Co. Aytch

Reads well, love the southern dialect. True story of being a peon infantryman in the Confederacy during the civil War.

The most interesting narrative of the civil war Written by a private from the south. His short story telling places the reader in the midst of battle and the drudgery of the common soldier.

I've read several diaries by Civil War Veterans. This is my favorite. Sam Watkins was a Cofederate private in alot of major battles. One of few to live thru so many, from the start of the war to the finish. He is often quoted in Ken Burns "Civil War" series. He keeps the reader interested by his many tales of things the troops did to occupy time, as well as telling his personnal picture of the battles in which he fought. He talks of desertion and of morale of soldiers throughout the war. I also learned alot comparing his own experiences to those of my own; having been a veteran of the Viet Nam war. For instance men were shot & killed by firing squads then for what since has become known as "Shell Shock" or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder! He wrote this book several years after the end of the war; but still remembers alot of detail, hardships, fun times, and so on. I would recommend this book to anyone. I'll probably reread it myself sometime.

This is a wonderful book by Sam R Watkins: a confederate soldier that survived the entire American Civil War (1861-1865). Watkins was a private who joined the Tennessee Army and with whom he participated in every battle and skirmish that the regiment was involved. He received several wounds but never any serious enough to keep him out of action for very long.These memoirs where written about 20 years (circa 1882) after the last shot was fired and so there are some minor errors in the facts regarding some of the events described. The descriptions are short individual vignettes of battles, marches and daily life associated with the Confederate Army.What makes this account of the civil war special is the quality of the story telling. The language has a sensitivity to it that seems to capture your imagination and emotions. It is, of course, at times explicitly descriptive, regarding some of the battles and their aftermath, but there are passages that are movingly sad and others that are quite humorous: tales of how thousands of men have to learn to live together and adapt to survive prolonged stressful conditions. The narrative description of the deprivation and dilapidation of the Confederate Army at wars end is heart rendering; men in filthy, tattered clothes, many barefoot and starving.I learned several things from this work; for instance, I was unaware of the numerous small battles that never claimed the infamy of Gettysburg, Antietam, Manassas etc. but were none the less just as vicious as their larger counterparts. Daily skirmishes were not an infrequent occurrence. I was unaware previously of the frequent court-martials and firing squads used to deal with the relatively large number of deserters from the Southern Army. Also interesting was the acute awareness and acumen of the lowly private soldiers regarding the circumstances surrounding some events that were looming in their immediate future; i.e. battle formations, forced marches, incompetent leaders etc. If the generals had the instincts that some of the "regulars" did, a lot of the carnage may have been substantially reduced or avoided.The only negatives are (thus the loss of one star) 1.) there are very few dates given(you assume the book runs chronologically) 2.) a map would have made it so much easier to follow the marches and battles locationsAll in all a compelling work: personal insights that you just don't find in larger accounts of this period.Highly recommended if you have any interest in the Civil War era.

Interesting read considering the year it’s from. It’s the best recollections from a confederate foot solider. Probably the only one. It can be difficult to understand and you will need to Google some of the battles as it goes along. You will probably learn quite a bit from this book. It’s not a novel. Cheers