A Volunteer's Adventures a Union Captain's Record of the Civil War

by John William De Forest

John William De Forest (1826-1906), a native of Connecticut, enjoyed a long career as a prolific writer, mainly of fiction. During the Civil War he was a captain in the 12th Connecticut Volunteers, taking part in the capture of New Orleans, the Port Hudson campaign, and the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia. After the war, he served as a subassistant district commissioner for the Freedmen's Bureau in Greenville, South Carolina. A Volunteer's Adventures, first published in 1946, is De Forest's vivid description of his experiences at war. It consists of letters to his wife during his service, supplemented by six articles published in Harper's New Monthly Magazine and Galaxy between 1864 and 1868. De Forest intended to compile these pieces into a book but never did. James H. Croushore finally accomplished the task, adding chapter divisions with introductory notes to give form and continuity to the whole. The result is a first-rate personal war narrative - recently named one of the one hundred finest Civil War books by Civil War magazine - more than half of which deals with Louisiana from De Forest's Yankee perspective.

Genres: History, Civil War

237 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

John William De Forest was an American soldier and writer, best known for his Civil War novel "Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty."

Reviews

[Zach Gibeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give it a 4, not because I enjoyed it that much, but because I understand how significant this record is for historians of the civil war. this book is simply a compilation of letters a union captain wrote to his wife. the caveat is that he was one of the few union companies that fought the war from south to north by way of New Orleans. a really unique perspective on the civil war in that way.

it gets bogged down often and descriptions of battles are not the most interesting oftentimes, but it gives a realistic view of war at the time - nobody on the battlefield had any clue about what the hell was going on on the battlefield except the generals and colonels, and it was paramount that soldiers follow orders to keep what little semblance of organization that they had. in this way, it provides a super valuable understanding of war in the 1800s.

I do wish there was more context on day-to-day happenings, but overall I must applaud the author for documenting his career so well despite the beyond-deplorable conditions he was living through.

[Straw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Not the best account but does capture union troops experiences in Louisiana, which is rare.