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Volume I: [4], 1-991, [1] pages and Volume II [6], 997-1796, [2] pages. Some pages in a two column format. In volume 1: Part 1 Number and organization of the armies of the United States; Part 2 Chronological record of the campaigns, battles, engagements, actions, combats, sieges, skirmishes, etc., in the United States, 1861 to 1865. [Note: photographic material and reproductions in the original edition NOT INCLUDED.] In volume 2: Part 3 Regimental histories. Introduction to the Morningside Edition by Lee A. Wallace, Jr. Previous owner's [Thomas E. and Brenda G. Corbin] bookplates inside the front covers. Thomas E. Corbin (was the great grandson of Private Elbert Corbin--who served in the First New York Light Artillery and participated in the Battle of Gettysburg). Frederick Henry Dyer (July 2, 1849 ? September 21, 1917) served as a drummer boy in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After the war, he wrote A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion ? a complete record of every regiment formed under the Union Army, their histories, and the battles they fought in ? taking forty years to compile. Dyer served with Company "H" of the Seventh Connecticut Infantry Regiment during the last two years of the war. It is unknown whether he actively participated in any fighting, and most likely would have helped the wounded during engagements. The 7th Connecticut was equipped with Spencer carbines in December 1863, making it better equipped to fight than those armed with the muzzle-loaded Enfield rifle. Heavy set that if shipped outside of the U.S. will reguire additional shipping costs. In 1867, Dyer became a member of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a patriotic society of civil war Union veterans. It was around this time that he started to acquire details about Union regiments. His job as a commercial traveler brought him in touch with many veterans and officials, from whom he gathered official figures. The statistics he collected expanded into further areas, from regiments to details of formations, battles, movements, and similar data. He began to research using official records in various state capitals, and continued speaking to ex-soldiers and high-standing officers, such as General Sherman, who expressed interest in a comprehensive compendium and welcomed its future publication. Dyer utilized the official materials available at the War Department, namely the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. After 35 years of information gathering, he moved into a single room in Des Moines to start producing a compendium worthy of print. He made seven revisions, each taking around seven months, as he sifted through piles of paperwork and notes, to produce an accurate account of the Union army. Working day and night, sleeping in a bed placed close to his desk, he toiled over the Compendium from 1904 until 1908, producing a 4,025 page typed manuscript. Published on February 15, 1909, by "The Dyer Publishing Company", through which he personally funded, wrote and promoted his work, printed by Torch Press of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a total of 4,500 copies of the Compendium were issued in a single-volume edition, measuring 9 by 12 inches (imperial octavo), spanning 1,796 pages, and consisting of three parts: Part I ? Number and organization of the Armies of the United States; Part II ? Chronological record of the campaigns, battles, engagements, actions, combats, sieges, skirmishes. etc., in the United States 1861 to 1865; Part III ? Regimental Histories. Part II also contains 90 photographs of Union soldiers and officers, maps and drawings of uniforms and battles from the civil war, but also includes reproductions of Dyer's 1863 recruitment medical form, and several personal letters. The original Compendium, which was bound in morocco leather and pebbled cloth, sold at $10 apiece (equivalent to $272.81 in 2017 terms). The Compendium was well-received by civil war veterans and historians alike, who praised both its accuracy and value.
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