In the first line of battle

the long version

"In the First Line of Battle tells the story of how the 12th Illinois Cavalry came through the war with its colors intact. Tracking the regiment from its first muster early in 1862 through its service in Texas during Reconstruction, Blackwell shows readers the war as it was lived by men who fought across the length and breadth of the Confederacy. Tracing the path of the 12th Illinois, he sheds new light on the role of the Union cavalry in the Civil War."--BOOK JACKET.