War Journal of Louis N. Beaudry, Fifth New York Cavalry

Book excerpt: Away to war! This has been and is the cry and experience of thousands from the loyal Northern States for the past few months. It is also mine. I am going to do what I can for the interests of my bleeding country. So wrote Louis N. Beaudry on February 16, 1863, as he departed to join the Union Army. From the time of his departure until he returned home on July 18, 1865, Beaudry kept a detailed diary of the day-to-day events of the Fifth New York Cavalry. The unit was a participant in the Battle of Gettysburg, and Beaudry writes of it in great detail. As the unit's chaplain, Beaudry was very observant of those factors that influenced morale, such as fighting, disease, boredom, hunger and weather conditions; his diary is thus uniquely focused on the daily routine of the Fifth New York.