A Summer in Maryland and Virginia; Or, Campaigning with the 149th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. A Sketch of Events Connected with the Service of the Regiment in Maryland and the — Reading Notes

A Hundred-Day Regiment

The 149th Ohio was a hundred-day regiment, mustered in May 1864 and out in August of the same year. Perkins emphasizes the brevity of the service, yet the narrative covers a surprising range of experience: mustering at Camp Dennison, moving by rail and steamer, guarding railroads, and skirmishing near Berryville. The author notes that he does not claim to have written a full history, but that the main facts and movements are accurate. The roster of Company A, included in the excerpts, lists each soldier's age—many are eighteen or nineteen—and records casualties: E. P. Robinson died at Jarvis Hospital; E. F. Armstrong and Henry Benner were captured and died in Salisbury prison. These details ground the narrative in the specific fates of individuals, not just the movements of a unit.

Memory and the Written Record

Perkins is explicit about his method: he depended upon memory, but was fortunate in making a record of dates and incidents soon after his return. This dual reliance shapes the text. The foreword states that the record has been invaluable in preparation. The result is a narrative that feels both immediate and reflective, with the author occasionally stepping back to note the limits of his recollection. He does not claim to have written a full history, acknowledging that the complete service is stored in the memories and experiences of different members. This modesty is consistent throughout; the sketch is offered as a contribution to the historical record, not as a definitive account.

The Landscape of Service

The title promises a summer in Maryland and Virginia, and the excerpts hint at a narrative shaped by place. The regiment campaigned in the Shenandoah Valley, a region of strategic importance in 1864. Perkins mentions guarding railroads and skirmishing near Berryville, where two soldiers were captured. The physical environment—the heat, the marches, the camps—is implied rather than described in the excerpts, but the author's focus on dates and movements suggests a close attention to the geography of service. The dedication to Colonel Brown, who had served in earlier Ohio regiments, links the 149th to a larger military tradition. Readers will find a narrative that moves between the specific and the general, anchored by the author's effort to preserve what he saw and experienced.

Perkins wrote for his comrades, and the book retains the flavor of a shared memory. Readers interested in the experience of short-term Union regiments, or in the personal documentation of the Civil War, will find this a useful primary source. The author's careful distinction between what he knows from his own record and what he leaves to others gives the sketch a particular honesty. Approach it as a soldier's account, not a comprehensive history, and the details of camp, march, and skirmish will speak clearly.

I found myself turning the pages of A Summer in Maryland and Virginia—those hundred days of marching, so temporary yet so fully lived—and set it aside, thinking of the quiet weight other names carry. The 149th's own story made me wonder about those who served earlier, unsung in their own campaigns. My gaze drifted to Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776 and 1812 — A Reader’s Guide, and I simply sat with that thought.