In Search of Honor - The Twentieth Maine - Russell Dole - Bog

By the summer of 1862 the United States was at a crossroads. Rebel forces had stymiedthe army's grand strategy of dividing the Confederacy and bringing the seceded states backinto the Union. With the federal army advances along the one-thousand-mile front haltedin Virginia and in the Mississippi River Valley, President Abraham Lincoln was working ona radical plan in Washington, D.C. to change the course of the war and reaffirm his people'sconfidence in the nation's hallowed cause. Back in Rockland, Maine, Benjamin Deanwas slowly recovering from the severe wounds he had received during the Confederatecharge at Malvern Hill near the James River in Virginia. As he prepared to rejoin theFourth Maine Regiment later that summer, an unexpected offer to join a new Maine Regimentpresented itself. Benjamin's decision to accept the new assignment would soon reunitehim with his former college professor and help change the fortunes of the war in favorof the Union.