A High Private in the Rear Rank

Although Theodore Parkins never thought of his time on earth as anything but the life he’d set out to build for himself and his family, it quickly took on the twists and turns of an extraordinary destiny. Hi son, Leroy Parkins, tells his father's story with love and admiration, and takes us from the rugged youth of an illiterate Illinois farmer to the ranks of the Union Army during the Civil War. Theodore survived the jagged blows of war and a Confederate prison camp only to face the uneven adventures of a pioneer traveling with oxen, wagon, wife and baby to the Iowa frontier. A jack of all trades, he also applied his considerable skill to the railroad construction race crisscrossing the country. His fearless zest for life never ceases to astound in these recollections blending personal history with some of the most profound events that forged the still-young United States History. A uniquely American tale.