author
Henry H. Meacham
1834–1879
A Union Army veteran who turned personal hardship into a vivid Civil War memoir, he wrote with plainspoken honesty about battle, injury, and survival. His best-known book, The Empty Sleeve, remains a direct and moving firsthand account of life during and after the war.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in 1834, Henry H. Meacham was a Massachusetts carriage-maker before the American Civil War. During the war he served in the 32nd Massachusetts Volunteers, and later wrote about his experiences in a memoir published for his own support.
His book, The Empty Sleeve: or, The Life and Hardships of Henry H. Meacham, in the Union Army (1869), tells the story of camp life, marching, combat, hospitalization, and the loss of his right arm near Petersburg in June 1864. The work is autobiographical and was presented as a practical, firsthand account rather than a literary performance, which gives it much of its force.
Meacham died in 1879. Today he is remembered chiefly for The Empty Sleeve, a rare memoir that also sheds light on the difficult lives many wounded veterans faced after the war.