Frank Wilkeson

[2] One of his older brothers, Bayard Wilkeson, would be killed during the Civil War at the Battle of Gettysburg while commanding an artillery battery on what became known as Barlow's Knoll.

[4] Their father, Samuel Wilkeson, was a newspaper correspondent who covered the Civil War for The New York Times and was present at Gettysburg during the battle in which 19-year-old Bayard was killed.

He initially declined the assignment which was first offered to him during the Battle of Cold Harbor, but several weeks later at Petersburg, suffering from what his memoirs indicate was post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), he accepted the promotion and left the grueling life of a combat soldier behind.

The couple then settled in Johnstown but in 1871 they moved to Gypsum, Kansas, where they managed a large cattle ranch and wheat farm.

A memoir of his military experiences, highly critical of how the war was conducted by corrupt politicians and incompetent officers, was published in 1887 under the title Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac, 1864–1865.

Highly regarded by historians for its no-holds-barred style, the book was reprinted in 1997 as Turned Inside Out: Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac (ISBN 9780803297999) with an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson.