author
Charles A. (Charles Augustus) Fuller
1841–1916
A Union Army veteran turned his own wartime letters into a vivid Civil War memoir. His writing brings the Sixty-First New York Infantry to life with direct, personal detail instead of distant hindsight.
1 Audiobook
Personal recollections of the war of 1861 : as private, sergeant and lieutenant in the Sixty-first Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry
by Charles A. (Charles Augustus) Fuller
About the author
Charles Augustus Fuller was an American Civil War memoirist best known for Personal Recollections of the War of 1861, published in 1906. Library of Congress records identify him as the author, and the book presents his firsthand account of service in the Sixty-First New York Volunteer Infantry.
Sources about his military service describe him as a New Yorker from Sherburne who went to Cleveland in March 1861 to study law, then returned to enlist in Company C of the 61st New York Infantry on September 9, 1861, at age 20. Records summarized by Civil War reference sites say he later rose from sergeant to second lieutenant and left the service in December 1863.
What makes Fuller especially interesting as a writer is that his memoir was prepared from letters written home during the war. That gives his book an immediate, on-the-ground feel, with the voice of someone who saw the conflict up close and later shaped those experiences into a lasting personal narrative.