Georgia, is a native of Milledgeville, of that State, was graduated at Emory college in 1860, and in January, 1861, enlisted in the Oglethorpe infantry, a famous military company, that served throughout the war. Mr. Derry was on duty in Virginia, Tennessee, on the Georgia coast and in the Atlanta campaign of 1864, his service being terminated by capture on the skirmish line at Kenesaw Mountain, June 27th, after which he was a prisoner of war at Camp Douglas, Chicago, for about one year. Since his return to Georgia his life has been devoted to educational work. For several years he was professor of languages at the Wesleyan Female college at Macon, Ga. He is the author of a "School History of the United States," "The Story of the Confederate States," and has contributed articles to the Century and other magazines.
Col. J. J. Dickison, major-general commanding the United Confederate Veterans of Florida, is the author of the war history of that State. He is a native of Virginia, was educated in South Carolina, and became a citizen of Florida in 1856. He was identified with the organization of troops for Confederate service from the beginning, and soon becoming distinguished for ability as a cavalry leader, was intrusted with the defense of the eastern part of the State from the incursions of the enemy who held the seaports. Fighting for Florida from the opening to the close of the war, he was the Marion of his State, and achieved fame throughout the Confederacy.
Gen. Joseph Wheeler, of Alabama, who has prepared for this work an account of the part taken by his State and her people in the great conflict of 1861-65, is beloved by all the people of the South, as he has been since his days of gallant leadership as one of the great cavalry generals of the Confederacy. His laurels were won, and his rank of lieutenant-general attained, before he had reached the age of thirty years. The middle period of his life was given to the civil interests, the restoration of the prosperity, and the re-establishment of the political status of
