Thomas Kirwan's Soldiering in North Carolina is an account of the Civil War experiences of the 17th Massachusetts, which fought extensively in North Carolina during the war. As Kirwan explains in the opening: "The contents of the following pages are presented to the public as matters of fact. They embody some of the writer's experiences while serving his country in the "land of cotton." It is true his experiences are tame and unromantic when compared with those of some of the men of the Potomac or the Cumberland; but they are the best he can offer, and need no apology, as the style does, which is rough and unpolished. Besides giving an account of the 17th Mass. Reg't, and its participation in the engagements at Kinston, Whitehall, and Goldsboro, something is said of the other old regiments in the department, and the nine months' men, -also, an account of the contrabands, their habits and disposition-anecdotes..."