Last to leave the field : the life and letters of First Sergeant Ambrose Henry Hayward, 28th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry / edited by Timothy J. Orr.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 304-306) and index.

"Independence still lives" : from North Bridgewater to Philadelphia, May 21, 1840-July 28, 1861 -- "We are not without our sport" : guarding the Potomac, July 28, 1861-February 24, 1862 -- "We all supposed the time for chewing cartridges had come" : the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, February 24-September 1, 1862 -- "Baltimore is a slumbering volcano" : Melville Hayward in Baltimore, May 25-September 5, 1862 -- "I have seen death in every shape" : the Maryland Campaign, September 1-December 29, 1862 -- "These are America's dark days" : winter quarters: December 29, 1862-April 27, 1863 -- "Last to leave the field" : the Chancellorsville Campaign, April 27-May 23, 1863 -- "I have done my duty in the last great contest" : the Pennsylvania Campaign, May 23-September 24, 1863 -- "If a battle, let it begin with the riseing of the sun" : the Chattanooga Campaign, September 24, 1863-January 10, 1864 -- "The white starr shines in Philadelphia" : veteran furlough, January 10-May 3, 1864 -- "Carrieing the war into Africa" : the Atlanta Campaign, May 3-June 19, 1864 -- Epilogue : "at his country's call."

Print version record.

Revealing the mind-set of a soldier seared by the horrors of combat even as he kept faith in his cause, Last to Leave the Field showcases the private letters of Ambrose Henry Hayward, a Massachusetts native who served in the 28th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Hayward & rsquo;s service, which began with his enlistment in the summer of 1861 and ended three years later following his mortal wounding at the Battle of Pine Knob in Georgia, took him through a variety of campaigns in both the Eastern and Western theaters of the war. He saw action in five states, participating in the battles of Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg as well as in the Chattanooga and Atlanta campaigns. Through his letters to his parents and siblings, we observe the early idealism of the young recruit, and then, as one friend after another died beside him, we witness how the war gradually hardened him. Yet, despite the increasing brutality of what would become America & rsquo;s costliest conflict, Hayward continually reaffirmed his faith in the Union cause, reenlisting for service late in 1863. Hayward & rsquo;s correspondence takes us through many of the war & rsquo;s most significant developments, including the collapse of slavery and the enforcement of Union policy toward Southern civilians. Also revealed are Hayward & rsquo;s feelings about Confederates, his assessments of Union political and military leadership, and his attitudes toward desertion, conscription, forced marches, drilling, fighting, bravery, cowardice, and comradeship. Ultimately, Hayward & rsquo;s letters reveal the emotions & mdash;occasionally guarded but more often expressed with striking candor & mdash;of a soldier who at every battle resolved to be, as one comrade described him, & ldquo;the first to spring forward and the last to leave the field. & rdquo; Timothy J. Orr is an assistant professor of military history at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

English.

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