Duganne was born in Boston circa 1823, and little is known about his early years. He started his literary career by writing patriotic poems that were published by newspapers. In 1844, they were collected and republished as "Hand Poems " (Boston, 1844) to critical acclaim. In 1843, he published his first novel, ''The Two Clerks; or, The Orphan's Gratitude''. He moved to Philadelphia in the early 1840s and developed an interest in politics after becoming involved with the labor and land reform movements. In 1849-50, he published in
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania a satirical weekly newspaper, the "Iron Man". After relocating to New York City, he entered politics and was elected, in 1855, to the
New York State Legislature from the
Native American Party; he served one term. In December 1862, he was commissioned as lieutenant-colonel of the
176th New York Volunteer Infantry. On June 23, 1863, he became a
POW and spent thirteen months in various Texas prison camps. He is the author of
Camps and Prison (1865), a vivid account of his war experiences. On behalf of the State of New York he collected information about the treatment of Union soldiers from New York in the Confederate prisons and prison camps. In the
postbellum period, he worked for the
New-York Tribune, wrote poetry and published books. He sympathized with struggling workingmen of his time and joined the
Knights of Labor. In 1871, he patented an invention dealing with improvement in printer's column-rules. Duganne died on October 20, 1884. ==Poetical works==