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Co. Aytch: A Confederate Memoir of the Civil War
A classic Civil War memoir, Co. Aytch is the work of a natural storyteller who balances the horror of war with an irrepressible sense of humor and a sharp eye for the lighter side of battle. It is a testament to one man’s enduring humanity, courage, and wisdom in the midst of death and destruction.
Early in May 1861, twenty-one-year-old Sam R. Watkins of Columbia, Tennessee, joined the First Tennessee Regiment, Company H, to fight for the Confederacy. Of the 120 original recruits in his company, Watkins was one of only seven to survive every one of its battles, from Shiloh to Nashville.
Twenty years later, with a “house full of young ‘rebels� clustering around my knees and bumping about my elbows,� he wrote this remarkable account—a memoir of a humble soldier fighting in the American Civil War, replete with tales of the common foot soldiers, commanders, Yankee enemies, victories, defeats, and the South’s ultimate surrender on April 26, 1865.
Early in May 1861, twenty-one-year-old Sam R. Watkins of Columbia, Tennessee, joined the First Tennessee Regiment, Company H, to fight for the Confederacy. Of the 120 original recruits in his company, Watkins was one of only seven to survive every one of its battles, from Shiloh to Nashville.
Twenty years later, with a “house full of young ‘rebels� clustering around my knees and bumping about my elbows,� he wrote this remarkable account—a memoir of a humble soldier fighting in the American Civil War, replete with tales of the common foot soldiers, commanders, Yankee enemies, victories, defeats, and the South’s ultimate surrender on April 26, 1865.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1882
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About the author
Sam R. Watkins
18books9followersSamuel Rush "Sam" Watkins (June 26, 1839 � July 20, 1901) was an American writer and humorist. He fought through the entire Civil War and saw action in many major battles. Today, he is best known for his enduring memoir, "Co. Aytch," which recounts his life as a soldier in the Confederate States Army.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 257 reviews
March 30, 2023
I really enjoyed this book.
I’ve seen references to this 1882 publication for years, historians like Bruce Catton and Shelby Foote quoted him, and this is also regarded as one of the preeminent first hand chronicles of the Civil War.
Twenty-one year old Sam Watkins enlisted to be a part of his Maury County Tennessee regiment as the war started and he and several hundred neighbors from Middle Tennessee populated the First Tennessee as they embarked on what would be a four year stint in the army of the Confederate States. Watkins was fortunate to survive so many battles in the war between the states and we are fortunate that such an earnest and talented storyteller lived to tell his tale. Serialized about 20 years after the war, Watkins published his memoirs from his Columbia home, remembering his time marching, marching marching and fighting in so many bloody battles.
Watkins frequently invites the reader to go find “the histories� if they want a commentary on what general did what, or what were the reasons behind this or that. He was a private, and he and his compatriots marched, sweated, bled, fought and died in the trenches and on the many fields of battle and he simply described what he saw. His perspective as a foot soldier was what made this so poignant and enjoyable to read.
With a sometimes playful personality, and a knack for excellent storytelling, Watkins� narration is reminiscent to some degree of Mark Twain’s writing. He does not, however, gloss over the ugliness of war and he includes some gruesome details to his account.
Middle Tennessee? Hey, Lyn, aren’t you also from Middle Tennessee?
Yes, and I must admit that was a part of why I liked this so much. I know Columbia, and Nashville, and Franklin and Chattanooga and Shelbyville, and of course I work in Murfreesboro. When Watkins described his unit’s movement from Murfreesboro to Shelbyville I looked out on my own property and imagined the dusty and tired, rag tag soldiers camping out on these same fields so many decades ago.
What was also cool was reading some of the other soldiers names and realizing that I know some of those names. A hundred and fifty years later, could they be of the same family? Recognizing the family names and knowing the same locations made this special for me, but any casual historian of this period will likely enjoy this unique perspective and from such a talented writer.
I’ve seen references to this 1882 publication for years, historians like Bruce Catton and Shelby Foote quoted him, and this is also regarded as one of the preeminent first hand chronicles of the Civil War.
Twenty-one year old Sam Watkins enlisted to be a part of his Maury County Tennessee regiment as the war started and he and several hundred neighbors from Middle Tennessee populated the First Tennessee as they embarked on what would be a four year stint in the army of the Confederate States. Watkins was fortunate to survive so many battles in the war between the states and we are fortunate that such an earnest and talented storyteller lived to tell his tale. Serialized about 20 years after the war, Watkins published his memoirs from his Columbia home, remembering his time marching, marching marching and fighting in so many bloody battles.
Watkins frequently invites the reader to go find “the histories� if they want a commentary on what general did what, or what were the reasons behind this or that. He was a private, and he and his compatriots marched, sweated, bled, fought and died in the trenches and on the many fields of battle and he simply described what he saw. His perspective as a foot soldier was what made this so poignant and enjoyable to read.
With a sometimes playful personality, and a knack for excellent storytelling, Watkins� narration is reminiscent to some degree of Mark Twain’s writing. He does not, however, gloss over the ugliness of war and he includes some gruesome details to his account.
Middle Tennessee? Hey, Lyn, aren’t you also from Middle Tennessee?
