The first biography of one of the Civil War's most famous disabled veterans and most prominent public figures in the Gilded Age. An examination of the dynamics of disability, the culture and politics of the Gilded Age, and the aftereffects of the Civil War.

JAMES MARTEN is professor of history at Marquette University. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of several books, including America's Corporal: James Tanner in War and Peace (Georgia); Sing Not War: The Lives of Union and Confederate Veterans in Gilded Age America; Civil War America: Voices from the Home Front; and The Children's Civil War.