The Last Dispatch Rider

A chronicle of the Civil War exploits of a teenage lad who joins the Union Army and earns the Congressional Medal of Honor before his seventeenth birthday. Private Thomas D. Collins' amazing story begins when he runs away from home at age 14, fakes his true age and becomes a recruit. Onlhy to find three months later, the disillusioned youngster back on the farm with his mother. Collins' second attempt at manhood begins August 16, 1862, two days after his fifteenth birthday. The under age teenager this time enlists in the recently organized Company H, 143 New York Volunteer Infantry, Sullivan County. With new dedication, serving in a home county regiment, young Collins travels through fifteen states, survives two train wrecks, recues a wounded Union soldier, captures a Rebel battle flag, delivers a war ending dispatch and rides in the Grand Parade at the invitation of Major General William T. Sherman, his commander. Literary endeavers about the American Civil War owe a debt to the personal histories of its participants. Through the exploits on one such boy soldier, we were able to experience this major American historical event with a new understanding. Official records research of obscure source material, and personal recollections reveal the plight of one boy's successful journey to manhood.

Robert F. Harris is a Vietnam veteran who spent three decades in public education. With a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Pittsburgh, he has served as history teacher, principal, superintendent of schools and adjunct professor. Editor of Dear Sister: The Civil War Letters of the Brothers Gould, Praeger Publishers and author of several published articles, he created a first person interpretation, Captain John R. Leslie, 20th New York State Militia, for the National Park Service at Gettysburg where he is a Licensed Battlefield Guide since 1988. Robert lives in Pennsylvania and is married with three professional daughters.