Private Osborne is a powerful look at the horror of the Civil War through the eyes of a young man who was only sixteen when he joined as a member of the Massachusetts 23rd Volunteers. His letters are presented in this thoughtful account, which provides plenty of historical detail and context to the words of a Civil War battlefield survivor who penned first-hand testimony of the Burnside Expedition, Roanoke Island, and the Second Front against Richmond among his experiences. Private Osborne also follows the soldier's life after the Civil War, up to his death in 1923. A remarkable, gripping testimony, Private Osborne is a welcome and highly recommended contribution to the annals of Civil War history.

This book is based around fifty-odd letters written by Frederick Osborne from Salem, Massachusetts who served three years in Company F, 23rd Massachusetts Infantry. His brother Stephen also served in Company G and brother Nathan became a career soldier after securing a commission in the Regular Army. Marcotte tries to create a worthwhile book out of Osborne's rather mundane letters with some decent research. Osborne was only under fire at the battles of Roanoke, New Bern, and Whitehall, all in North Carolina in 1862. The 23rd did not see much active service in 1863 and Osborne was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps due to a non-combat leg injury sustained in a "scuffle" and missed seeing any action during 1864 before his muster out that fall. Taking Osborne's letters as a basis for the book, Marcotte first prints the letter then explains what you have just read in a text that goes on for 1-3 pages each. He also uses footnotes, but the redundant material of explaining what you have just read, plus information on everything from the lyceum, to Union war aims, to soldier life, could also have been placed in footnotes. If this book was meant for readers who know little about the Civil War, the very limited topic will find few takers. If meant for readers with an interest in the war, most of Marcotte's text is not necessary. This book will interest 1) readers who read accounts by New England soldiers, and, 2) those having an interest in the North Carolina campaign of 1862. Osborne's father was an officer of the Salem Lyceum along with Nathaniel Hawthorne. Unfortunately, there is no evidence why a sixteen year-old son of an educated family would be allowed to enlist in 1861. The book needed a careful proofreader. Major J. Lewis Stackpole is identified as Stockpile, Stackpole and Stockpile again all within a set of notes on page 267. Marcotte makes a game attempt to create a useful book, but given the very ordinary letters that have survived (and it seems many have not) about a campaign that few people in the Civil War community care about, this book has very limited usefulness.