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A Soldier's Recollections: Leaves from the Diary of a Young Confederate; With an Oration on the Motives and Aims of the Soldiers of the South
Facsimile reprint of the 1910 edition. Full leather leather with gold details; bookmark, patterned end-papers, gilt edges.
362 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1910
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 12, 2018
Fascinating look into the mind of a young Confederate soldier (and later pastor) during the Civil War. Father-in-law loaned it to me during our visit back to Florida but I finished it before we left
May 1, 2012
Autobiographical account of a young man who was a chaplain in the Confederate army beginning with Lee's western Virginia campaign and ending with his stint with a cavalry regiment at the end of the war. A good insight into the revival that swept the Southern armies and the hard work performed by the chaplains. The author also wrote a post-bellum work on Lee.
January 7, 2017
Randolph H. McKim did an excellent job breaking down the rights of secession, state sovereignty, the threats and plans of secession by northern states numerous times, the last being just 12 years prior to 1861 with Mass, as well as the reason Virginia seceded because they refused to take arms against the seceded states to coerce them into returning to the Union….because it was unconstitutional and essentially illegal. Secession was not treason as all the moronic accusations are spewed today, however coercion or force was not constitutional…as in Lincoln’s invasion. This is the reason many states seceded after South Carolina who after threatening it 30 years previously finally wrote their articles of secession and seceded from the Union. The states were sovereign bodies in 1861 and were in the Union voluntarily, that is until they were forced back into it at gun point and the constitutional right of secession changed on April 9, 1865 and with the 14th amendment making the Union indissoluble.
There was also a sound historical account of slavery as well, including the work in Virginia and several other border states prior to any of this to abolish it, after all they already abolished the slave trade (which annoyed the northern states because that was where their money was, looking at you New England) and many states were working towards emancipation already. As McKim stated the murderous rampages of Nat Turner, John Brown, and other violent abolitionists against men, women, and children who were murdered in large numbers (61 in one single act) halted many of those talks.
“The violence and the virulence of that crusade produced its natural result. It angered the South. It stifled discussion. It checked the movement toward emancipation.” (Sounds a lot like how things are being forced on others today causing division and hard feelings all over the country.)
“After all this the emancipation societies in the South were dissolved and all discussion of the subject ceased.”
McKim also brings the subject of how many people in the north (including Lincoln) wanted to colonize them and even flat out forbid any free blacks to live in their states all prior to 1861. That’s right they wanted to free them and colonize them, their bringing up slavery had nothing to do with good deeds and equality, they didn’t want them here. Many are happy to stay oblivious to the atrocities of the Federal government (because they love you, not) and the reasons those men fought for the South…. "No, it was for the sacred right of self-government that they fought. It was in defense of their homes and their firesides. It was to repel the invader, to resist a war of subjugation. It was in vindication of the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence….”
“Only a very small minority of the men who fought in the Southern armies – not one in ten- were financially interested in the institution of slavery. We cared little or nothing about it. To establish our independence we would at any time have gladly surrendered it.” Probably because the vast majority never owned a slave….
After McKim outlined why he and many other Marylanders left university to join in the Confederate army, he wrote of the things he lived and saw during his service to the Confederate army , while hoping to see his home state of Maryland free from the tyrannical hold Lincoln’s administration put it under.
McKim went from enlisting as a private in 1861 at 19, to first lieutenant and aide-de-camp by 1862, and in 1863 resigned for ordination to the ministry to become a Confederate chaplain. At this point while he was never armed he was still in the thick of many battles, until the end of the war.
“They loved then- State. They loved their homes and then – firesides. They were no politicians. Most of them knew little of the warring theories of constitutional interpretation. But one thing they knew – armed legions were marching upon their homes, and it was their duty to hurl them back at any cost.”
“We must forevermore cherish the sacred memories of those four terrible but glorious years of unequal strife. We must forevermore consecrate in our hearts our old battle flag of the Southern Cross – not now as a political symbol, but the consecrated emblem of a heroic epoch. The people that forgets its heroic dead is already dying at the heart, and we believe we shall be truer and better citizens of the United States if we are true to our past.”
