author
A. F. (Ashbel Fairchild) Hill
1842–1876
A wounded Union soldier turned journalist and novelist, he drew on his Civil War service to write lively stories full of grit, humor, and firsthand detail. His books helped preserve one veteran’s view of the war and the difficult years that followed.
1 Audiobook
John Smith's Funny Adventures on a Crutch Or The Remarkable Peregrinations of a One-legged Soldier after the War
by A. F. (Ashbel Fairchild) Hill
About the author
Born in Pennsylvania in 1842, Ashbel Fairchild Hill served in the Union Army during the Civil War with the 8th Pennsylvania Reserves. He fought in major campaigns and was badly wounded at Antietam, where he lost a leg.
After the war, he built a career in writing and newspaper work. He is best remembered for Our Boys, a Civil War narrative published in 1864, and for later books including John Smith's Funny Adventures on a Crutch, which blends humor with the hard realities faced by a disabled veteran.
Hill died in 1876 at just 34 years old. Though not widely known today, his work stands out for its direct connection to wartime experience and for the lively, personal voice he brought to both memoir and fiction.