This is a selection of wartime letters of Dick and Tally Simpson of South Carolina from their service in the Civil War on the Confederate side -- Tally was killed and Dick survived the war.

These compelling letters of two young enlisted men coming of age in the midst of war read like a good historical novel, complete with plot, character development, suspense, tragedy, and even more than a little romance, offering both a vivid picture of war at the battlefront and the texture of the home life of a Southern family during the Civil War.

This volume enriches the historiography of the Civil War. The editors should be commended for their fine collaborative efforts.