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As some of you may know, I am a reenactor. I have had a few new guys join my unit recently, and they wanted a few books to read on “what was life like for a Confederate soldier”.
So, here are the books I suggested, in no particular order-
– “Company Aytch” by Sam Watkins
– “The Life of Johnny Reb” by Bell I. Wiley
– “Rebel Private Front and Rear” by William A. Fletcher
– “Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia” by Carlton McCarthy
– “For Cause and Comrades” by James McPherson
Three of these are written mostly by the participants involved while Wiley and McPherson wrote their books using many original sources. Are there any others out there that you would suggest to someone who is interested in reading about the Confederate soldier but is not really a Civil War historian? Much thanks!
@CivilWarBlog
4 responses so far ↓
1 badgervan // Jul 20, 2008 at 6:22 pm
“Confederate Scout-Sniper: The Civil war Memoir of Berry Benson” …
edited bly Susan Williams Benson
2 badgervan // Jul 20, 2008 at 6:27 pm
“The Making of a Confederate
Walter Lenoir’s Civil War”
William L. Barney
3 Jim McGhee // Jul 21, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Larry Daniels, Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee
Michael Banazik, ed., Serving With Honor: The Diary of Captain Eathan Allen Pinnell of the 8th Missouri Infantry, CSA
4 Mike Clem // Jul 25, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I’m not a reenactor (I don’t even play one on TV), so you may take my suggestions with a grain of salt, although I am a lifelong student of history, especially of the ACW.
For portraying a Georgia unit, I’d think your fresh fish might enjoy reading, “A Scythe of Fire: A Civil War Story of the Eighth Georgia Infantry Regiment” by Warren Wilkinson and Steven E. Woodworth.
And forgive me for recommending a Yankee, but I would imagine John D. Billings’ entertaining memoir, “Hard Tack & Coffee: Soldier’s Life in the Civil War”, would be an assigned text for a reenactor in both blue and grey.
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