A Private History of a Campaign that Failed

by Mark Twain

Kindle Edition to the class Mark Twain work.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, Humor, Audiobook, Historical Fiction, American Civil War

Kindle Edition

First published December 11, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.

Reviews

[Fionnuala]

This was hilarious until it turned shockingly serious. That's often my experience with Twain. He fools me into expecting fun on every page—and then he shoots one of his sobering bullets right into my heart.

[Ian Laird · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Private History of a Campaign that Failed concerns ham-fisted small town country folk from Hannibal, Missouri (sound familiar?) who blunder about the countryside not fighting the civil war.

The motley crew, who are spectacularly not soldiers, conspicuously avoids the enemy, enjoy each other’s company, joke among themselves and appreciate the generous hospitality of the locals as they move about.

Until it suddenly turns serious when the yokels shoot a lone union soldier off his horse. The mood becomes melancholy, as the dying man tells of his family he will see no more. The strength of this story comes from its autobiographical quality together with the power of a single death in a war where tens of thousands died.

[Theo Logos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The coming of the Civil War ended Sam Clemens’ career as a Mississippi riverboat pilot, and launched him into the American West, where he reinvented himself as Mark Twain — journalist, humorist, and writer. But before he fled Missouri and the war, perhaps he had a brief interlude where he tried and failed at soldiering. This sketch tells the tale of a brief stint with a Confederate Missouri militia, the Marion Rangers, as green, undisciplined, and feather-head a bunch as ever went to war. It is almost certainly more fiction than fact, but it does capture the feel of the the war’s earliest days.

”For a time, life was idly delicious. It was perfect. There was no war to mar it”

In this humorous sketch, Twain captured the unreality of war’s beginning. Young men, their heads full of romance and chivalry, set out to war as on a lark. It seems a grand adventure to these boys, up until they encounter their first minor difficulties and inconveniences, bumbling about as they fled from mere rumor of the enemy.

”It was rumored that the enemy were advancing in our direction. The rumor was but a rumor; nothing definite about it. So in the confusion, we did not know which way to retreat.”

They continued in this vein, running from one camp to another, eating up the provisions of local farmers, with no order, no military discipline, no enemy sighted, and no clue among them. That is, until a stranger perceived as the enemy, rode toward their encampment one night, and in a panicked volley they shot him down.

”The thought shot through me that I was a murderer — that I had killed a man — a man who had never done me any harm. That was the coldest sensation that ever went through my marrow.”

Here the sketch turned from humorous farce into something close to tragedy. The would be soldiers are sobered by the cold finality of the deed. Soon thereafter, they meet up with more serious troops, and many of them, including the author, simply melt away, leaving soldiering and the war behind.

Mark Twain notes that there were many such raw and inept bands at war’s beginning, some of whom actually seasoned into competent warriors. As for himself, he writes,

”I could have become a soldier myself if I had waited. I had got part of it learned — I knew more about retreating than the man who invented retreating.”

[Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a small group of American authors who fought in the American Civil War and wrote about it (Ambrose Bierce, John W. DeForest, Sidney Lanier and Theodore Winthrop who was, in fact, killed in battle). Mark Twain was not among them although he did write also about that war. H.L. Mencken once jeered at him and others like Henry James as the "draft-dodgers."

Half-mocking and half-apologizing, this was perhaps Mark Twain's response to the criticism. I do not know if the events narrated here are factual, as they appear comical, but towards the end when someone finally got killed it showed with that pointless waste of a life the cruel farce that war seemed, at least during its infancy.

[Danny Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is at its funniest at the beginning as Twain talks about the confusion in the West and how morals in America are quickly shed when there's money involved. The rest, a story of Confederate soldiers... well, a militia of idiots who decide to make themselves proper soldiers after hearing hero's journey tales of saving Missouri is amusing. The tale is pointed about personal emptiness and the idiocy of striving for glory in another man's war.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Twain's The Private History of a Campaign That Failed, a fictionalized version of his own wartime experiences, is different from most Civil War fiction I've read. There's been a lot written about the disillusionment of war, mostly in a tragic vein, as participants discover the hardship and horror firsthand. Private History, a wryly comic short piece, takes a different approach, using humor to effectively strip away every vestige of romance or glory from the idea of war. It may not be tragic, but it's pathetic. It made me laugh, but it also left me with an oddly melancholy feeling, even as it ended with a humorous line.

It recounts the misadventures of some young men and boys who "[get] together in a secret place at night" (reminiscent of Tom Sawyer's organizing the band of 'robbers' in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) and form an irregular militia company in the early part of the war. They do, as the narrator admits...nothing. Squabbling over rank, trying to ride unruly horses, and retreating every time they hear a rumor of the enemy being in the neighborhood comprise their troubles. The irony lies in that they seem to believe they are really in the war and accomplishing something worthwhile. Their one brush with action turns out to be as much a farce as the rest of the campaign, but sobering, when they shoot an unknown man in a panic while believing they are under attack. The narrator's guilt over this incident, which gives him a very slight glimpse of the difference between "our kind of war" and the reality, strikes the one serious note in the story. But as I said before, the underlying irony through the whole story makes it more than an amusing little tale. It's an interesting look at how humor can be employed to a purpose.

