John McElroy, Si Klegg, Book No. 7, 2nd ed.

Description

John McElroy, editor of the National Tribune, wrote the humorous stories of his archetypal Union soldiers Josiah “Si” Klegg and his “Pard” shorty beginning in 1885 as a serial in the paper. The stories of the boys of the fictional 200th Indiana were later revised and expanded into a series of books, of which this is number 7.

In this episode the boys are captured during the Atlanta Campaign and end up in the Andersonville prison camp. This was particularly familiar tale for McElroy to tell as he had been confined in the hell hole and his Andersonville Diary is one of the most compelling and devastating accounts of the Civil War.

Si and Shorty are most famously portrayed in Wilbur Hinman’s “Corporal Si Klegg and His ‘Pard’” which that author took-up from McElroy’s characters. The stories were so popular that McElroy continued them into the 20th Century.

Usual toning but otherwise very good condition. This copy is as-printed with pages un-cut.

McElroy, John. Si Klegg: Si, Shorty and the Boys are Captured at Kenesaw and Taken to Andersonville. Book No. 7. Washington, D.C.: The National Tribune, 1916. 2nd edition, revised and enlarged, 271p., frontispiece, illustrations.