“Desolating This Fair Country”

Henry C. Lyon volunteered for the United States Army at the beginning of the War Between the States. He was articulate, passionate, and committed to the Union. His love for his family and country is evident in the letters he wrote home and the diary he began keeping on January 1, 1862. His diary and the 23 letters collected here are powerful firsthand accounts of the War, the Union Army, and one soldier’s thoughts and emotions. These documents follow Lyon from the 1860 Republican Convention in which he supported Lincoln, to his enlistment, through his involvement in crucial battles at Fair Oaks, Second Manassas, and South Mountain, to his mortal wounding in the West Woods at the battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862.
The text is complemented with photographs, a roster of the 34th New York Volunteer Infantry, appendices and bibliography.

The late Emily N. Radigan retired as an interpreter for the State Department’s Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1972. Appointed the town historian of Pulteney, New York in 1990, she wrote numerous articles on local history.

Henry Lyon
Format: softcover (5.5 x 8.5)
Pages: 221
Bibliographic Info: 30 photos, 2 maps, notes, appendices, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014 [1999]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9380-7
Imprint: McFarland

• “Recommended”—Choice
• “A sensitive and detailed account…a superb and invaluable contribution to Civil War studies”—Midwest Book Review
• “Book is laid out well…physical quality of this volume is excellent…of interest”—Civil War New
• “During his months of service, Lyon faithfully wrote home sharing his experiences and encouraging his brother, Sam, to stay home and care for their widowed mother and three sisters”—The Leader
• “Powerful firsthand accounts of the war”—Reference & Research Book News.