Description
Col. Haskell wrote the first and, according to many authorities, the best eyewitness account of the most pivotal event in American history. His unique position and duties required him to be in many sectors during the three-day battle. Born in Tunbridge, Vermont, Haskell joined a law firm in Madison, Wisconsin after graduating from Dartmouth in 1854. In 1861 he enlisted in the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers. He was Aide-decamp to General John Gibbon, the Commander of Second Corps at Gettysburg. Within a few weeks after the battle, he wrote his brother in Portage, Wisconsin, this accurate and very moving account of what he had experienced. Col. Haskell was killed in action on June 3, 1864 at Cold Harbor, Virginia. "Haskell's long letter on the conflict lives as a classic narrative." --Allan Nevins, The War for the Union
