The Brigade Commander — John W. De Forest / J.W. De Forest

John William De Forest (1826-1906) was an American soldier and writer of realistic fiction. One of his earliest works, The History of the Indians of Connecticut, from the Earliest Known Period to 1850 (1851) shows his interest in history. It is critical of the settlers treatment of the Pequots and of King Phillip's War, which is somewhat surprising given the early date of the scholarship. The non-fictional work also foreshadows De Forest's later fiction in its subject, realism, and occasional violence. With the advent of the American Civil War, De Forest became a captain in the Union Army, he organized a company from New Haven, the 12th Connecticut Volunteers. In 1867, De Forest published his most significant novel, Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty. In contrast to much of the Civil War fiction that had gone before it, Miss Ravenel's Conversion portrayed war with a bloody reality, rather than idealism. De Forest wrote essays, a few poems, and about fifty short stories, numerous military sketches, and book reviews, most of which were anonymous.