Union soldier, third sergeant in the Ohio Infantry Regiment, 50th, Company G, Kruse enlisted in August of 1862, and served in the field in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. He participated in the Union victory in Atlanta under General Sherman. Typescripts of letters, dated Aug. 24, 1862-April 18, 1865, from Kruse to his parents and brother and sister, describing his experiences in the Union Army. Beginning with his enlistment and first assignment to Camp Dennison, in Hamilton County, Ohio, Kruse's letters detail the daily hardships of military life in the camps, troop movements of the Union forces through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia, and his impressions during various battles. His letter of Sept. 14, 1864 contains a sketch of the movements of his company during the attack on Atlanta, and a copy from Sept. 9, 1864 of Gen. Haskell's thanks to the Union troops for the victory at Atlanta. Also included are two letters from Kruse's mother, Sarah, to her son John: one, dated Dec. 11, 1864, relates that Kruse has been taken prisoner at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee; the other, dated May 26, 1865, laments his death in a boat explosion.