The sword and gun

In Short

This volume serves as a primary, eyewitness history of the 37th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Organized in the spring of 1864, the regiment was thrust directly into the brutal concluding campaigns against Petersburg. Written by a major within the unit, the narrative documents the daily exhaustion, the terrifying chaos of trench warfare, and the eventual triumph of the Union cause. It is a vital record that preserves the specific, human cost of the war, grounding grand historical movements in the immediate, often fatal experiences of the soldiers who fought them.

The Story

The story begins in the spring of 1864, when the regiment is formed under the urgent call of President Lincoln for fresh troops to bolster the Union effort. Fresh from their homes, the men are soon transported into the thick of the conflict, arriving just as the war settles into the grinding, static misery of the siege of Petersburg. The author vividly describes the transition from civilian life to the sensory overload of the front lines, where the roar of distant artillery and the steady stream of ambulance wagons carrying the wounded serve as a grim introduction to their new reality.

The narrative arc follows the regiment’s baptism by fire, specifically during the assault on the Confederate works near the Baxter Road. The descriptions here are visceral; the men struggle through deep, hot sand while under a relentless storm of canister and minie balls, with the battle field quickly obscured by a suffocating cloud of dust and smoke. The brutal nature of this conflict is underscored by the high attrition rate, as the unit is thinned by death and injury within their first major engagements.

The regiment remains entrenched throughout the following months, enduring the hardships of fatigue duty, the construction of fortifications, and the constant psychological strain of living under fire. A central, harrowing sequence details the Battle of the Crater, where the men are packed into a confined, deadly space, essentially becoming a slaughterhouse until orders arrive to retreat to the main lines. Through these experiences, the author captures the mundane, repetitive dangers of life in the trenches, as well as the moments of reprieve, such as the period of winter quarters that offers a brief, cold respite from the active campaign.

As 1865 opens, the narrative shifts toward the inevitable collapse of the Confederacy. The regiment witnesses the final, desperate attempts by the enemy to break Union lines, specifically at Fort Steadman, and eventually participates in the long-awaited entry into Petersburg. The closing chapters describe the emotional release of victory, including the joy of freed enslaved people and the final, grand parade through the streets of Washington, D.C. The book concludes with the regiment’s muster out, framing their service not as a glorious abstraction, but as a hard-won, collective sacrifice. The author leaves the reader with a final reflection on the peace that follows, tempered by the somber reality of the many graves left behind in Virginia.

How It Unfolds

The call to arms The narrative opens with the rapid mobilization of the 37th Wisconsin in the spring of 1864. The author quickly establishes the high stakes of the moment, as the regiment prepares to leave the state to join the final, decisive movements of the war.

Baptism under fire The unit experiences its first true engagement in the hot, sandy fields near Petersburg. The reader is pulled into the chaos of the charge, where the air is thick with smoke and the ground is littered with the fallen.

The grind of the siege The middle chapters detail the long, monotonous, and dangerous work of trench warfare. The author captures the reality of building forts and living under constant, nervous tension, punctuated by sudden, deadly skirmishes.

The final collapse The narrative builds toward the spring of 1865, documenting the deterioration of the Confederate lines. The regiment experiences the breakthrough and the subsequent entry into the captured city, marking the end of their long struggle.

The journey home The final section covers the post-war transition, including the grand review in Washington, D.C. The account concludes with a sense of relief and finality as the soldiers return to civilian life, carrying the weight of their experiences.

The People

The book is less a study of individual character development and more a portrait of a collective body—the regiment itself. The author, Major R. C. Eden, acts as the observant, steady voice of the unit, shifting his focus between the command staff and the common soldier. Commanders like Colonel Ely and General Wilcox appear as distant, yet necessary, figures who dictate the tactical movements that define the men's lives. Captains such as Samuel Stevens and Frank A. Cole are highlighted, not as archetypal heroes, but as men who lead with courage and ultimately meet their ends in the line of duty. The soldiers, ranging from volunteers to drafted men and substitutes, are presented as a cross-section of the Union effort. Their individuality is often captured in the stark, final lists of the muster rolls, where a name is followed by a brief, devastating note: "killed in action," "died in hospital," or "missing." These men, collectively, are driven by a singular, urgent necessity to preserve the government, and they are defined by their resilience in the face of constant, looming mortality.

In Its Own Voice

The author reflects on the immediate sensory experience of the front lines, capturing the overwhelming confusion that defined their arrival at the theater of war:

"Shouting, braying, swearing, yelling, (from the mules) whistling from the steamboats, combined altogether to form a scene of noise and confusion, to which the grand finale at the tower of Babel was, by comparison, nothing but a quiet assemblage of sober and well behaved mechanics."

He later captures the quiet, solemn aftermath of the war and the enduring hope for a peaceful future, echoing the sentiment of a generation that had seen too much:

"To-day we sit here IN PEACE, looking back on our past labors and enjoying their fruits."

What It's Really About

At its core, this book is an exploration of the fragility of civilization when confronted by the systematic destruction of war. It investigates the transition of ordinary citizens into hardened instruments of a national cause. The questions underlying the narrative are not of political strategy, but of survival and identity: How does a group of individuals maintain their humanity in a "slaughter house" environment? How are the grand, sweeping motions of military history felt by the men forced to live within them? The author argues that the true history of the war is found in the endurance of the common soldier, whose patience and suffering provided the foundation upon which the eventual unity of the nation was built.

Why Read It Today

Readers with an interest in the granular, day-to-day realities of the American Civil War will find this account indispensable. It does not offer the romanticized version of combat found in fiction; instead, it provides the gritty, unadorned truth of a soldier's life in the trenches. The writing is precise and deeply personal, reflecting the author’s attempt to preserve a record that he feared would fade into "misty and indistinct" memory.

Modern readers should be prepared for the book's structure, which includes extensive, detailed muster rolls that serve as a memorial to the men who served. While the language is of its time and contains period-specific attitudes, it is remarkably readable for a mid-19th-century document. The book is best approached as a testament to the human experience of conflict—a way to bridge the gap of 160 years and stand alongside those who were there. It remains a poignant, sobering reminder of the cost of preserving a republic, leaving the reader with a profound sense of the weight carried by those who were forced to turn their swords into tools of war and, eventually, return to the quiet of peace.