Ansel D. Nickerson

Best known for A Raw Recruit's War Experiences (1888), he wrote from direct experience as a private in Company B of the Eleventh Rhode Island Volunteers. The book began as a paper read before veterans' gatherings and was later printed for private distribution, giving readers a ground-level account of camp life, marching, hardship, and service during the Civil War.

Available records identify him as Ansel Dean Nickerson, born in Massachusetts in 1834 and dying in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1896. What stands out in his writing is its straightforward, conversational tone: instead of grand speeches, he focuses on the small moments and practical realities that made up a soldier's life.

Although little biographical information is easily confirmed beyond his service and memoir, that single book has kept his voice alive. For listeners interested in firsthand Civil War narratives, his work offers an intimate perspective from an ordinary volunteer rather than a famous commander.