Three years of hard work by local historian Bob Schmidt has culminated into the publishing of the author's latest book on Civil War history.

The book, Company E 2nd Missouri Cavalry, gives a detailed history of a Confederate military unit comprised mostly of local residents and can be a valuable resource for a genealogical research or for anyone interested in Civil War history.

"It's all good material for genealogists and Civil War researchers," Jack Clay, vice-president of the St. Francois County Historical Society said. "He's (Schmidt) quite an authority on it (Civil War history)."

Schmidt, from French Village, has written several books on Civil War history, some focusing on individual soldiers. In his latest book, Schmidt centers on a company who was organized under the Missouri State Guard, before being transferred to Confederate leadership, and the author estimates 80 percent of Company E's soldiers began when the unit was under the Guard's control.

While the company was filled with St. Francois, Madison, Iron, Ste. Genevieve and Jefferson County residents, they did little fighting in Missouri, but fought in Mississippi and Tennessee. Schmidt is able to place the company at the Battle of Corinth, Miss. in 1862 and Battle of Fort Pillow in April 1864.

Schmidt's research for the book was substantial, taking him to several different states, once the initial research process began.

"I guess it started out very slowly," Schmidt said. "'Well, who's this guy and who did he serve with.' I really didn't have anything when I started."

The author had to use the entire roster of the company's regiment, which included 1,200 to 1,400 names, because there was no roster of just Company E. From there he picked out each name that was listed as serving under Company E to develop a smaller roster.

Schmidt used a roster from when the company was under the command of the Missouri State Guard, along with some individual service records of the veterans in order to compile his list of soldiers.

"So, you know, you have to pull together several different sources," Schmidt said.

The result is a complete listing of about 122 veterans of the Civil War, nearly all from the local area, and some of their family members. The book uses biographic profiles of each soldier, a soldier's career during the war, and a broad look at wartime conditions in Southeast Missouri to tell Company E's story.

Some soldier's biographies are lengthy, thanks to more abundant information, while others are quite short. To the best of his ability, Schmidt lists any known family members and as much personal history on the soldier as he could discover.

For example, one biography on Pvt. William Baker is only one paragraph and lists two possible birth dates because of two separate sources Schmidt found. The biography mentions the possibility Baker may be a W.R. Baker, listed in an 1860 census of St. Francois County and states Baker may have died of "disease" in 1862.

Another soldier's biography, 1st Lt. Alexander Chadwell, has nearly 38 pages of biographical information, along with letters the soldier wrote back to his family in Ste. Genevieve County.

With each piece of information, such as birth date, Schmidt lists the source he used in compiling the information. The book also contains an extensive "every-name index," which may further aid people in genealogical search by helping them locate information which is not contained in a soldier's biography.