Easy to read and geared towards all ages, ‘A Hoosier in Andersonville’ was written directly from the diaries, recollections and documents of Quartermaster Sergeant Erastus Holmes. Also including the never-before-published history of the 5th Indiana Cavalry, this unique book is poised to resonate with Civil War history buffs around the world.

Roanoke, VA -- (SBWire) -- 07/29/2013 --While today it is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year, the Andersonville National Historic Site has many powerful and emotive stories buried within its walls. As one of the busiest Confederate prisoner camps of the American Civil War, over 45,000 prisoners were incarcerated at Camp Sumter.

One of them was Union Civil War Quartermaster Sergeant Erastus Holmes, whose diary, written while a prisoner during 1864, serves as the inspiration behind a compelling new history book.

‘A Hoosier in Andersonville’, by Robert Houghtalen, is the first book written directly from Holmes’, and other Hoosiers, own personal diaries and recollections.

Synopsis:

The story is about a Union Civil War Quartermaster Sergeant and his regiment from Indiana, in their pursuit of John Hunt Morgan, their role in the siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, in the march on Atlanta, and their surrender at Sunshine Church, Georgia. It includes the actual diary of QMS Erastus Holmes kept during his imprisonment in Andersonville prison from Aug. 1864 to Nov 1864.

This book includes details from eyewitnesses of life in the most notorious Southern prison camp of the U.S. Civil war. The biography of Holmes' included in this book testifies to post war life and the trauma suffered by one of the officers of Company F of the 5th Indiana Cavalry. The diary, recollections, and letters are the exact words of war veterans written during and just after the war.

This book also includes post war recollections of Holmes and other members of the 5th Indiana Cavalry as well as post war follow ups on many of the people spoken of throughout the narrative.

As the author explains, his book is exposing many details to the public for the first time.

“The 5th Indiana Cavalry (90th Indiana Volunteer Regiment) has a unique history, although it has never been released to the public before. My book is the first to tell its story, in a way that will entertain and inform students of the Civil War from all walks of life,” says Houghtalen.

Continuing, “Taken, directly from the documents and diaries of Sergeant Holmes and other members of the regiment, it’s a fascinating story that deserves to be shared.”

Houghtalen has recently announced that a portion of all proceeds will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Foundation.

With demand for the book set to increase, interested readers are urged to purchase their copies as soon as possible.

‘A Hoosier in Andersonville’ is available now: at Authorhouse,com, Amazon.com , and bn.com as well as through contacting the author.

About Robert Houghtalen
The great great-grandson of Erastus Holmes, Bob Houghtalen has been a long time student of the U.S. Civil War and has a personal library of over 200 volumes on the subject. A graduate of Hanover (IN) College with a B.A. in History/ Education he was a U.S. History in Indiana. Currently living in Virginia and member of the Roanoke Civil War Roundtable, this is his first published book.