Beginning in 1866, John William De Forest served fifteen months as an agent of the Freedmen’s Bureau in Greenville, South Carolina. After he left the army, he wrote a series of magazine articles about the bureau’s operation as it intersected with the daily lives of freedmen. In 1948 the articles were compiled inA Union Officer in the Reconstruction, which offers a deft analysis of the structure of southern society after the war.

David M. Potter was Coe Professor of American History at Stanford University. He was the author of several books, including People of Plenty: Economic Abundance and The National Character and The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861.

Daniel W. Crofts is professor of history at Trenton State University. He is the author of Old Southampton: Politics and Society in a Virginia County, 1824-1869 and Reluctant Confederates: Upper South Unionists and the Secession Crisis.

John William De Forest is best known for his works of fiction, including Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty, Kate Beaumont, and Honest John Vane. He also wrote of his Civil War experiences in A Volunteer's Adventures.