This Cruel War: The Civil War Letters of Grant and Malinda Taylor

xiv, [8], 348 pp. The correspondence of Private Grant Taylor of the 40th Alabama Infantry with his wife during the American Civil War, comprising about 160 letters. He paints a grim picture of service for the South, with stories of men injuring themselves to avoid military service. He fought bravely despite lack of any personal stake in the debate that sparked the war.