“Had the men of 1861, North and South, known each other, and respected each other, that terrible Civil War would never have been. Let the Union of the future be founded on mutual respect, and to this end let the truth concerning the principles and acts of the old South be told..” Geez, so much for that mutual respect thing ever happening, at least not in this day and age.
There was also a sound historical account of slavery as well, including the work in Virginia and several other border states prior to any of this to abolish it, after all they already abolished the slave trade (which annoyed the northern states because that was where their money was, looking at you New England) and many states were working towards emancipation already. As McKim stated the murderous rampages of Nat Turner, John Brown, and other violent abolitionists against men, women, and children who were murdered in large numbers (61 in one single act) halted many of those talks.
“The violence and the virulence of that crusade produced its natural result. It angered the South. It stifled discussion. It checked the movement toward emancipation.” (Sounds a lot like how things are being forced on others today causing division and hard feelings all over the country.)
“After all this the emancipation societies in the South were dissolved and all discussion of the subject ceased.”
McKim also brings the subject of how many people in the north (including Lincoln) wanted to colonize them and even flat out forbid any free blacks to live in their states all prior to 1861. That’s right they wanted to free them and colonize them, their bringing up slavery had nothing to do with good deeds and equality, they didn’t want them here. Many are happy to stay oblivious to the atrocities of the Federal government (because they love you, not) and the reasons those men fought for the South…. "No, it was for the sacred right of self-government that they fought. It was in defense of their homes and their firesides. It was to repel the invader, to resist a war of subjugation. It was in vindication of the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence….”
“Only a very small minority of the men who fought in the Southern armies – not one in ten- were financially interested in the institution of slavery. We cared little or nothing about it. To establish our independence we would at any time have gladly surrendered it.” Probably because the vast majority never owned a slave….
After McKim outlined why he and many other Marylanders left university to join in the Confederate army, he wrote of the things he lived and saw during his service to the Confederate army , while hoping to see his home state of Maryland free from the tyrannical hold Lincoln’s administration put it under.
McKim went from enlisting as a private in 1861 at 19, to first lieutenant and aide-de-camp by 1862, and in 1863 resigned for ordination to the ministry to become a Confederate chaplain. At this point while he was never armed he was still in the thick of many battles, until the end of the war.
“They loved then- State. They loved their homes and then – firesides. They were no politicians. Most of them knew little of the warring theories of constitutional interpretation. But one thing they knew – armed legions were marching upon their homes, and it was their duty to hurl them back at any cost.”
“We must forevermore cherish the sacred memories of those four terrible but glorious years of unequal strife. We must forevermore consecrate in our hearts our old battle flag of the Southern Cross – not now as a political symbol, but the consecrated emblem of a heroic epoch. The people that forgets its heroic dead is already dying at the heart, and we believe we shall be truer and better citizens of the United States if we are true to our past.”
“Had the men of 1861, North and South, known each other, and respected each other, that terrible Civil War would never have been. Let the Union of the future be founded on mutual respect, and to this end let the truth concerning the principles and acts of the old South be told..” Geez, so much for that mutual respect thing ever happening, at least not in this day and age.
June 26, 2022
"Dixie"
January 9, 2017
Amazing diary
This is definitely one of the best. It has everything. Major battles, famous generals, daily life of a private who goes up in rank. Explanation of the Southern cause. I put it off thinking maybe the story of a chaplain wouldn't be too interesting. Glad I read it. I was wrong. He's obviously a well educated man and a wonderful writer. Recommend and will probably read again.
This is definitely one of the best. It has everything. Major battles, famous generals, daily life of a private who goes up in rank. Explanation of the Southern cause. I put it off thinking maybe the story of a chaplain wouldn't be too interesting. Glad I read it. I was wrong. He's obviously a well educated man and a wonderful writer. Recommend and will probably read again.
August 28, 2014
Eye opener
Eye opener
Very well written by an obviously talented and educated person. First hand account of the soldiers, not delving to deeply into the politics or military strategies.
Eye opener
Very well written by an obviously talented and educated person. First hand account of the soldiers, not delving to deeply into the politics or military strategies.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews