Him on the One Side and Me on the Other

Alexander and James Campbell emigrated from Scotland to the United States as teenagers in the 1850s and settled in vastly different regions of the country-Alexander in New York City and James in Charleston, South Carolina. When the Civil War broke out, Alexander and James opted to fight for their adopted states and causes: Alexander enlisted in the 79th New York "Highlanders" and James in the 1st South Carolina ("Charleston") Battalion. "Him on the One Side and Me on the Other" tells the remarkable story of these two brothers through nearly eighty wartime letters to family and to each other. In this moving chronicle, Terry A. Johnston, Jr., follows the brothers as they endure the hardships of war and react to their plight. Alexander accompanied his regiment on campaigns through Virginia, South Carolina, and Kentucky and was wounded in battle while bearing the regimental colors. James served with distinction near Charleston, was captured at the Battle of Battery Wagner in July 1863, and spent the final two years of the war in three Northern prisons. In the most dramatic moment in this story of the brothers' wartime experiences, the letters reveal a near-reunion on the battlefield of Secessionville, South Carolina, on June 16, 1862, where Alexander was part of the Union force that assaulted Tower Battery, a fort inhabited by James and his Confederate comrades.