and cowardice -- Desertion and military justice -- Facing the enemy and confronting defeat -- The trophies of victory and the relics of defeat.