From the ranks of some of America's most passive people, the Mennonites, sprang the intrepid Union general, Samuel K. Zook. Raised in the very cradle of freedom, Valley Forge, Sam Zook was a good friend and subordinate to another area hero, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock. While these two men came from similar and tolerant religious backgrounds, Hancock out of the Quaker tradition, they also enjoyed an uncommon areligious talent with their verbal oaths. Zook was a citizen soldier who found military strictures to be virtually second nature to his personality. Afforded only a modest education and raised in an agrarian atmosphere, he was introduced to the military by the local militia, which he joined as a young man. From his rich Teutonic heritage, Zook was inculcated with a strong dedication to detail and discipline, which aided his impressive technical ability, as witnessed by his noted accomplishments in the budding telegraph field. These were demanding traits that he carried directly into his ranks and onto the battlefield. But some aspects of his life, both civilian and military, were frequently dotted with important and consuming controversies which continued well after his untimely death. Zook's contribution to the Union cause was as great as anyone could demand or expect from any soldier. Leading the 57th New York and later, the Third Brigade, First Division of Hancock's Second Corps, his crowning military moments were at Fredericksburg, where the record lets us vividly relieve his horrible agonies of battle with all of their cruelties and passions. Then to Gettysburg with its ironies, confusion and human madness. Despite all of those trying conditions, there never was a finer moment for Sam Zook. Decisively defying orders on the second day of Gettysburg, he led his exhausted brigade across the open farmlands to aid the suffering ranks of the Third Corps, onto a small patch of lonely ground known only as the Wheatfield. While standing tall in his stirrups and positioning his men amidst a hail of shot and shell, Zook was brought down by a single bullet that would close the book on his brief life of only 41 years. Laid to rest in Montgomery Cemetery in Norristown, where he would ultimately be joined by Generals Hancock, Hartranft, McClellan and Slemmer, Zook was regrettably lost to the annals of history and the hearts of the nation. Today, our responsibility is to save the memory of all those who fought that horrible war and paid the sad, ultimate price. To further the knowledge of his contributions and to the impressive memory of Brigadier-General Samuel K. Zook, this volume is solemnly devoted.