Remarkable unpublished story by Tennessee native of Tennessee, Phillip M. Radford, who enlisted in the Union Army at Nashville on August 19, 1862. He mustered in as a private of the 5th Tennessee Cavalry, Co. A, commanded by Colonel W.B. Stokes. He was promoted to sergeant major, then took command of the 1st Alabama Vidette Cavalry, Co. F, as a 1st lieutenant. He narrowly escaped capture from Morgan’s Raiders on a recruiting mission in Tennessee. Radford wrote about his experience, and the Nashville Daily Union published it on May 17, 1862. After a battle injury, he was honorably discharged on June 16, 1864. Instead of leaving the army, he became a clerk until the war’s end. After the war, inspired by his war experience, Radford wrote a fictional account of a soldier named Silas Clark with charming hand-drawn illustrations. In the preface of the book, he writes:
The experience of Si Clack recorded in this book is the story of thousands who were privates in the Federal Army. Since the war ended numerous histories of prominent men have been written. Desperate and bloody battles have been recorded and spread broadcast for the information of the world. The history of the common soldier has yet to be written. This story was given in several lectures to the Grand Army Post as camp fire stories. They were thought to be too good to throw aside and hence preserved in book form.
Treatment: Repair binding, mend pages, rehouse appropriately for conservation.
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