author
Nelson H. DeLane
1838–1926
Best known for helping preserve the story of a Massachusetts Civil War unit, this little-known writer is remembered through a detailed roster that keeps individual soldiers from fading into history. His surviving work has the feel of a memorial as much as a record.
1 Audiobook
Roster of Company I, 24th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers
by Charles Bean Amory, James Armstrong, Nelson H. DeLane
About the author
Born in 1838 and dying in 1926, Nelson H. DeLane is chiefly associated with Roster of Company I, 24th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, a book prepared with James Armstrong and Charles B. Amory. The volume was published in 1902 and organized the names and service details of the men of Company I, turning military records and personal memory into a lasting historical document.
DeLane’s reputation today rests less on a large body of literary work than on this act of preservation. The book was created on behalf of the survivors' association of the company, which gives it a personal and commemorative quality: it was meant to remember real men and their service, not just summarize a regiment from a distance.
Only a small amount of biographical detail is easy to confirm online, but the record that survives suggests a figure connected with Civil War memory and local history rather than a professional author in the modern sense. That makes his work especially valuable for listeners interested in firsthand-era efforts to preserve the names and experiences of Union soldiers.