A Union Captive

The first thing you'll notice about Warren Goss' fluid and articulate writing is that he was an educated man. A teacher before the Civil War, he joined the 2nd Regiment, Massachusetts Heavy Artillery as a sergeant. That he survived not one but two captures and incarcerations in the South is nothing short of miraculous. The heartbreak, horrendous conditions, escapes, recapture, false hopes, and death...always death...were enough to break any man. Many died from disease and the loss of a will to live. Warren Goss survived it all and spent the rest of his life writing about it. Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever.