Author David Handy will be presenting the riveting story of Captain Luther M. Wheeler on Wednesday, June 11, at 7pm at Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa. Based on his latest book, I Think I Shall See a Hundred Battles: The Civil War Letters of Captain Luther M. Wheeler, Handy will recount the tale of the young captain Wheeler using correspondence sent during his time in the 77th Regiment of the Union Army of the Potomac. The collection of letters to his mother, brothers Frank and Wendell, and his sister Abigail give a deep insight into the experiences of Captain Wheeler as well as a glimpse of life in Saratoga during the war years. He wrote about military life, Northern politics, Union war strategy, the courage and bravery of the Confederate soldier, the carnage of battle and aftermath, the Emancipation Proclamation, slavery and contrabands, army commanders, and struggled with the role of Providence in the war. Luther also eagerly sought news from home, especially of his friends’ doings and who was courting who. Registration is now open on the Saratoga County History Center website.
David Handy is a native of upstate New York as well as a graduate of Union College where he studied 19th century American history. He is also the author of McKean’s Sunday School Boys Go to War: The Story of the 77th Bemis Heights Battalion and These Few Lines: The Civil War Letters of Private Alonzo D. Bump.