Incidentally, The Private History of a Campaign That Failed was adapted into a TV movie in 1981. I understand that the film also drew on another Twain source for the ending, his dramatic short story The War Prayer, written at the time of the U.S. invasion of the Philippines but not published until six years after Twain's death. According to an IMDB reviewer, the film portrays the unidentified stranger of The War Prayer as the ghost of the man killed by the hapless campaigners. It's an interesting concept, but I can't help wondering how well elements from two stories quite different in tone were blended in the film.

[Ward Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leave it to Mark Twain to tell a funny story about the Civil War and still get his point across. War is hell. The people we find ourselves shooting at one day would be the same people we would stop and lend a hand to under different circumstances.

[Joshua Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story provides a fictional account of a soldier in Civil War. The soldier is from the South and is on the Confederate side of the war. The story shows not braving heroism or intense battles, but instead shows the boring side of war. It shows that not every battle was intense. And also that not every soldier was a warrior. Of course, since this is a Mark Twain story, there is a bit humor. Which is great, I laughed while reading this.

[Allan van der Heiden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a some what comical short story about how the “Well regulated Militia” was in-fact not so.

I found it fascinating and laughable at how the lack of order, the total disregard for authority and the abscondment of many militia members actually occurred during the civil war. With Fence-jumping/floor crossing and really just no continuous direction making a rather enjoyable read when told by someone like A respectable Twain.

Read it for the pure farce that it is.

[Kaity-Jane Culbertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a highlight in my required-to-read-for-highschool list. I actually enjoyed this short story! :-)

[Tee J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really dislike anything written by white men during civil war but my dude, Twain, really be spilling tea about war and how people glamorize it. I will respect that.

[ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

(read for school) i found this short story to be pretty interesting. the civil war has certain narratives surrounding it, that people joined up and gained glory and prestige. however, this was not the reality for most people. to add this failed campaign into the account of history was important. most of these people did not care about the union, or the confederacy. they were just boys playing at war. that was the most striking thing about this story to me.

[Danielle T · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine. I rushed through this for book club so I didn't linger on it longer and also don't have strong opinions other than the disorganized nature of "vigilante" type groups, and how it mostly seems like the boys going out on an adventure until someone ends up dead.

[Damiez Chavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bunch of children

[Gr1972 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 out of 5

[Chloe · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️✨

[Sean Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun lil story. Mark Twain the confederate ranger!

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's the distinction between discretion and cowardice? In the former one retreats, in the latter one runs away... Very informative for all Civil War buffs... Or War of Northern Aggression buffs. One good tip I've learned: interrogate before shooting!

[Gregg Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one of the best short story that provides a fictional account of a soldier in Civil War. The soldier is a Confederate and enlisted early in the Civil War. The story shows not braving heroism or intense battles, but instead shows the boring side of war. He is with a company that is made up of young men with romantic ideals and a not one ounce of reality. This company does not have one older man or veteran that can help these "boys" set up for success. They can barely take care of themselves.

Worse they don't have a clue as to what they are fighting for. I can identify with this. What I thought I was fighting for in Vietnam was a lie. I thought we were fighting Communism from taking over the world.

The result was that they faced the reality of war (and not in battle) were dismayed and deserted. Like children that have a bad experience instead of learning and using this experience they just leave their commitment.

[Niki]

I did not anticipate that I would like this story about the Civil War. This is a fictional account of a group of young soldiers in the early days of the Civil War. Parts of it were humorous and others were very insightful and painted a picture of what it may have been like to be a soldier in the Civil War. Mark Twain said on more than one occasion that they soldiers were charged with killing people that they did not know and did not have a problem with. I enjoyed the story.

[Sammi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you know Mark Twain fought in the Civil War? I didn't. This is a surprisingly funny short story about the week he spent "fighting." I'd like to know more about what he truly did, but it looks like he kept that secret.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Twain's serious short works, this one during the Civil War. Good, but I prefer his humorous works.

[Yi Chen Chong]

It is a very interesting book, with a good plot line. The description of surroundings of the book was excellent.

[Amrendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 1884 story - part of a book I read long ago - titled 'Adventure Stories'

[R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grown men actually boys playing at soldier; satirizes the naivety of war. Like all Twain, endearing.

[Daniel Hutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great story that gives you insight into the life of a young, war-torn Mark Twain.

[Anderson Rearick III · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Twain's secret treasures--an overtly anti Chivalric story and fits into his "War Prayer," A Connecticut Yankee of King Arthur's Court as well as his comments in Life in the Mississippi in which he blames the Civil War on Sir Walter Scott.