At the age of fourteen, Edwin Hale Lincoln left his Cape Cod home to enlist as a drummer boy with the Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. During his service in the coastal regions of North Carolina, he recorded a number of aspects of army life. Comments on everyday affairs such as drills, mail and the arrival of the paymaster are mixed with coverage of the military action around New Bern and Kinston, North Carolina during the last part of 1862 and the first half of 1863. Lincoln was a highly intelligent individual, spending time studying while tending to his various duties in New Bern and Beaufort. After the Civil War, he became a famous photographer. Many of his works are still exhibited today. This intriguing book provides glimpses of an ordinary individual caught up in the actions of war, an individual who was destined for greatness well into the twentieth century.