B. F. Reed

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B. F. Reed, a captain in the Illinois Volunteers in the American Civil War, led his men for two years and was mortally wounded on September 19, 1863 in the Battle of Chicamauga. Prior to the war he was a speculator in farmland in central Illinois, near the town of Tuscola, and while away with the army he corresponded with his real estate partner. His letters show character development from his initial status as a businessman who happened to be in uniform to a toughened soldier with a strong sense of civic responsibility. His letters contain an especially vivid description of the Battle of Murfreesboro.

The American Legion Post in Tuscola, Illinois, is named after B. F. Reed, as is a room of Civil War memorabilia in the Douglas County courthouse. Original copies of Reed's letters are now deposited at the University of Illinois library.

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