Early in May 1861, twenty-one-year-old Sam R. Watkins of Columbia, Tennessee, joined the First Tennessee Regiment, Company H, to fight for the Conf...
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Nov 25, 2011
Susan
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This book was written by a "family connection," a distinction that probably only matters to old Southern women. Sam Watkins married a relative of mine. The book is a nice thing to talk about at family reunions, so I thought I would pull it from Project Gutenberg and read it.
I have now learned that this memoir is considered to be the or one of the best primary-source accounts of the private experience in the Civil War.
I was certainly blown away by a lot of it. More...
I have now learned that this memoir is considered to be the or one of the best primary-source accounts of the private experience in the Civil War.
I was certainly blown away by a lot of it. More...
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Feb 02, 2012
Christian
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Powerful yet astounding writer is Sam R. Watkins. He writes of memory and life as a private soldier. Never once did I want to put this book down. Sam R. Watkins is a very lucid and elaborate writer as I would consider it a work of art. As you're reading along you feel as if you were there, living the life of a confederate soldier. This is a must read for any commoner who wants to get a little bit of knowledge of what the Civil War was really like; you wont regret reading it.
Nov 18, 2011
Keith
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This is a good book although it shouldn't be your very first exposure to the history of the Civil War.
Sam Watkins is a good writer. He tells the story of the war from his point of view, a Confederate soldier on the battle lines. The book was written many years after the war but it's clear that it made a great impression on him and many details stand out clearly. The story is sequentially told, and includes battles as well as everything else that went on (unlike "Hard Tack and More...
Sam Watkins is a good writer. He tells the story of the war from his point of view, a Confederate soldier on the battle lines. The book was written many years after the war but it's clear that it made a great impression on him and many details stand out clearly. The story is sequentially told, and includes battles as well as everything else that went on (unlike "Hard Tack and More...
Jul 30, 2011
What is the audiobook equivalent of "couldn't put it down"? From the hour I downloaded Co. Aytch, I couldn't pull my earbuds out. I finished it in a day and a half.
Sam Watkins is a compelling storyteller. He left his home town of Columbia, Tennessee, at age 21 to follow the Stars & Bars. He would stay with the army--and his regiment--to the bitter end: Joseph E. Johnston's surrender to Sherman at Greensboro, NC. After an initial foray with Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Vall More...
Sam Watkins is a compelling storyteller. He left his home town of Columbia, Tennessee, at age 21 to follow the Stars & Bars. He would stay with the army--and his regiment--to the bitter end: Joseph E. Johnston's surrender to Sherman at Greensboro, NC. After an initial foray with Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Vall More...
Sep 03, 2009
Dr.
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Watkins wrote this book near his death in his eighties, long after he fought with the confederate army of the tennesee through four years and all of it's major campaigns. As you read the book he continues to remind you that he is no writer and no historian and if you want the facts thats who you should talk to, this is just how he saw it.
Quickly the reader comes to see that for these very reasons this account offers something that no historian ever could. We hear about him foraging More...
Quickly the reader comes to see that for these very reasons this account offers something that no historian ever could. We hear about him foraging More...
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Jul 28, 2011
Kate
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This book provides a unique perspective on the Civil War. A Private gives his interpretation of battlefield entanglements without the need to discuss grand design or intent. Watkins continually reminds the reader that if they are searching for the facts, they must search elsewhere; he simply offers brief glimpses of memories that are over 20 years old. Self deprecating and modest, the book forces the reader to laugh aloud on one page, while mourning the death of his comrades on the next. For Vet
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Jul 30, 2011
Sam Watkins has perhaps the most compelling "voice" of any Civil War vet that I have read. He has a wonderful eye and ear for the absurd and the funny, and he manages, somehow, to recount horrific incidents (i.e. the frequent shooting of deserters and those who fall asleep on guard duty; men lingering with lethal injuries) in a cool manner.
He is also an unrepentant partisan (Confederate), but this does not compromise the interest of the text. Surprisingly (for me), his racism is most v More...
He is also an unrepentant partisan (Confederate), but this does not compromise the interest of the text. Surprisingly (for me), his racism is most v More...
