I am most grateful to my wife, Issa Maria, for transcribing many of the articles that appear in this volume, and for her cheerful tolerance of yet another of my book projects. I wish to thank my mother for submitting countless interlibrary loan requests at the Wheaton, Illinois, Public Library on my behalf. My thanks also to the periodicals staff of that library for filling these requests, and to Carley Robison, curator of the archives at Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, for materials from the Ray D. Smith Civil War Collection.