Though this is fictional I didn't find it any less informative
Letters to Whitman follows the life of Private Nathaniel Gwynnett of the 97th New York Volunteer Infantry. He met poet Walt Whitman who volunteered in army hospitals in Washington when Nathaniel was a patient there. Walt boosted the moral of the men there and also brought small presents.
After returning to his regiment Nathaniel writes letters of daily life during the civil war and of their travels. Though there are good times there are also sorrows, losing friends, leaking tents, not enough to eat, etc. Nathaniel uses these letters as a way to lift his spirit during battle as he tries to turn this into a friendship.
I do wish the book wasn't all epistolary format though.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This book is made up of fictional letters sent to Walt Whitman after he visited with an injured soldier in an army hospital. He clearly gets periodic responses but the response letters are not shared with the reader. The letters give a very good depiction of the war conditions the soldier endured. I didn’t care for the book because so much was left to the imagination. I received an arc of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.