Book excerpt: Using authentic letters, the author chronicles the experiences of the men who fought in the 59th Alabama Volunteer Regiment throughout the Civil War. The 59th Alabama Volunteer Regiment originated in the spring of 1862 as Hilliard’s Alabama Legion. Its volunteers ranged from sixteen to sixty years old; many were illiterate; very few owned slaves. After the harrowing battle at Chickamauga, the legion was reformed under the dynamic, New York-born Brig. Gen. Archibald Gracie Gracie led them during the battle of Beans Station and throughout the harsh sojourn in Tennessee. Though he survived the battle of Richmond, Gracie was killed while his regiment was entrenched at Petersburg. His surviving men finished the war with the Army of Northern Virginia. The author’s great-great-grandfather, William Tate Burton, volunteered at the age of twenty-nine and was with Gracie’s regiment for the entire war. When injuries kept him from active combat, he served the regiment in the demanding and dangerous role of teamster, or mule skinner, driving the heavy wagons filled with crucial artillery and other supplies. Gracie’s Alabama Volunteers includes vintage photographs, excerpts from soldiers’ letters, and complete muster rolls for the regiment. Praise for Gracie’s Alabama Volunteers “It is a well written, well researched, and a very informative regimental history.” —Lake Charles American Press