John McElroy (author)

John McElroy (1846–1929) was an American printer, soldier, journalist and author, known mainly for writing the novel The Red Acorn and the four-volume Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons, based upon his lengthy confinement in the Confederate Andersonville prison camp during the American Civil War.

In January 1864, he was among dozens of men captured in a skirmish near Jonesville, Virginia, by Confederate cavalrymen commanded by William E. Jones.

In 1879, he wrote Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons, a non-fiction work based on his experiences during his fifteen-month incarceration.

He was active in the local Grand Army of the Republic, serving as commander of the Department of the Potomac during 1896.

In 1910, he published a Civil War novel entitled Si Klegg: His Transformation from a Raw Recruit to a Veteran.