THE UNWRITTEN STORY OF ARMY LIFE.
The author served from 1862 to the end of the war and, as is so often the case, his time in the army was the highlight of his life. However rather than write about the various battles etc in which he participated, he decided to write about ordinary day to day life as a Union soldier.
This book is divided into chapters on subjects such as enlisting, tents, rations, offences and punishments, a day in camp, foraging, badges and flags, the army mule, hospitals, and so on. As a result the book gives a fantastic insight into the ordinary activities and life of soldiers. In fact there is really no mention of actual battle at all. The author was determined to make a record of day to day life as he believed that over time the ordinary experiences of military service would be forgotten, which is of course quite true.
This book is now considered among the top ten of first hand histories of the Civil War which is no surprise to me given the extraordinary wealth of detail it contains. (The author has also written a full unit history of the artillery battery in which he served, which is also highly regarded by historians.)
Highly recommended to anyone interested in the US Civil War and the ordinary day to day experiences of an ordinary soldier.
Sounds very interesting. Your comment upon the author's time in the army as being 'the highlight of his life', I recall writing an essay on this topic a zillion years ago, for a university course assignment. It went under the title 'War and the Shape of Biography'. For it I chose ordinary soldiers' or junior officers' accounts of their experiences during WW2. I managed to find autobiographies from the German, British, American, Japanese and New Zealand armies, but couldn't find one from the Russian/Soviet forces. I had to settle for a biography of a Soviet field officer (a colonel, I think). It was interesting the extent to which the war experiences dominated the narrative, though there were a few who set them against the background of the authors' pre- and post-war lives and experiences.
ReplyDeleteOne of the New Zealanders never saw action. When entering the army, he mentioned his slight deafness, whereat the army made him a radio operator. Although he was posted to the Pacific theatre, his growing deafness became sufficiently problematic that they eventually shipped him home. It was still an entertaining autobiography, though - one of the funniest I ever read.
Cheers,
Ion
Hi Ion...Yes great book. I believe that serving in combat or something similar almost always become the high light of a man's life. Normal civilian life offers little comparison. This is clear from so many biographical books I have read over the years. A deaf radio operator suggests a very funny story indeed....Regards.
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