Held in the Highest Esteem By All: The Civil War Letters of William B. Chilvers, 95th Illinois Infantry

William Burnham Chilvers was an orphan and did not have parents to coach him through his journey of life that took him across the sea from Great Britain to the United States. Shortly after immigrating, he found a home in the Union Army and campaigned with the Ninety-Fifth Illinois Infantry during the American Civil War. He endured tough fighting through the Vicksburg Campaign and Red River Campaign in Louisiana. he served in Missouri and then at Nashville and Brice's Crossroads before ending his career attacking Confederate works near Mobile, Alabama. A strong abolitionist, he was sympathetic to the plight of the enslaved people and wrote about atrocities faced by these African Americans not only at the hands of Southern whites but of his fellow Union soldiers. His experiences transcend the battlefield and give insight into the development of a remarkable man who showed compassion and humanity in the midst of the ugliness of war. 

Thomas A. Pressly, III and Gary D. Joiner, Editors

State House Press 2018 ISBN: 0781933337784