Recollections of the Civil War

Did you ever have a hero you never met? After discovering his great-grandfather's recollections and poems about his time in the Civil War, Frederick E. Leickly, MD, MPH, strongly considers William Henry Harrison Polhamus in that category. In this volume, Leickly pays homage to a most unique writer in the style of the late 1800s who shares his courage, escapades and dedication to his comrades and his country.
It took Leickly quite some time to locate the manuscript he had heard about, finally finding it at The Ohio State University Library, Thompson Library Special Collections. It was typed on onion-skin paper with turquoise ink, and it was beginning to look like something more than 100 years old.
The stories herein are by and about a soldier during war, lacking the usual blood and guts but taking on an attitude of honor in purpose. The stories always have Polhamus as the hero or the one in charge of the situation. With the sagas tending to be somewhat surreal, Leickly was obliged to verify as many as possible.
A member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Leickly painstakingly researched everything his ancestor wrote and adds his own commentary to explain to readers what could be verified and what could not.

William H. H. Polhamus was the son of Albert Polhamus and Lucy E.A. Delano, born August 5, 1843, in Sodus, New York. He had six brothers and five sisters. He served in the Ohio 2nd Volunteer Cavalry from 1861-1865 during the Civil War. He was captured in November 1864 and sent to Libby prison. But as a non-commissioned officer, he was sent a few blocks away to Pemberton prison. After the war, he became an attorney employed by the Soldiers Relief Commission. He set up his law practice in 1887. He was also very active in the Grand Army of the Republic.He married Olive Jane Bauder. The couple had five children. He died on May 22, 1919, at the age of 75 from a skull fracture due to an accidental fall.