Jul 11, 2011
Tom
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A classic Civil War memoir written from the everyday soldier's perspective and in the everyday soldier's style. Watkins is unapologetic about the fact that he will have forgotten details, spelled things wrong and had a very limited view of some of the major battles of the Western Theater. Unlike many Civil War memoirs, he doesn't try to change events to make himself look better or shift blame on to other people.
The book is written very much as he would have spoken it and that can ma More...
The book is written very much as he would have spoken it and that can ma More...
Jun 17, 2009
Michael
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I have had a strong interest in the War Between the States for many years, however, this is the first book I have ever read written by an actual participant in the war. I was initial concerned that the author's grammar and/or syntax would be difficult to understand. As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. Although it was published in 1882, the author's prose flowed as if it had been written last year. The author goes into, at times, graphic detail of the horrors of nineteenth century war
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Dec 01, 2011
Luckngrace
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Co. Aytch was comprised of nearly 4,000 men from northern Tennessee who marched to Virginia to fight, not for slavery, but for independence from a bossy, overbearing government. Sam Watkins was one of only 65, yes 65, men to return 4 years later after seeing action in many of the major battles of the Civil War. Men went to war with friends and family; sometimes every man in town would serve and none come back home. Watkins tells us of mothers along the trail pushing their daughters on the soldie
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May 05, 2011
Diana
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Here is another book that I had to read for my US History class, but it was very good. This book was a first hand account by a man from Tennessee who served for all of the four years of the Civil War. He fought on the side of the Confederacy. Watkins makes the Civil War come alive as the reader shares all of Watkins' experiences--both the good and the bad. The War Between the States becomes a human story, not a compilation of dry historical facts we have read in a typical history book. You
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Nov 25, 2011
Joy H.
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Re: _Company Aytch_ by Sam Watkins (added to my shelves 3/2011.)
(Company Aytch means Company H, the company Sam Watkins was in during the Civil War. He was in a Confederate regiment from TN.)
I was led to this book when watching Ken Burn's Civil War documentary*. The book is free online or via a device. See:
http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=HyhCAA...
(To read via your computer, click on "read on your device". Then scroll down and see "Read on your brows More...
(Company Aytch means Company H, the company Sam Watkins was in during the Civil War. He was in a Confederate regiment from TN.)
I was led to this book when watching Ken Burn's Civil War documentary*. The book is free online or via a device. See:
http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=HyhCAA...
(To read via your computer, click on "read on your device". Then scroll down and see "Read on your brows More...
Sep 14, 2010
Adam
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I once had a history professor who said "History is not just a series of dates and famous names, but the stories of those who lived in the past." Although this book's greatest fault is that Watkins repeatedly reminds us that he is not writing an official history, that very fact is what makes his work so valuable.
The Civil War, an event so massive in the American psyche that nearly 150 years later we still appear unable to deal with it unless we oversimplify it, relegate it More...
The Civil War, an event so massive in the American psyche that nearly 150 years later we still appear unable to deal with it unless we oversimplify it, relegate it More...
Apr 03, 2010
Steven
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Sam Watkins' observations on the Civil War represent a gem. Here is a foot soldier of the Confederate Army, making his own pithy observations about his generals. On Braxton Bragg, he noted after the disaster at Missionary Ridge, "Poor fellow, he looked so hacked and whipped, and mortified and chagrined at defeat, and all along the line, when Bragg would pass, the soldiers would raise the yell, 'Here is your mule;' 'Bully for Bragg, he's h--l on retreat.'" As for John Bell Hood, the ove
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Apr 03, 2010
Abe
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What an unforgettable narrative of such a horrific period! SAM Watkins (I just noticed that this database has him mistakenly listed as PAUL Watkins!?) somehow managed to be caught up in every major battle of the western theatre, plus a brief stint with Stonewall Jackson during his Shenandoah Valley campaign, and lived to tell about it all! His delightfully eloquent style, coming from a man of only modest background and education, is a testimony not only to his own abilities but to the more remar
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Apr 20, 2010
Joyce
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A well-written, very articulate memoir of the Civil War written 20 years later by a private in the Confederate Army of Tennessee.[return][return]While Watkins constantly claims to write about only what he saw as a common solider, leaving the overall accounts of batttles, such as how fought and casualties to the history books, he does more than record what he observed. His account is laced with sarcasm towards many of the officers of the Confederate army, and his judgement of Braxton Bragg is ex
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Nov 25, 2011
Dave
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"Co. Aytch", Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment; or, A side show of the big show by Samuel R. Watkins (McCowat-Mercer Press 1952)(973.78) is a first-person account of a Confederate private's service in the Civil War. Sam Watkins fought for four years with the Army of Tennessee and was involved in many if not most of the great battles of the Civil War. He was never an officer, though he received a battlefield promotion to corporal when he picked up a Union battle flag from the fiel
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Oct 08, 2008
Ryan
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This book is an excellent source to discover the common soldier's experience of the Civil War. In the description it was compared to "The Red Badge of Courage," but this book is not as artistic, which is fine, because it was not written to be so. This book, in a way, reminds me of the following excerpt I once read of an interview between Katie Couric and a Marine, I believe:
"What do you feel when you shoot a terrorist?"--Couric
"A slight recoil." More...
