Subdued by the Sword: A Line Officer in the 121st New York Volunteers

Presents the life of Captain John S. Kidder during the Civil War, as told through letters to his wife, Harriet, at home in rural New York.

Drawing on previously unpublished letters written by John S. Kidder to his wife, Harriet, during the Civil War, James M. Greiner recounts the triumphs and tragedies endured by one New York family. Kidder, a carriage maker living in the rural village of Laurens, responded to President Lincoln's call in the summer of 1862 for more troops by personally recru...