In the Ranks

The crack shots with the bucktails on their caps

This the first hand account of a young Pennsylvanian soldier who joined the Union Army to fight the Confederacy during the American Civil War. He originally joined the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry and campaigned with it until the Battle of the Wilderness when it became untenable as a unit and was merged with the renowned Pennsylvanian Bucktails-a unit principally made up of sharpshooter backwoodsmen who wore the famous bucktail upon their caps as a sign of their skill as hunters and marksmen. Together they formed the 190th Pennsylvania and became part of the Third Brigade, Third Division of the Fifth Army Corps. In honour of the their new comrades, who had become the largest part of the regiment, the 190th adopted the bucktail as their own insignia. McBride takes us on campaign with the 190th and its sister regiment the 191st. Much of McBride's experience was as a skirmisher where he found the battlefield of independent action both terrifying and liberating, so his is a different view-of the Union infantryman at war removed from the formality of the battle line. An excellent first hand account of these well regarded and distinctive troops, this will be a welcome addition to the library of any American Civil War enthusiast.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.