To Ind 9th Regt From JS Hurlburt Date Unknown

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Major Gen. Milroy 
 
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		PROSPECTUS. 
	To a forthcoming history of the Ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteers. 
 
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	The present Civil war in the United Stats has no parallel 
In the annals of history;  nor can a perfect parallel ever oc- 
cur in the future.  Civil wars may arise in this, and in other 
countries, but the present struggle upon its present basis can 
never be enacted a second time. 
	The hour has undoubtedly come in the march of human 
progress, for a final decision, before the world, or the great 
question at issue in this war; and the possibility of the re- 
currence of the trial will be forever extinguished in the mag- 
nitude and completeness of the conquest of truth over error, 
that is now sure to follow. 
	And in our opinion, it is not too soon to begin to antici- 
pate, not only the triumph, but some of its fruits; although 
future generations alone will fully perceive and fully enjoy 
the blessings of a free government, perpetuated and be- 
queathed to them by such a struggle as no other nation on 
the globe is now able to put forth. 
	We propose, accordingly, to write the History of the Ninth 
Indiana Regiment, and, although, as general thing, we de- 
sire to perform the task in our own way, yet it is not with- 
out a desire that the way that suits us, may suit others, and 
especially that our views may meet the feelings, and receive 
the approbation of those who are immediately interested 
and concerned. 
 
		PLAN AND FEATURES OF THE WORK. 
	1st. the work is to embrace a complete History of the 
Ninth during the three months service, beginning with its 
organization, under Col. Milroy, (now Major General,) at 
Camp Morton, and giving, in sufficient detail. an account of 
everything of interest in relation to the Regiment, its marches 
and skirmishes, all the particulars of the sick, killed and 
wounded, a brief statement in reference to the staff or field 
officers; also, of each individual Company, of officers, men, 
&c., with a full and accurate account of the engagements at  
Phillippi, Laurel Hill, and Carrick’s Ford; also, an account 
Of the battle of Rich Mountain, with other incidents of his- 
toric interest connected with the early part of the rebellion 
in Western Virginia. 
	2d. The narrative will be taken up and continued from 
the reorganization of the Regiment at Camp Colfax, Laporte 
County, and will be carried through to the close of the war; 
Or till the regiment is finally mustered out of service.  Com- 
plete fullness of detail will attach to this part of the work, 
as it will embrace the most deeply and thrilling portion of 
the history of the Regiment.  An effort will also be made to 
give an accurate and truthful history of the Battle of Shiloh, 
and of the siege and evacuation of Corinth, and of other sim- 
ilar conflicts in which the Ninth may be engaged. 
	3d. Perhaps the most novel, and possibly the most inter- 
esting feature of the whole Work, will be, that it is to con- 
tain a complete biographical sketch of the life of every pri- 
vate in the regiment, who becomes a subscriber to the book. 
The full name, age, birth and birth-place, parentage, enlist- 
ment in the army, under watch captain, &c., the service ren- 
dered, the sufferings and privations endured; as soldiers 
Especially the deeds of noble daring and patriotic bravery 
In the field, will be carefully noted, and set down in these 
biographies in each individual instance.  In case of the  
death of a private, all the circumstances of such death—how, 
when and where—where and how the remains were buried, 
and how the grave was marked, will be written out, and 
added to the biography of the deceased, and the book sent 
to friends, according to his directions when he became a sub- 
scriber. 
	4th. If we mistake not, a faithful record in these Biogra- 
phies of the patriotism, suffering, and death of many of our 
brave boys of the glorious and fighting old Ninth, will cause 
a thrill of patriotic joy and grateful sympathy, accompanied 
with a tear of sorrow, to go through the heart of many a 
reader, for years to come.  Besides, such a record will be an 
invaluable boon and precious keepsake of lost and absent 
ones in the hands of surviving relatives and friends. 
	5th. The work will contain the Biographies of all the com- 
missioned officers of the Regiment, accompanied with a lith- 
ography or steel engraved Portrait, as may be preferred, exe- 
cuted by the best artists, and in case of those who have, or 
may hereafter lose their lives in the service, their friends 
will be consulted, bith in regard to their biographies and 
their portraits. 
 
