J.B. Polley. A Soldier's Letters to Charming Nellie. New York and Washington: The Neale Publishing Company, 1908. 

Provenance: George Patterson Kilmer (bookplate to interior front board).

8vo. Frontispiece and 17 additional plates. Original red cloth gilt. FIRST EDITION. Howes P-466; Krick, Neale Books, 402.

A scarce veteran's account of Hood's Texas Brigade by Corporal Joseph Benjamin Polley, who served in Company F of the 4th Texas Infantry in the Brigade. He saw heavy action with the famed unit, including the Battles of Seven Pines, Gaines' Mill, Second Bull Run (Manassas), Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, and the Wilderness Campaign. Polley was severely wounded in October 1864, requiring the amputation of his right foot.

Krick writes of the narrative: "This volume is among the most interesting and valuable primary sources connected with the First Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. Questions have been raised about the authenticity of what purport to be contemporary letters from the front. Their polish is probably indicative of post-war construction. The use of this medium of presentation should not detract from the well-written and largely accurate contents of the 'letters' any more than a publication of similar origins written in conventional narrative style. The high human quality of Polley's accounts blends well with the less subjective chronological style of his history of the brigade. It is unfortunate that this is among the more difficult of the Neale titles to locate on the rare book market." 

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