U.S. Infantry Tactics, for the Instruction, Exercise, and Manoeuvres of the United States Infantry

Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co, 1863. Later printing. Hardcover. Very Good. 32mo. 14 c.m. x 9 c.m. [4], 5-450, [14] (pages of publisher's advertisements), [2] pp. Green pebble-grain publisher's cloth with the symbol of the War Department and several borders in blind on both boards, gilt lettering and the War Department's symbol in gilt on the spine. Illustrated with a folding frontispiece and with 77 additional plates, many of which are folding, all illustrations and diagrams done in black and white. Completing the title page: "Including Infantry of the Line, Light Infantry, and Riflemen. Prepared under the Direction of the War Department, Authorized and Adopted by The Secretary of War, May 1, 1861. Containing The School of the Soldier; The School of the Company; Instruction for Skirmishers; the General Calls, the Calls for Skirmishers, and the School of the Battalion; Including the Articles of War and a Dictionary of Military Terms. Broadfoot 591. With a contemporary inscription on the free front endpaper: "Mr. James Reynolds Book O [U or Oct.?] 15th 1862". According to records found on Ancestry.com, a James Reynolds enlisted in August of 1862 into the 25th Infantry of Connecticut and mustered in on November 11 of 1862. The entire regiment mustered out in Hartford on August 26th of 1863. The regiment saw action near Baton Rouge and helped carry out the siege of Port Hudson. A fascinating volume of U.S. military history, crucial to the volunteers and drafted soliders of the Union Army. The manual instructs the soldiers on how to interpret bugle calls (with sheet music printed inside), how to engage in combat, and on the general rules of conducting war. Spotting to the front board, some of the plates with a wrinkle or two, the frontispiece partially trimmed resulting in only nine of the ten companies depicted actually present.