Surby, R.W.:

$1,500 · Offered by William Reese Company

GRIERSON RAIDS, AND HATCH'S SIXTY-FOUR DAYS MARCH, WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, AND THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF CHICKASAW, THE SCOUT. The scarce Chicago-printed first edition of this account of the activities and heroics of Grierson's Illinois Cavalry in their march from La Grange, Tennessee, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in April 1863. Grierson and his men marched through eight hundred miles of Confederate territory in seventeen days, repeatedly engaging the Rebels, ruining railroads, and destroying vast amounts of property. Among the plates are portraits of Grierson and other officers, as well as portrayals of the cavalry ransacking a plantation on a "foraging expedition," and two plates showing charges against Rebel positions in Nashville. Biographical sketches of other officers are also included. Surby was a sergeant in Grierson's command and wrote from personal experience. He was imprisoned briefly at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, after being captured near Port Hudson. A testimonial by Gen. Grierson preceding the text notes that he has "carefully perused the manuscript of the work...and I pronounce it correct in every particular." Also included in Surby's work is a fifty-page account of the Second Brigade's activities in Tennessee in the fall of 1864, and a biography of L.H. Naron, a southern-born scout also known as "Chickasaw," who provided great aid to Union troops operating in the South."A revealing and accurate narrative of Grierson's raid through Louisiana" - Nevi

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.