Civil War Veterans of Tustin, California (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780979761935)

The American Civil War raged for four years and when it was over, more than 700,000 Americans were dead. There was hardly a family in the country that had not been touched by the conflict.

The thirty-three Civil War veterans profiled in this book fought on many of the war's major battlefields, including Gettysburg, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, and Atlanta. Several participated in Sherman's March to the Sea, and a number were on hand for Lee's surrender at Appomattox. A few were wounded, and one lost an arm. Two became prisoners of war, suffering through the miserable conditions in the P.O.W. camps. All were young: fourteen of the thirty-three were teenagers, and their war experiences shaped their lives in ways they could never have imagined when they enlisted.

After the war, they all became part of a great westward migration that eventually brought them all to the small Southern California town of Tustin. In Tustin, they were pioneers, helping to establish the young community. From these veterans were to emerge a state assemblyman, a county supervisor, the county's first treasurer, and the town's first peace officer.

And old enemies became neighbors, then friends, beginning the process of healing the nation's wounds.