This is a compilation of transcriptions of 130 letters written by William J. Huff to his wife Almira (Mira) during his service in the Union Army during the Civil War from August 1862 - June 1865. Additional letters are included from member of his regiment plus one letter written by a Confederate General prior to the battle of Prairie Grove. As well as accounts of battles, William's letters provide a detailed picture of what ordinary soldiers experienced and endured on a daily basis in camp, on the march, inspections and drills, uniforms, "pup" tents, makeshift shelters and mail service. Survival through periods of meager rations supplemented by food purchased from traveling sutlers, sickness (ague, small pox, scurvy) and medical care of the day. Travel via gunboats and transports. He provides observations about interactions with the mostly untrained officers in the voluntary army. William Huff enlisted in Co H 20th Iowa Infantry Regiment on 21 July 1862. The 20th Iowa Infantry Regiment was among the infantry regiments recruited and organized in Iowa under the President's proclamation of July 2, 1862, calling for three hundred thousand additional volunteers. The counties of Scott and Linn each contributed five companies to the organization. They were ordered to report to Camp Kirkwood near Clinton and were mustered into service of the United States on August 22, 1862. William and his fellow soldiers in his regiment had no idea when they enlisted in their small home town in Iowa that the regiment would be transported down the Mississippi to St. Louis and would endure over 450 miles of marching in rain and snow, day and night (sometimes without shoes) throughout the Ozark Mountains. They suffered alternate heat and cold without shelter while campaigning in Louisiana followed by garrison duty on an island on the Southwest coast of Texas. As part of the Mobile campaign, William was detached from the regiment as part of a detail assigned to construct a log road across swampy ground near Pensacola, Florida. After the war ended, the regiment was assigned Provost Marshall duty in Mobile, Alabama and William was detailed to work in the Freedman's Bureau until the regiment was mustered out. Along the way, the regiment was in the Battle of Prairie Grove in Northwest Arkansas, the siege of Vicksburg, the attack on Fort Morgan and the Fort Blakeley campaign at the end of the war. The book is fully indexed for names, places and events mentioned in his letters.
About the Author: The author, the great grandson of William Huff, initially read the letters as a teenager when they were in the possession of William and Almira's daughter. Sixty years later, after retiring from a career as an aerospace engineer, the author transcribed the letters over an eight month period and also added historical notes and biographies.