While the shots of the Civil War were largely fired far from Walden Pond, Concord did more than its part in fighting for "cause and comrades." As its boys marched into battle, the Concord Soldiers Aid Society sent clothing and sustenance to the battlefront. The community hosted leaders of the antislavery movement, including Emerson, Thoreau, the Alcotts and Frederick Douglass. Brave Concordians such as Louisa May Alcott joined the fray as nurses alongside more than 450 soldiers from Concord. Author Rick Frese explores Concord's Civil War, at home, on the road, in battles and encampments and on through to victory.

At the beginning of the Civil War, New Brunswick was positioned at the transportation and manufacturing hub of New Jersey. Many of the city's young men exchanged manufacturing equipment for rifles, and those whom they left behind witnessed the war through letters from their sons, brothers and husbands. Patriotism, a longing to earn more money and adventure lured these "Brunswick Boys"--close friends and co-workers--to enlist. Their recollections offer insights into everyday life in New Jersey during the war--New Brunswick's factory system, education and medicine. These letters also reveal their struggles to survive amid battles and close encounters with death that so many soldiers faced, as well as their difficult transition back to civilian life. Local author Joanne Hamilton Rajoppi presents the fascinating stories of New Brunswick and the Civil War, gleaned from the letters of those who experienced it.