Letters from Hugh J. Kilpatrick

Hugh Judson Kilpatrick was an officer in the Union army during the American Civil War, achieving the rank of major general. He was later the United States Minister to Chile and an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. Nicknamed "Kilcavalry" for using tactics in battle that were considered as recklessly disregarding the lives of soldiers under his command, Kilpatrick was both praised for the victories he achieved, and despised by Southerners whose homes and towns he devastated.