William A. Spicer

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1845, William Arnold Spicer served with the Tenth Rhode Island Volunteers during the Civil War while still closely connected to Providence High School. That experience shaped much of his writing, which returned again and again to the war and to the young men from his community who took part in it.

His best-known works include The High School Boys of the Tenth R.I. Regiment, The Flag Replaced on Sumter: A Personal Narrative, and History of the Ninth and Tenth Regiments Rhode Island Volunteers, and the Tenth Rhode Island Battery, in the Union Army in 1862. These books combine memoir, local history, and military record, giving readers a direct and human view of the war rather than a distant summary.

Spicer died in 1913. Though not widely known today, his writing remains valuable for readers interested in Civil War memory, Rhode Island history, and firsthand accounts that connect major national events to the lives of ordinary soldiers and students.