A light and uncertain hold

by David T. Thackery

Not only a military history, A Light and Uncertain Hold is also a penetrating and provocative social history which deals with the homefront, morale, reenlistment, and the memory and commemoration of the Civil War. The words and stories of individual soldiers give depth and substance to the regiment's experience. The great dividing line - the most important catalyst in the creation of regimental pride and identification - was the introduction to combat. In the case of the Sixty-sixth, its first combat experience was Port Republic. This set these soldiers apart from the civilian world whose structures and protections were no longer relevant. The new veterans were now divorced from the security of their civilian lives and could rely only on one another in matters which were truly life and death.