"What do you feel when you shoot a terrorist?"--Couric
"A slight recoil." More...
May 19, 2010
Lee Scoresby
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Great book that shows a soldier's point of view. It is amazing how much Watkins and most of his comrades loved Joe Johnson. Be careful not to believe everything he says though. He gets his information about the behaviour of the top generals wrong, but it is pretty obvious he is just telling what soldiers thought at the time.
Feb 17, 2009
Gary
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This is by far the best self written Biography from a foot soldier of the Civil War. Written 20 years after the war in a series of articles Sam Watkins a foot soldier, tells you what life was like during this nightmarish time in US history from the perspective of an educated southern man. Absolutely by far the BEST.
Jan 16, 2011
David
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A memoir by a common soldier of the 1st Tennessee. Not a history, a biography or anything other than Watkins' remembrances 20 years after the war. Engaging and interesting episodic tales of everything from Battle of Chattanooga to funny sketches of sermons he heard and meals he ate. Excellent book to read while also reading Grant's memoirs!
Jul 24, 2010
Mark
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This is an outstanding book of the Civil War, from the point of view of confederate soilder Sam Watkins. First published a a newspaper serial, Mr. Watkins relates how the war was seen by the "webfoot" or line soilder. An easy read full of interesting images.
Jul 02, 2011
Tom
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This short work is an simple, elegant reflection by a Confederate private reflecting back on the momentous event he participated in some twenty years earlier. A very good, brief read.
Jan 05, 2010
LRK
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A poignant and endearing memoir of Mr. Watkins's service in the First Tennessee. The author is an exceptional storyteller, and reading his reminiscences these many years later is a true pleasure.
May 18, 2011
Chuck
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A classical and well written journal of a Confederate enlisted man during the American Civil War. Provides a depth not found in general histories of the Civil War.
Feb 05, 2009
Deenbat
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Readable despite the flowery language of the period, and very valuable for its perspective. Also occasionally quite funny.
Feb 10, 2009
Graceann
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Please see my detailed review at Amazon Graceann's "Co Aytch" Review"
Please click that the review was helpful to you at Amazon so that my rating continues to climb!
This is the best American Civil War memoir, from a soldier's perspective, that I have yet to read. Sam R. Watkins tells us over and over that if we want the history of troop movements and maneuvers, we should read the historians' books; that his his is a memoir of his own experience and nothing More...
Please click that the review was helpful to you at Amazon so that my rating continues to climb!
This is the best American Civil War memoir, from a soldier's perspective, that I have yet to read. Sam R. Watkins tells us over and over that if we want the history of troop movements and maneuvers, we should read the historians' books; that his his is a memoir of his own experience and nothing More...
Dec 03, 2011
John
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You want to read this to know the story of the confederate foot soldier. Yeah, you have to read this one. It's dang good.
Aug 01, 2011
If you heard the quotations from this book in Ken Burn's Civil War documentary, you'll want to read it. Very entertaining!
Nov 25, 2011
"[M]oving and always fascinating....penned by a man who has seen the spectrum of human cruelty, horror and kindness." - AudioFile
Listen to Co. Aytch on your smartphone.
Listen to Co. Aytch on your smartphone.
