A Trooper´s Adventures

[7thWisconsin]

OK - I need some bibliographic help with this volume. ¨A Trooper´s Adventures¨ published by Hurst & Co Publishers, NY. There´s no printing date, but the copy I have was given as a Christmas present in 1888. The volume was published by Hurst & Co as part of their ¨Arlington Edition¨ line, a cheaply printed and cheaply bound line of classic and popular literature. (In fact, there´s an advertisement in the back for the works of Edward Lytton Bulwer, the author infamous for penning ¨It was a dark and stormy night.¨)
This book is terrible, no doubt about it. The author fails to mention his regiment (which I suspect may have been the 1st NY Cavalry based on some of the officers mentioned). He never gives his own rank, and the volume is anonymous. Rarely does he mention comrades, or give vignettes of his time in service. Mostly it´s a very dry retelling of the actions of the Army of the Potomac up to the end of the 7 Day´s Campaign. Since it doesn´t continue through the conclusion of the War, but ends rather abruptly, I´m left to wonder if the author ended his service for some reason about that time, or if the book was actually first published during the War. It does casually mention the ¨first ride Stuart made around our army¨ which obviously means the author was aware of the second one when he wrote, so that gives us an a quo of no earlier than the summer of 1863. It is rather glowing in it´s statements about McClellan, so I´m wondering if the election of 1864 was part of the reason for writing. Or is it the intended first volume of a multivolume history that never materialized?
So, anyway, why am I interested in this admittedly bad book? Because I can´t find anything else about it. I spent more time researching the publisher than reading the dreadful little memoir, and I can´t find an actual publication date. I can´t find anyone else who will admit to having read it. No one has digitized it, though I can thoroughly understand why. I can´t find other used copies for sale. Is it possible that I have one of the few remaining copies of cheaply printed late 19th century literature about the Civil War? It may be a poor specimen, but I´ll give it space on my shelves if it´s somewhat unique. (I can´t help but to feel sorry for the poor chap who received this as a Christmas present, though. I hope he got more enjoyment out of it that I did.)
So, has anyone else seen or read this? Can anyone contribute to my little pile of information?

 

[RedRover]

On Worldcat, i see it listed as authored by F. Colburn Adams; no date of publication.

Worldcat: Troopers Adventures; Hurst &Co.

The publication date given for these versions (1992) is that of the microfilm publication it is reproduced in...
Worldcat: trooper's adventures...

Also as "A Story of a Trooper..."
worldcat: Story of a Trooper...


Many of Mr. Adams' works can be read online:

OnlineBooksPages: Colburn Adams


So here's a similar (if not the same) work, the "Story of a Trooper" published in 1864...

Google Books: F.C. Adams; Story of a Trooper

Captain F.C. Adams is mentioned in the regimental history... page 39.

Google Books: First New York Cavalry

Here's a lengthy book add, from the Daily National Republican, Washington, DC, July 13, 1866:

 

[lupaglupa]

The closest thing I found at the Library of Congress is Story of a Trooper: A Trooper's Adventure in the War for the Union. That book was written by Francis Colburn Adams and published by Hurst and Co. The LOC doesn't actually have a copy of the book - they only have a microfilm of it. So if this is the same book, you may well have a unique or rare copy.

I found an article about F. Colburn Adams (as he usually styled himself) in a 1978 volume of the Southern Literary Journal. The article reviews three of Adams' novels. In his biographic information Adams claimed to have lived in Charleston, SC for ten years before the War, working as a stage manager. The article describes Story of a Trooper as a recollection of service with a New York cavalry unit in the peninsular campaign. So this definitely sounds like your book.

The writer of the review describes Adams as enigmatic and his biography as obscure. He says IF Adams served with a cavalry unit from New York in mentioning the Story of a Trooper volume. I could find no Fold3 records for Adams so this may actually be another novel marketed as a memoir to boost publication.

 

[7thWisconsin]

That´s definitely the same book. The first couple pages are identical and the Major Von Flopp mentioned in the ad does indeed appear in a number of vignettes. Thank you very much! I don´t know why my searches (some with the same sources) weren´t turning anything up. The 1864 edition at Google books is only 120 or so pages long and the Arlington Edition is well over 700. I wonder if what was printed by Hurst and Co is perhaps the bones of his story padded extensively with a history of the Peninsula Campaign. The history interrupts the story quite badly, but really doesn´t add anything to the story of the regiment. It is gratifying to see my 1864 publication guess pan out.
I wonder how much of the War Adams actually saw. I suspected the book was written by an officer, because so many of the stories involved the officers of the regiment. None of them seem to actually include the author as a participant, though. Lots of ¨we¨ language, but very little ¨I¨ language.
The Arlington Edition line were advertised as fine quality volumes on good paper and bound in fine cloth. Actually it´s printed on little better than newsprint and the binding is cheap cotton. I suspect they scooped up an old out of print book, re-set it and published it as part of this series of books. The physical condition of the one I have is pretty poor, as one would expect for its age. The cover is whole, but has some holes and wear around the spine. The front endpage is torn, but still present. The pages themselves are very brittle. I left a pile of pieces in front of me that looked like I´d been eating overcooked potato chips while reading.
I wonder if the shorter 1864 publication makes a better read.

 

[RedRover]

Here's a listing of variants available online...

Online Books Page: Story of a Trooper...

Sorry to hear your copy is in sad shape, consider scanning a digital copy, and storing the original.

Archival book storage: university Products...

And if ever inclined, you might consider downloading it to archive.org, etc.

Archive.org: downloading books

 

[lupaglupa]

I'm thinking this would be a very interesting mystery to solve - did the novelist from Charleston actually serve in a New York unit? The regimental history @RedRover linked to says "Captain F.C. Adams...was not connected to the regiment..." so his presence in the history doesn't give us a real link. The unit roster for the 1st NY Cavalry doesn't have him listed. So far I haven't found any records that put him either in New York or in the Army - of either the US or the CSA.