As Near Hell As I Ever Expect to Be: The Civil War Letters of Lieutenant John V. Patterson of the 21st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry

As near hell as i ever expect to be is the biography of a civil war soldier from ohio. In september 1861 twenty-seven-year-old john vanetton patterson left his young wife and two babies on their farm near pemberville. Patterson and thousands of other ohioans answered lincoln's call to save the union. In november victoria patterson received a letter, she opened it, and read the inside address, "as near hell as i ever expect to be". Over the next four years this soldier husband was sick, wounded, captured, and imprisoned. He escaped Based on letters to his wife, this is his story of trial and yearning.

Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, the writer holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.A. from Eastern Michigan University, and post-masters work at Wayne State University. He is a veteran of thirty-nine years of classroom experience, grades seven through twelve, and was an adjunct lecturer at both Ferris State University and Eastern Michigan University. An avid student of American Civil War and reenactor, the writer scoured battlefields, cemeteries, archives, and historical sites across the country. As a reenactor he died on most of the major battlefields east of the Mississippi. At one point his wife exclaimed, "There must be something more to vacations than the Civil War!" Once he read the collection of letters, his passion for Civil War history compelled him to tell the rest of the story.