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	6th. In addition to the complete History of the Ninth, the 
work will contain a condensed history of all the Indiana 
troops engaged in the war.  The whole number of Regiments 
and Batteries, the number of Cavalry, where, when, and by 
whom raised, the different points to which they were first 
ordered by the government, the departments of the field 
subsequently occupied by them individually, with a brief 
account of all the battles in which any of them were engage- 
ed, together with statistical tables, showing the whole num- 
ber of Indiana Soldiers ???? ????, the whole number killed 
and wounded , ??? ???, lost by sickness, with Biographies 
of Indiana Generals, and other leading military men of the 
State.  Also, tables exhibiting the amount of money and 
means furnished by Indiana for the War, and tables con- 
taining the full names, Company and Regiment, where and 
when killed, or when and where lost by sickness, of every 
deceased Indiana Soldier during the war. 
	7th. After a complete history of the Ninth, and a condense- 
ed one of all the other Indiana Regiments, as above stated, 
a History of the War generally, embracing the most interest- 
ing and important events will be introduced, and carried just 
as far as the size of the book, limited only by the subscrip- 
tion price will admit of.  Copious statistical tables will be 
added to this part of the work, embracing a particular, as 
well as general summary, and affording a complete tabu- 
lar view of the war, making it a full and complete book of 
reference in regard to every event, both military and politi- 
cal, of any possible interest connected with the whole re- 
bellion. 
	8th. The work will be embellished with lithographs, wood 
cuts, and steel engravings, illustrating the different battles 
in which the Ninth has been and may be engaged, also illus- 
trating the various points and places of interest, cities and 
villages, as well as some of the points of natural scenery that 
have been, and may hereafter be made, familiar to the sol- 
diers of the Ninth, in their roundabout and angular marches 
during the war. 
	9th. Notwithstanding the work will be much more exten- 
sive than was at first anticipated; so much so, that it will 
comprise at least two volumes of from six to seven hundred 
pages each, yet the subscription price to the soldiers of the 
Ninth, will be but $5, as per contract at the beginning.  It 
will be impossible, however, from the advanced price of print- 
ing materials, work, &c. to fix the permanent and future 
price of the work at less than $8.  We presume that no 
citizen at home, will object to the Soldiers of the Ninth, who 
subscribe for this work in the fall of ’62, many of whom 
have since lost their lives in the service, and who have paid 
their money in advance, as a fund with which to publish 
their edition, getting the work a little less than the regular 
price. 
	We propose to issue the first volume sometime during the 
coming spring, or sooner if possible. 
	10th. The plan of this work, as set forth throughout this 
Prospectus, was originated in the summer of ’61; and in or- 
der to give it a practical and satisfactory fulfillment, the wri- 
ter joined his fortunes with the army, and traveled with the 
Ninth Indiana, with the exception of short intervals, to the  
present time, September 22d, 1863.  He was with this Regi- 
ment throughout the canpaign in West Virginia; was at 
the battles of Green Briar and Buffalo Mountain; and ac- 
companied many of the perilous scouting enterprises of our 
forces in that mountainous region.  He was at Shiloh, at the 
siege of Corith, and also personally witnessed the whole of 
that memorable and bloody conflict of Stone River, before 
Murfreesboro; and shall endeavor to give a complete and 
truthful history of those terrible scenes.  With the excep- 
tion of the present, and the following paragraphs, this pros- 
pectus was first published in Northern Indiana, August 
2d, 1862. 
	11th. It is not our intention to depend, for the sale of this 
History, upon traveling agents sent out expressly for that 
purpose; but we propose soon to appoint local agents in 
every county in the State.  At some future period, we may 
employ returned soldiers, who at the time may be disabled 
from manual labor, to obtain subscribers.  At present, how- 
ever, we can solicit only in a general way the subscriptions 
and the co-operation of the people of Indiana.  None, how- 
ever, need be deterred from forwarding their subscriptions 
immediately.  Postmasters, Ministers of the Gospel, and es- 
pecially traveling Ministers, and other persons who may re- 
ceive these Circulars, are solicited to afford us that inciden- 
tal aid, consistent with their respective and legitimate du- 
ties, that the History of the Ninth Indiana may obtain that 
portion of the public patronage which its character, as here- 
in foreshadowed, may appear to justify, and which it is hop- 
ed will be fully met by the reality itself. 
	At present advanced rates of publication, the subscrip- 
tion price cannot be fixed at less then $4 per volume. 
	Address at Michigan City, Indiana. 
 
		J. S. HURLBURT. 
 
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         NAMES	.	|	NAMES. 
 
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Prospectus for the 
History of the 9th 
Ind Vol.Inft 
J. S. Hurlburt