Full Measure of Devotion: The Eighth New York Volunteer Heavy Artillery, Part 1 and Part 2 (2 Volume Set)

304 pp.; 574 pp. pagination continuous. Two volume set. "They came, mainly, from farms and small communities in Western New York to enlist in the Union Army. They saw their duty as saving the Union and as they described it; "to whip the Rebs." Originally formed in August, 1862, as the 129th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the unit was reorganized in December, 1862 and became the 8th New York Volunteer Heavy Artillery. ...the reader has the opportunity to learn what the regiment did and what the soldiers experienced through the letters and diaries of over 50 of its members. Forty percent of the text is direct quotations from the men of 8th. ...Known through the years, as "Colonel Peter A. Porter's Regiment" and "The Bloody Eighth"; the regiment has never had a book devoted exclusively to its story."