The Civil War Memoir of Sgt. Christian Lenker, 19th Ohio Volunteers

The Civil War Memoir of Sgt. Christian Lenker, 19th Ohio Volunteers, was originally published as a series of 174 articles appearing from 1912 to 1915 in the Pottsville (PA) Evening Chronicle. The author—at that time a physician practicing in nearby Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania—had been invited by the editor to describe his service fifty years earlier in an Ohio regiment fighting in the western theater. Composing his articles from field notes and letters, Dr. Lenker tells in great detail his regiment’s fighting at Shiloh, Stones River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Pickett’s Mill, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Lovejoy Station, and Nashville. The editors, assisted by students, have transcribed and edited the memoir from the only surviving newspaper articles. They have also provided annotations and written introductory essays.