With Sherman to the Sea

With Sherman to the Sea, first published in 1960, are the reminiscences of a boy's three years with General William Sherman during the Civil War. Author "Cord" Foote of Flint Michigan, enlisted as a drummer with the Michigan 10th Infantry in 1862, the day after his 13th birthday. Foote was first sent with the regiment to Tennessee, enduring months of camp boredom and homesickness, but interspersed with episodes of fear and hilarity. The regiment is ordered farther south, with Foote and his drum corps beating their drums on the long marches, and drumming the regiment into battles such as Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. During the actual fighting, the drummers would serve as water carriers and stretcher bearers. Reaching Atlanta, the soldiers watch the burning of Atlanta then continue under the revered "Uncle Billy" Sherman, marching and foraging their way to Savannah and the sea.