Description
Major Henry Livermore Abbott of the 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was once the most widely known and highly respected officer of his rank to serve in the Army of the Potomac. He distinguished himself in each battle during which he participated, from Ball’s Bluff until the Battle of the Wilderness, where he died in control of his regiment. Fallen Leaves is a number of Abbott’s wartime letters to his friends and family, the majority published here for the first time. Robert Garth Scott’s introduction incorporates a biographical sketch of Abbott that offers the most complete account of his life so far and, in his epilogue, recounts the main points of Abbott’s final battle and death. Also published with the letters are more than 30 photographs, many of them showing members of the 20th Massachusetts. Abbott’s letters convey an immediacy which gives readers a sense of being a part of an inner circle of friends and relatives. This quality lends itself to fresh and compelling reading for Civil War scholars, buffs, and general readers alike.