The American Civil War discussion
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Thoughts on Reading First-hand Accounts?
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Not too long ago I read My Cave Life in Vicksburg by Mary Ann Loughborough. It was interesting to read about what life was like for her. Primary sources are always the best.
That sounds really interesting, Jan! I'll have to look it up.
Jess,I recently read two outstanding books that where both comprised of mainly journal entries and letters. They are both lengthy, but well worth the time invested in reading them. The first is Mary Chestnut's Civil War, edited by C.Vann Woodward. Mary Chestnut gives you an incredible behind the scenes life of the higher society of the Confereracy. It seems as if she is present anytime something big happened during the war. Amazing story.
The second book is Forgotten Valor; The memoirs,journals & Civil War letters of Orlando B. Willcox, edited by Robert Garth Scott. This one is about Union General Orlando B. Willcox's career,but with a main focus on the war period. It covers his capture at the 1st battle of Bull Run, life in a Confederate prison, his release and battle descriptions and life in camp all the way to the end of the war. It gives great insight to the Federal Army hierarchy and to his personnal stress from being away from his wife and children. Outstanding!
Both very good sources of what it was like during that fascinating time period. Enjoy!
Vincent wrote: "Jess,I recently read two outstanding books that where both comprised of mainly journal entries and letters. They are both lengthy, but well worth the time invested in reading them. The first is..."
Thanks for the recommendations, Vincent! I do believe that my parents have a copy of Mary Chestnut's Civil War, so I'll have to check it out.
Jess,I have a recommendation for you. I read a book entitled My Life in the Irish Brigade about the experience of a soldier serving in this famed brigade. It was fabulous and I read the book twice to soak it all in.
I know that this an old thread, but I was looking for recommendations for primary sources on either side of the Civil war.the one book I have read and enjoyed was Co.Aytch an account of the war by a Confederate soldier.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...This is a good one. I am currently reading and the entries are time stamped based on the fact that it is all the letters that he sent during the period.
A slightly different slant is given in Wartime Washington: The Civil War Letters of Elizabeth Blair Lee edited by Virginia Jeans Laas. She was the daughter of Francis Preston Blair, from Jackson's cabinet, her brother Montgomery was postmaster general, brother Frank was a Union general and congressman from Missouri and her husband, Samuel Phillips Lee, was a naval officer on a ship. She wrote just about every day. I've been reading it for a while and I am still on 1862.
But it gives more of an idea as to what is going on in Washington.
Michal wrote: "I know that this an old thread, but I was looking for recommendations for primary sources on either side of the Civil war.the one book I have read and enjoyed was Co.Aytch an account of the war ..."
I think highly of --
Destruction and Reconstruction by Richard TaylorTaylor studied at Harvard and Yale and learned the basics of the military arts at his father's side (Old Rough and Ready) in the Mexican War. He rose quickly to command the Louisiana brigade during Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley campaign. He was promoted and transferred to the Trans-Mississippi region. His victories over Nathaniel Banks in the Red River campaign resulted in promotion to Lieutenant General. His post-war activities included a prominent place in Democratic party politics.
Michal wrote: "I know that this an old thread, but I was looking for recommendations for primary sources on either side of the Civil war.the one book I have read and enjoyed was Co.Aytch an account of the war ..."
You don't read much Civil War history without an author mentioning --
Mary Chestnut's Civil War, C. Vann Woodward (ed).
'Fighting for the Confederacy' by Edward Porter Alexander if no one else has mentioned. Another highly regarded memoir.
Last year I read a book that my brother-in-law recommended: John W.Haley's _The Rebel Yell and the Yankee Hurrah: The Civil War Journal of a Maine Volunteer_, Ruth L. Silliker, ed. Camden, Me.: Down East Books, 1985. Haley served as an enlisted man in a Maine regiment during the war. The book is better characterized as a memoir written sometime between 1890 and 1919 based on pocket diaries he kept during the war. The memoir remained in manuscript at a local Maine library until Silliker discovered it in the early 1980s and convinced a local publisher to print it. Haley was very intelligent and after the war was a reporter for some years. It gives a good feel how the war was experienced in the Army of the Potomac day to day by an enlisted man. I don't believe that the book made much of a splash when it was published, but I call it to your attention as one worth reading.
Michal wrote: "I know that this an old thread, but I was looking for recommendations for primary sources on either side of the Civil war."
Not trying for self promotion. But my mom took one of our ancestor's letters home to his wife and combined them into a volume. You might find it interesting, Union soldier who was part of the ninth army corps. He fought in seven states, took part in the siege at vicksburg, knoxville, and fought at Wilderness and Spotslvania and the battles of Petersburg and the battle of the crater. By the end of the war, he was a guard at the building where they held the conspirators who were involved with Lincoln's assassination.
It's about 150 or so pages, with illustrations and scanned in photographs of the time period. I'm not quite sure how many illustrations/photos, but if I remember right, it was a couple every chapter. Usually a graphic depicting the area and some photos from the family history or the library of congress.
http://www.amazon.com/My-Dear-Wife-Le...
I hope this helps.
Nick
Not a memoir but a diary which provides an excellent first person account of events in Kentucky and South-West Virginia during most of the Civil war. Skillfully edited by William C. Davis and Meredith L. Swentor and just a joy to read. Bluegrass Confederate: The Headquarters Diary of Edward O. Guerrant
Here's another book I loved to read - A Union Woman in Civil War Kentucky.The Civil War from the perspective of a nineteen year old Frances Peter who lived at Gratz Park in the heart of Lexington, Kentucky. Union headquarters were only a few doors from her residence in 1862 and one of her better known neighbors who lived across the park from Frances was John Hunt Morgan!
http://www.amazon.com/Union-Woman-Civ...
Sounds like two good books there Marlitta, thanks for the details.
Have you folks run across Wilkeson's memoir? I've read no better primary source about the War's last year.
The American Civil War
Books mentioned in this topic
Turned Inside Out: Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac (other topics)Bluegrass Confederate: The Headquarters Diary of Edward O. Guerrant (other topics)
Mary Chesnut's Civil War (other topics)
Destruction and Reconstruction (other topics)
Wartime Washington: The Civil War Letters of Elizabeth Blair Lee (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Virginia Jeans Laas (other topics)Mary Ann Webster Loughborough (other topics)
Right now, I'm reading a journal of a young Confederate woman that spans the latter half of the Civil War, as well as the Reconstruction period, and I find it fascinating.
I like reading both sides of the story and find it interesting to see different perspectives about what was going on. Plus, I think it's really cool to read journal entries from the months leading up to the end of the war and to speculate about what it must have been like to not know that the end was in sight.