Coastal Carolina University distinguished professor emeritus Val Dunham will discuss his Civil War history book, a biography of his great-great grandfather, at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, in Kimbel Library. The discussion, sponsored by the Horry County Achieves Center, is free and open to the public.

"Allegany to Appomattox: the Life and Letters of Private William Whitlock of the 188th New York Volunteers," is the story of Pvt. William Whitlock of Allegany, N.Y., who joined the Union army in September 1864, leaving behind his wife and four children. Whitlock fought in three battles before he was killed in action at Dinwiddle, Va.

Dunham began writing the story after his cousin, Howard Mark Whitney, found the letters in an ancestor's home in Allegany. Thirty-nine letters were found at the end of the 1970s, containing Whitlock's account of combat marches, homesickness, hunger and other aspects of Civil War military life.

Kimbel Library is located on 376 University Blvd. adjacent to Wheelwright Auditorium. The discussion will take place in room 220.

For more information, contact Ben Burroughs, director of the Horry County Archives Center, at 843-349-4056.