Drawing on the searing letters that Walt Whitman, his brother George, their mother Louisa, and their other brothers wrote to each other during the Civil War, this work chronicles the experience of an archetypal American family enduring its own long crisis alongside the anguish of the nation.

In 1861 Charley, a twelve-year-old drummer boy with the Army of the Potomac, is caught up in the excitement and horrors of the Civil War as he travels from Washington towards Antietam.

Renowned master drummer Godwin Agbeli joins forces with ethnomusicologist Locke in this

The history of the volunteer militia in Detroit is rich with heroic figures, tales of leadership, bravery, and camaraderie. Author Stanley Solvick provides a fascinating chronicle of the origins and development of Detroit's Light Guard. From their beginnings in Anglo-Saxon England, citizen-soldiers have served in defense of their communities. In the New World, early settlements, far from the mother country, utilized citizen-soldiers drawn from their own population to supplement the small forces of regular troops. Detroit's oldest militia unit, under the leadership of the city's founder, Antoine de la Mathe Cadillac, safeguarded the riverfront community from the area's Indian population. By 1830, a permanent volunteer militia had been organized in the region. Author Solvick details the Guards' origins, tracing their transformation from Brady's Guards to the Light Guard, their involvement in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the two World Wars, and their progression into the Space Age. In addition to encountering a number of individuals who shaped and guided the Light Guard in its evolution, readers will come across many whose names have become commonplace in present-day Detroit: Colonel Augustus B. Woodward and Governor Lewis B. Cass. Let the Drum Beat celebrates the Light Guard's tradition of service to the city of Detroit, the state, and the nation and provides a colorful new chapter to the rich history of the region.

This pictorial history of the war as seen by Homer includes almost all of his works done in oils, watercolors, drawings, lithographs, and wood engravings.

Following the Drum tells the story of the forgotten women who spent the winter of 1777-78 with the Continental Army at Valley Forge.

Poems from one of America's best known poets, reflecting the tragic and powerful era of the war between the states. In two parts, "Memories of President Lincoln" as he and the nation mourn Lincoln's death, and "Drum-Taps" from Whitman's experiences as a nurse tending the wounded

Walter "Walt" Whitman (1819 - 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. Whitman's work breaks the boundaries of poetic form and is generally prose-like. He also used unusual images and symbols in his poetry, including rotting leaves, tufts of straw, and debris. He also openly wrote about death and sexuality, including prostitution. He is often labeled as the father of free verse, though he did not invent it. Whitman wrote in the preface to the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass, "The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it." He believed there was a vital, symbiotic relationship between the poet and society. This connection was emphasized especially in "Song of Myself" by using an all-powerful first-person narration. As an American epic, it deviated from the historic use of an elevated hero and instead assumed the identity of the common people. Leaves of Grass also responded to the impact that recent urbanization in the United States had on the masses.

When the Confederate Army calls, Johnny puts aside playing games with his sisters and leaves his plantation home to serve as a drummer boy.