How Soldiers Were Made

Twenty-two years after the Civil War, Benjamin Franklin Scribner published his memoir "How Soldiers Were Made" relying on his experiences as a field officer in the 38th Indiana Infantry and 14th Corps' brigade commander. Scribner's military career began as an Indiana volunteer in the Mexican War and ended during the physically exhausting 1864 Atlanta Campaign, when his health failed. His narrative visually describes personalities and events in the war's western theater, while offering perceptive insights into how officers and men evolved into veteran soldiers.