My Great-Great Grandpa was in Battery M 1st Illinois Light Artillery. I was so extremely lucky to find this book - our whole family is. It's been such an unbelievable find for us. I want to thank whoever put it up here so we could download it. My immediate family has been traveling around parts of the country following Gr - Gr - Grandpa's Civil War experience using this book. Last Spring we went to Chattanooga and Chickamauga. Thanks to this book, we knew exactly where to go on the Chickamauga battlefield. My Great-Great Grandpa is mentioned 5 times in the book and was wounded in the head in the worst of the fighting at Chickamauga, according to this book. I have 5 kids that are learning their heritage and their country's history right now. When we went to Chickamauga we found the EXACT spot where the battery was located (it's marked when you get there) and I read that part of this book to my kids on the spot where it actually happened and we could envision in our minds fighting off Longstreet's Corps from the top of the hill, being scared to death during the battle, and saving the Union Army from total destruction so the Army could retreat into Chattanooga.

This book gives us a peek into what it was really like on a day to day basis, and every place Battery M went throughout the entire war. It's so detailed about every single move. You can follow Battery M on a map and track every movement. It's a treasure for my family!!!