Driven by patriotism and a desire to right the wrongs of the newly created Southern government, John W. Mambert, a carpenter amongst other occupations, enlisted in the Union army serving with the 159th N.Y.S.V. Infantry Regiment. Prepared to assist with eradicating the Confederacy and preserving the country, he believed the war would be quickly resolved with a Union victory returning him to his family in the Hudson Valley of New York. John, like so many others who enlisted, quickly learned life as a soldier was not exactly what they were expecting. Suffering from sickness, bad food, unsanitary conditions and drawn-out military expeditions, John's dreams of returning to his family in short order became far from reality, instead John would serve his full enlistment, mostly in misery. Information provided in numerous letters John W. Mambert wrote to family while serving the Union assisted in creating this historical narrative about him and the men of the 159th NY. In his letters, John discussed many topics including sickness, death, politics and the soldiers' daily lives. Another topic he wrote about frequently regarded the aristocrats of the South, the plantation owners who controlled the money, slaves, poor white people and politics. As the war slowly closed and the reconstruction period began, John along with 346 of the original 1,027 men were mustered out at the conclusion of their three-year service. This group of loyal soldiers represented thirty-three percent of the regiment's original strength. Sadly, the majority of the remaining 681 men were either scarred with a disability and discharged or died from battle wounds or sickness.