“These are some of the best and most moving of the thousands of Civil War letters I have encountered. The reader will experience an extraordinary degree of empathy and admiration for Sergeant Dan Mason of the Sixth Vermont Infantry, who subsequently became captain of the Nineteenth U.S. Colored Troops. Tyler Alexander weaves together the letters with biographical and narrative details that tell a remarkable (and tragic) personal, as well as historical, story.”—James M. McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

“In his splendid book, Tyler Alexander brings alive the Civil War experiences of a young fighter in the Vermont Brigade. . . . The narrative features copious, moving letters written by Dan Mason to his sweetheart Harriet Clark and blends these with public accounts of evolving war aims. The result is a vivid account of how a struggle to restore the Union was transformed and how the promise of freedom and democracy to all Americans, regardless of race, was embraced by the rank and file no less than by political leaders. The poignant, gripping, and tragic story speaks to the idealism of the Civil War era and how this history relates to today’s dire challenges.”—Robert Bonner, Dartmouth College, author of The Soldier’s Pen: Firsthand Impressions of the Civil War

“In this deeply researched and elegantly written biography of a Vermont soldier, Tyler Alexander takes a step back from the traditional studies of Civil War generals and battles and campaigns and instead carries us into the world of Dan Mason, who rose from a corporal in the Sixth Vermont Infantry to serve as a captain in a Maryland U.S. Colored Troops regiment. But while Mason saw action enough, including a near-death experience at the Battle of the Crater, Alexander shows us the home front as well, as fiancé Harriet Clark provided him with a personal reason to fight on and to survive. This is a story well told. Alexander has a fine eye for detail and illuminating anecdotes. His scholarship delves deeply into a variety of sources, both primary and secondary. It is a stimulating and altogether absorbing book.”—Douglas R. Egerton, author of the Lincoln Prize–winning Thunder at the Gates: The Black Civil War Regiments That Redeemed America