Abstract:
Henry and Willie Cole were lucky to have survived the bloody Battle of Gettysburg. Little did the brothers know that the worst was yet to come! Sent to defend the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, the regiment’s depleted ranks were filled with draftees of questionable bravery. This left a small core of battle-tested veterans to lead the 149th in the gruesome Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House Campaigns. Equally brutal were the Battle of Cold Harbor and the Siege of Petersburg. Add a tour of duty guarding the infamous Elmira Prison Camp, and the Bucktails visited every circle of Civil War hell.