When Milann Daugherty came across a box of yellowed letters in the bottom drawer of an old dresser, she discovered not only that the letters were all written by her great-great uncle nearly one hundred and fifty years earlier but that they were a fascinating first-hand account of the Civil War as seen through the eyes of a young soldier.

Written in the elegant style typical of the mid-nineteenth century, James Cleaver’s letters reveal his passionate commitment to the cause and his abiding faith. They also give us fresh insight into the daily life of a soldier in the Civil War and the politics of the day. At a time when news traveled slowly and sporadically, it is remarkable how much James grasped about the big picture—the military strategies and the generals who sought to carry them out.

Over the course of three years, Milann Daugherty painstakingly transcribed each of the letters, which had suffered from the passage of time, and undertook research to elaborate on much of what James described. Her annotations enhance an already remarkable collection of letters that attest to the extraordinary courage of an ordinary soldier during a critical time in our nation’s history.