Campaigning with Uncle Billy

About the Book

Campaigning with Uncle Billy is the memoir of the service of Sgt. Lyman S. Widney of Illinois who served throughout the Civil War with the 34th Illinois Infantry. Widney's account of his wartime service is based on the diary he kept during the conflict. As a regimental clerk, he was in a position to meet many prominent people and to know the plans and thinking of the command staff. Widney's narrative is personal, highly detailed, vividly descriptive and accurate. He writes with emotion and humor. He details the life of the volunteer soldiers as they enlist, adapt to military life and learn the trade of soldiering. His descriptions of the horrors of the battlefield, its grisly aftermath and the toll that sickness exacted on the rank and file is highly personal. Through Widney's eyes we explore the countryside, tour Mammoth Cave, learn firsthand about combat and sickness and endure life in the trenches in the relentless fighting of the Atlanta Campaign and the grueling March to the Sea and through the Carolinas. Widney's memoir is a worthy addition to the literature of the Civil War from the point of view of the common soldier.

About the Author

Robert I. Girardi is the past president of the Civil War Round Table of Chicago, vice president of the Salt Creek Civil War Round Table and a fellow of the Company of Military Historians. He is a lifelong student of the Civil War and is the author or editor of seven books on the Civil War including The Soldiers' View: The Civil War Art of Keith Rocco, The Memoirs of Brigadier General William Passmore Carlin, U.S.A., The New Annals of the Civil War and The Military Memoirs of General John Pope. The latter two titles were History Book Club selections. He has master's degree in Public History from Loyola University of Chicago, has consulted for the Chicago Historical Society and is on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. He is a regular speaker at Civil War Round Tables, historical societies and schools at all levels. He is employed as a homicide detective by the Chicago Police Department.