A History of the Ninth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry

Morrison, Marion, 1821-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0

Word count: 233K words
Chapters: 24

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A History of the Ninth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry by Marion MorrisonAuthor: Morrison, Marion, 1821-,Language: English, Class: E456: History: America: Civil War period (1861-1865), Release Date: Nov 5, 2013

Editor's review

This is a regimental history of the American Civil War, chronicling the Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry from its organization through its combat service. As a primary document of the mid-nineteenth century, its value lies not in literary polish but in the details seen through participants' eyes: marches, camps, supply, battles and casualties, and ordinary soldiers' observations of the war. For those studying Union Army organization and unit structure, the western theater, and recruitment in the Midwest, such regimental histories often offer more concrete primary material than general histories. Readers should note the author's standpoint and the limitations of the era; the narrative carries a distinctly Northern perspective and the language habits of its time. The book contains many personal names, place names, and military terms, which may challenge readers without background knowledge. It is suitable as supplementary material for the study of Civil War history, military history, or local history, and as selected reading for those interested in nineteenth-century American society and army life. As it is a public-domain e-book, reading it alongside an introductory general history and maps will yield better results.

Who it's for

A good fit for

History specialists studying the American Civil War and Union regimental organization
Local-history enthusiasts interested in nineteenth-century Midwestern American society and recruitment
University students needing primary sources for coursework or papers
Military-history buffs interested in soldiers' daily life, marches, and camp details

Not a good fit for

General readers seeking a coherent, vividly narrated popular history
Beginners with no knowledge of the Civil War and no basic chronological or geographical grounding
Readers who want only quick conclusions and broad assessments of the war

Reading tips

First review an overview of the Civil War's western theater and Illinois recruitment background before entering the main text.
Keep a map of the theater at hand while reading to trace the rivers, towns, and march routes mentioned.
Begin with the chapters on organization and first combat to gauge the narrative style before reading through.
Take brief notes when names are dense, distinguishing officers, soldiers, and local figures for easier later reference.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no background in the American Civil War?

Not really for direct reading. The book assumes familiarity with nineteenth-century American military and political context, and names and places are dense with no annotations. It is better to read a general Civil War history or related introduction first, to understand Union organization, the western theater, and the basic course of 1861–1865, then return to this regimental history; comprehension will be much smoother.

How does a regimental history differ from a general Civil War history?

General histories usually start from campaigns, politics, and commanders' decisions, covering a broad ground; a regimental history focuses on one regiment's organization, marches, combat, and casualties, with more concrete detail and a perspective closer to ordinary soldiers. It supplements what general histories omit about supply, camp life, and lower-level administration, but the broader context must be sought elsewhere.

What limitations of the source should readers keep in mind?

Regimental histories of this kind, written in the nineteenth century, were usually composed by participants or those close to them; they carry a Northern standpoint and the biases of their time, may describe the enemy one-sidedly, and may contain discrepancies in numbers and dates. Treat it as a primary perspective rather than a final conclusion, and cross-check key facts against other sources.

What is the reading experience of the public-domain e-book like?

This book comes from Project Gutenberg as a free electronic text; it usually lacks modern typesetting and annotations and may contain spelling or formatting issues from scanning and transcription. Use reading software that supports font adjustment and search, look up unfamiliar place names and personal names as needed, and consult a printed gazetteer or map when necessary.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Morrison, Marion, 1821- Author · 1821

Morrison, Marion (1821–) is the author of A History of the Ninth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Public information on his full English name, nationality, and life is limited; it is currently possible to confirm only that he was born in 1821 and that one work by him is held in the collection. The book belongs to the genre of American Civil War regimental histories, which typically narrate a regiment's formation, marches, camps, battles, casualties, and mustering out in chronological order, and which serve as both military sources and local memory. Such works were usually written by veterans or persons close to the regiment to preserve its experience, honor the fallen, and provide a record for later readers. Morrison's book is therefore likely documentary and chronological in style, valuing rosters, dates, and accurate accounts of engagements rather than literary embellishment. Given the limited sources, his specific identity, his connection to the regiment, and the circumstances of the book's composition require further verification. Readers may treat the work as a reference text for the military history of Illinois and the study of Civil War regimental histories.