The Civil War letters of General Robert McAllister

"In addition to fighting in virtually every battle of the Army of the Potomac, missing only South Mountain and Antietam, Robert McAllister of the 1st New Jersey Infantry and later of the 11th New Jersey Infantry wrote a series of letters, here published for the first time, that reveal far more than a successful military career. As a man McAllister was an original. A former railroad construction engineer, he was a middle-aged family man at the outbreak of the war. Soft of voice, calm of temperment, religious and averse to the use of liquor, he became the epitome of the Scotch Presbyterian warrior -- an officer so concerned for the welfare of his men that he came to be known as 'Mother' McAllister, yet so dedicated to the winning of the war that he was fearless in leading his men. He was twice wounded and three times promoted for heroism on the battlefield; his regiment distinguished itself at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg; his brigade was the first to pierce the Confederate line as Spotsylvania's 'Bloody Angle' and saved an entire wing of the army at the Boydton Plank Road and again at Hatcher's Run"--Dust jacket.