author
J. Albert (John Albert) Monroe
1836–1891
A Civil War artillery officer from Rhode Island, he turned his battlefield experience into vivid firsthand writing about the war. His work is especially remembered for its detailed account of the Rhode Island artillery at First Bull Run.
1 Audiobook
The Rhode Island Artillery at the First Battle of Bull Run
by J. Albert (John Albert) Monroe
About the author
Before becoming an author, John Albert Monroe was a student at Brown University and a member of the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery. During the American Civil War, he served with the 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, rising from lieutenant to captain of Battery D and later lieutenant colonel.
Monroe earned notice for his service in major campaigns including Second Manassas and Antietam, and he remained closely associated with Rhode Island veterans after the war. His writing drew directly on that experience, giving readers a personal view of artillery service and camp life.
He is best known in the book world for The Rhode Island Artillery at the First Battle of Bull Run and for Reminiscences of the War of the Rebellion of 1861-5. Those works help preserve a soldier's-eye account of the conflict, combining memory, military detail, and the perspective of someone who had been there.