Yours for the Union takes us inside the life and mind of Civil War soldier John Chase during his service with the Army of the Potomac. Chase was a 36 year-old cabinetmaker from Roxbury (and a widower with four young children) when he enlisted as a private in the First Massachusetts Light Artillery. His letters portray a man trying to provide for his children, maintain his finances, and obtain food and clothing to supplement his meager rations, all while fighting a war. While he was a patriotic Northerner, his occasionally crude language reflects his strong opinion of abolitionists, and especially, of abolitionist politicians.