U.S. Infantry Tactics for the...United States Infantry. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1861. 

8vo. Folding diagrams. Original green cloth.

Inscribed to front free endpaper: "E. Brooks. Ward. / Capt Co A 34" / Regt Ills. / V.R.C. / Camp Wood / Mumfordsville / Hart Co. Ky." 

E. Brooks Ward (alt. Brooks E. Ward) enlisted as a captain on 15 August 1861 and was commissioned into Company A of the 34th Illinois Infantry the same day. After the regiment was organized at Camp Butler, it moved into Kentucky, where this inscription was likely written, and where it stayed until 14 February 1862.

In the late winter, it moved further south, and in the early hours of April 7th, the regiment met its first engagement: the vicious Battle of Shiloh as a part of the 5th Brigade in McCook's 2nd Division in Buell's Army of the Ohio. Fifteen were killed in action, and another 112 were wounded. After participating in the Siege of Corinth and the Battle of Perryville, Ward resigned his commission on 5 December 1862. 

The reasons for his resignation are unclear, but perhaps after the pitched battles, the young man was eager to return home to Sterling, Illinois, a town he wrote four times on the interior rear board and free endpaper. 

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Bumped corners, loss of cloth. Toned, brown spotting, dampstain to lower edge.