author
Samuel H. Fletcher
A Union cavalry veteran turned his wartime memories into a firsthand regimental history, written to preserve the story of the men he served beside. His surviving work offers a direct, personal view of the American Civil War from inside Company A of the Second Illinois Cavalry.
1 Audiobook
The History of Company A, Second Illinois Cavalry
by Samuel H. Fletcher, D. H. Fletcher
About the author
Samuel H. Fletcher is best known for The History of Company A, Second Illinois Cavalry, a Civil War memoir-history written as a tribute to the soldiers of his unit. The book identifies him as a member of Company A and says it was prepared in collaboration with D. H. Fletcher.
His writing stands out for its firsthand perspective. Rather than offering a distant overview of the war, he focused on the experiences, hardships, and memories of one company of Union cavalry, with the clear aim of keeping those men and their service from being forgotten.
Reliable biographical details about his wider life are limited in the sources I could confirm here. A memorial record commonly associated with this author lists him as born in 1843 and died in 1923, which fits the Civil War-era service described in his book, but I would treat those dates as not fully confirmed from a major primary reference.