While My Country Is in Danger: The Life and Letters of Lieutenant Colonel Richard S. Thompson Twelfth New Jersey Volunteers

Fine in a Fine dust jacket. Stated First Edition / First Printing (1994; complete number line down to 1: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). Octavo (approx. 9.25 x 6.25 inches); xvi, 224 pp. Bound in publisher's original dark blue cloth over boards with spine lettered in bright gilt foil. The pictorial dust jacket reproduces an archival standing albumen portrait of Lieutenant Colonel Richard S. Thompson. Extensively illustrated with archival photographic plates, facsimile letters, operational campaign maps, comprehensive documentary chapter notes, select bibliography, and index. A fresh, square, and unread copy with sharp corners, firm spine ends, tight hinges, and spotless leaves throughout. The original unclipped dust jacket is crisp and vibrant, showing no fading or shelfwear, preserved in a clear archival mylar sleeve. Written and compiled by Gerry Harder Poriss and Ralph G. Poriss, While My Country is in Danger is an exceptional regimental and primary-source study of Lieutenant Colonel Richard Swain Thompson (1837–1914) and the 12th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry (II Corps, Army of the Potomac). Initially raising Company K in southern New Jersey, Thompson rose through the ranks to command the regiment through some of the bloodiest tactical engagements of the Eastern Theater. Thompson’s candid letters and wartime journals document the fierce fighting at Chancellorsville, the combat at the Bliss Barn and Cemetery Ridge during the Battle of Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, the Wilderness, and the siege operations outside Petersburg and Reams' Station. Blending vivid frontline tactical observations with insightful critiques of Union high command, this monograph remains one of the finest published collections of New Jersey Civil War correspondence.…