As Seen from the Ranks; a Boy in the Civil War

As Seen From The Ranks; A Boy In The Civil War by Charles E. Benton is a memoir recounting a young volunteer's Civil War experiences with the Dutchess County Regiment (the 150th New York). The book presents a sequence of episodes rather than a formal history, tracing enlistment, the Baltimore winter, the march to Gettysburg, battlefield scenes, hospital wards, and the long campaigns that followed Sherman from Tennessee to Savannah and North Carolina. Benton interweaves combat, foraging, disease, and medical care with reflections on duty, courage, and the human costs of war. He describes the making of a soldier, the front-line grit of regimental veterans, and the experiences of citizen-soldiers who helped determine the fate of the Union. The narrative culminates with the Grand Review in Washington and the soldiers' homecoming, offering a vivid, humane portrait of war as lived by ordinary men. It also covers the campaigns at Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, and Sherman’s March to the Sea, and the siege of Savannah, with attention to life in field hospitals and the moral questions surrounding war.