author
B. F. (Bernard F.) Blakeslee
1843–1895
A Civil War veteran turned his service into a firsthand regimental history, preserving the story of Connecticut soldiers who fought in some of the war’s hardest campaigns. His surviving work remains a useful window into military life, memory, and sacrifice in the 19th century.
1 Audiobook
History of the Sixteenth Connecticut Volunteers
by B. F. (Bernard F.) Blakeslee
About the author
Born in Southington, Connecticut, in 1843, Bernard F. Blakeslee is best known for History of the Sixteenth Connecticut Volunteers, published in 1875. The book draws on his experience with the 16th Connecticut Infantry and follows the regiment through recruitment, training, battle, imprisonment, and the long strain of Civil War service.
Blakeslee wrote in a direct, practical way that fits the subject well. Rather than turning the war into legend, he focused on the daily reality of soldiers’ lives and created a record that has continued to interest readers of Civil War history.
He died in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1895. Though little else about his life is widely documented in the sources I found, his regimental history has kept his name in print and given later generations a vivid account of one Connecticut unit’s wartime experience.