author
William Pittenger
1840–1904
Best known for his firsthand account of the daring Civil War mission later called the Great Locomotive Chase, this Methodist minister wrote with the energy of someone who had lived the story himself. His books blend adventure, memory, and practical advice for speakers and readers alike.
7 Audiobooks
Daring and Suffering: A History of the Great Railroad Adventure
by William Pittenger
Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War
by Basil Wilson Duke, Thomas Henry Hines, Frank E. Moran, William Pittenger, A. E. (Adolphus Edwards) Richards, W. H. (William Henry) Shelton, Orlando B. Willcox, John Taylor Wood
How to Become a Public Speaker Showing the best manner of arranging thought so as to gain conciseness, ease and fluency in speech
by William Pittenger
Capturing a Locomotive: A History of Secret Service in the Late War.
by William Pittenger
Toasts and Forms of Public Address for Those Who Wish to Say the Right Thing in the Right Way
by William Pittenger
Oratory Sacred and Secular; Or, The Extemporaneous Speaker With Sketches of the Most Eminent Speakers of All Ages
by William Pittenger
Extempore Speech: How to Acquire and Practice It
by William Pittenger
About the author
Born in Ohio in 1840, William Pittenger served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and became one of the first recipients of the Medal of Honor for his part in the Andrews Raid, also known as the Great Locomotive Chase. After the war, he entered the Methodist ministry and built a second career as a writer and lecturer.
His most remembered book is Daring and Suffering, a vivid personal narrative of the raid and its aftermath. He also wrote other works on Civil War adventure and practical books on public speaking, showing a range that went beyond military memoir.
Pittenger died in California in 1904, but his writing has kept his name alive for readers interested in Civil War history, eyewitness storytelling, and nineteenth-century nonfiction with real momentum.