Fully annotated and meticulously researched, The Chatfield Story: The Civil War Letters and Diaries of Private Edward L. Chatfield of the 113th Illinois Volunteers by Terry M. McCarty with Margaret Ann Chatfield McCarty is a stunning personal biography that illustrates a harrowing part of American history. Resonant, wise, and suspenseful, this elegantly wrought memoir is a story of courage, pluck, and survival against seemingly insurmountable odds. Chatfield’s life as a Union private unfolds with each successive missive, an incredible account from within the Western Theater of the Civil War: Cairo, Memphis, Oxford, Holly Springs, Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, DeSoto Point, Grand Gulf, Clinton, Vicksburg, Corinth, and Brice’s Cross Roads-where disaster awaited him. Fascinating in its approach and its depth, this spellbinding story of a young man whose name and family became famous in Colorado is a marvelous tale of accomplishment-a decidedly American story that truly begs to be heard.