1 comments about Robert E. Lee: First Soldier Of The Confederacy (Civil War Generals).

1. Robert E. Lee: First Soldier Of The Confederacy is a biography for young adults about the famous Confederate general of the American Civil War, Robert E. Lee. From his early childhood, to the education he sought at West Point Military Academy in order to spare his impoverished mother the expense of paying for his tuition, to his difficult military career and his fateful decision to serve the Confederate army, to the late years of his life, Robert E. Lee: First Soldier Of The Confederacy chronicles the facts about Lee's contribution to history. Biographer Earle Rice Jr. also offers a glimpse into Lee's personality through chosen quotes, such as Lee's admonishment to a young man who thought his time in the army was wasted: "However long you live and whatever you accomplish, you will find that the time you spent in the Confederate army was the most profitably spent portion of your life." Black-and-white as well as color photographs and illustrations add a visual touch to this faithful and highly accessible chronicle of Robert E. Lee's life.

No comments about Woman Rice Planter (Southern Classics Series).

No comments about A Fierce, Wild Joy: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Edward J. Wood, 48th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Voices Of The Civil War).

No comments about This War So Horrible: The Civil War Diary of Hiram Smith Williams.

1 comments about Thank God My Regiment's an African One: The Civil War Diary of Nathan W. Daniels.

1. A welcome addition to CW sources. Weaver does an excellent job filling in the background and the epilogue. The actual diary takes up less than half the pages, but they are intriguing nonetheless. Daniels is a true hero toiling in the heat and humidity of the Gulf Coast against the prejudice of other Union officers and soldiers. He can be inspiring at times.

1 comments about Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory.

1. This book changed my life forever. I once thought the notorious Nat Turner was just an angry negro who reacted to the best of his knowledge due to his harsh living environment, but this book proved otherwise. Not only was Nat Turner a wild heretic with a no-nonsense attitude, but his extreme hate for whites came from God's hidden intentions! That's right folks, God told Nat to kill those white men, therefore, I have concluded that God is racist, Jesus was black, and all white people are damned to an eternity of Hell and torment. Thanks Kenneth Greenberg! You changed my life for the greater good!

3 comments about Diary of a Confederate Soldier: John S. Jackman of the Orphan Brigade.

1. In February of 1862, 4,000 men left Kentucky as part of the First Kentucky Brigade and marched south. Three years later, 600 returned, among them John S. Jackman. In between, the five regiments saw most of the Civil War in the west -- Shiloh, Vicksburg, Baton Rouge, Chickamauga, the Atlanta campaign -- even ending their days as a unit in Washington, Georgia, just as President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet pass through in their attempt to escape Union troops.

   Jackman saw it all, and as renowned and prolific Civil War author and editor William Davis points out, his account is the longest and most unvarnished of the diaries that have come out of the war about the "Orphan Brigade." "Diary of a Confederate Soldier" is one of the better memoirs to come out of the war, literate, readable, humorous (especially the great snowball battle in March of 1864), and educating.




2. The Orphan Brigade was one of the hardest fighting units in the Army of Tennessee. Jackman writes a very good history from his own expierences, first as a regular soldier then as an clerk for Co. B, 9th Kentucky. He takes us from the first camps of the Orphans through the war, to where he was injured at near where General Polk was killed at Pine Mountain and his hospital visits. While there are thing added either in his transfer of the diary to a new book in 1865 or after the war, William C. Davis helps make clear things that might have been changed. Davis also points out names where Jackman uses initals. Overall, it is worth the price, especially for a Civil War Reenactor like me.



3. This diary of John S. Jackman presents one educated soldier's often daily proceedings, as they "overturn the best government in the world". The entries have a real style, often humorous, with little politics, hate, or even personal feelings. Jackman and this Kentucky "orphan brigade" saw a lot of action in his 3 years, 8 months and 4 days of service; including the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, the blasting of Vicksburg, and Chickamauga and Chattanooga. His group also tried to fend of Sherman's march. On June 14, 1864 a shell fell him till he was out of action, till he joined "the orphans" to see "Uncle Jeff' (confederate president Jefferson Davis), in Washington, Georgia as the president rode away alone --- "and the confederate government ceases to exist".
   
   Jackman's journal was ever present and, as you might expect, there is a focus on food, with talk of getting "bear" (local livestock)", or going off for watermelon and bacon in the morning. Sickness was common for Jackman, and he writes of the pain of new shoes. Jackman's style is often light even in the midst of war, for example, "I fell to my lot to be mounted behind a very large man on a very small horse". He read when books were available, including Cicero (in Latin) and Dickens "Great Expectations". Relevant to today, the soldiers in the confederate army also complained of having their time involuntarily extended. The editor did not over edit the account and the introduction in each chapter was helpful. Including a map would have helped me follow the story.

No comments about Three Years in the Sixth Corps: A Concise Narrative of Events in the Army of the Potomac, from 1861 to the Close of the Rebellion, April, 1865 (Collector's Library of the Civil War).

No comments about Personal Reminiscences of General Robert E. Lee.

No comments about Campaigns of a Non-Combatant, and His Romaunt Abroad During the War (Collector's Library of the Civil War).