8vo (7.5x5.5 in). (Rebound, with dampstaining, occasional tears, and spotting to pages.) Contemporary binding with marbled book boards, black calf lettering-piece gilt. 293pp. Rebound cardboard volume containing a narrative of the 59th Regiment of United States Colored Infantry, and the printed contents of a circular letter sent by the author to surviving officers of that regiment.

FIRST EDITION of Colonel Robert Cowden's account of the 59th Regiment of United States Colored Infantry, along with the printed contents of a circular letter sent by the author to surviving officers of the regiment.

Colonel Robert Edmund Cowden enlisted with the 56th Illinois volunteer Infantry on February 1, 1862, with that unit first seeing action during the Siege of Corinth. Cowden rapidly ascended the ranks, eventually ascending to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel 1 May 1864 in order to command the 59th Regiment of United States Colored Infantry. The challenges and accomplishments of that unit are detailed within this volume, along with assorted details about the training and disposition of the unit's personnel, and Cowden's own high praise of the 59th's performance during the brutal Battle of Brice's Cross Roads.