Yes, and I must admit that was a part of why I liked this so much. I know Columbia, and Nashville, and Franklin and Chattanooga and Shelbyville, and of course I work in Murfreesboro. When Watkins described his unit’s movement from Murfreesboro to Shelbyville I looked out on my own property and imagined the dusty and tired, rag tag soldiers camping out on these same fields so many decades ago.
What was also cool was reading some of the other soldiers names and realizing that I know some of those names. A hundred and fifty years later, could they be of the same family? Recognizing the family names and knowing the same locations made this special for me, but any casual historian of this period will likely enjoy this unique perspective and from such a talented writer.
July 16, 2017
"I always shot at privates. It was they that did the shooting and killing, and if I could kill or wound a private why, my chances were so much the better. I always looked upon officers as harmless personages".
I have wanted to read this book since Sam Watkins was so heavily quoted in Ken Burns Civil War documentary. I found it in a used book sale a couple of months ago and snatched it up. I knew it would make a great stocking stuffer for my husband at Christmas, but of course I would read it myself before that.
This book is described as one of the best memoirs from the Civil War ever written. Sam Watkins was a private who served with the First Tennessee regiment for the entire 4 years of the war. His first person experience of the life of a soldier is peppered with humor and common sense and philosophy. He fought at Chicamauga and Lookout Mountain and Atlanta and Nashville and Franklin, and numerous skirmishes all along. He marched and starved and froze and roasted, played tricks on fellow soldiers to pass the time, and complained about the officers. He was shot at and hit a few times, (but survived) was captured a few times, ( but escaped) and seemed to be uncommonly lucky, especially as he was in so many major battles. But he survived the war, went home to marry his sweetheart, Jenny, had children, and in 1882, sat down to record what he remembered.
"Reader, a battlefield, after the battle, is a sad and sorrowful sight to look at. The glory of war is but the glory of battle, the shouts, and cheers, and victory. Dying on the field of battle and glory is about the easiest duty a soldier has to undergo. It is the living, marching fighting, shooting soldier that has the hardships of war to carry."
This is a memoir that should be read by anyone wanting to know what soldiers actually endured during that terrible time. As Sam himself says several times in the book: "Leave it to the historians to tell what happened, I'm only telling you what I saw".
I have wanted to read this book since Sam Watkins was so heavily quoted in Ken Burns Civil War documentary. I found it in a used book sale a couple of months ago and snatched it up. I knew it would make a great stocking stuffer for my husband at Christmas, but of course I would read it myself before that.
This book is described as one of the best memoirs from the Civil War ever written. Sam Watkins was a private who served with the First Tennessee regiment for the entire 4 years of the war. His first person experience of the life of a soldier is peppered with humor and common sense and philosophy. He fought at Chicamauga and Lookout Mountain and Atlanta and Nashville and Franklin, and numerous skirmishes all along. He marched and starved and froze and roasted, played tricks on fellow soldiers to pass the time, and complained about the officers. He was shot at and hit a few times, (but survived) was captured a few times, ( but escaped) and seemed to be uncommonly lucky, especially as he was in so many major battles. But he survived the war, went home to marry his sweetheart, Jenny, had children, and in 1882, sat down to record what he remembered.
"Reader, a battlefield, after the battle, is a sad and sorrowful sight to look at. The glory of war is but the glory of battle, the shouts, and cheers, and victory. Dying on the field of battle and glory is about the easiest duty a soldier has to undergo. It is the living, marching fighting, shooting soldier that has the hardships of war to carry."
This is a memoir that should be read by anyone wanting to know what soldiers actually endured during that terrible time. As Sam himself says several times in the book: "Leave it to the historians to tell what happened, I'm only telling you what I saw".
October 10, 2020
A true account of a lowly confederate private, in his own inimical style, written from memory 20 years after the fact. This funny, self-effacing author is actually quite remarkable. He deflects “real� accounts to the history books, but describes the life of a foot soldier, the doldrums and hard work, along with the actual terrors of war with the hail of lead and explicit rendering of human flesh. I must say, for a supposedly illiterate soldier at the very bottom of the tier of a failed war effort, Watkins must have really improved himself after the war. His style is often poetic and philosophical, the musings of a middle-aged man of the time of his trying, surrounded by a prosperous family. His memory of events must surely have been supplemented by history, as his company H, or “Aytch�, from Tennessee traversed the territories throughout the border states, the deep south and Virginia. Much of his experience is the troops critical of the leadership, although certain leaders the men revere to the point of following them to the gates of hell. And, make no mistake, these boys endured a hellscape almost beyond belief (but that is the point of this book, to bring it to us, which it did in spades). I recall Shelby Foote often quoted this book in Ken Burns� PBS Civil War series. That is because the writing is so fine, so descriptive, so true. I even learned about Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge on the Tennessee river, an area I have visited while fishing on the lake by the same name (and where I caught a 5.5 lb largemouth this spring). Volunteers to the southern cause, before forced conscription, had their terms extended involuntarily. In fact, Watkins was one of the very few survivors of his regiment, surviving through sheer luck through many harrowing experiences. These soldiers were chronically under-fed, and often literally starving, through years of hardship in the elements. Notably, most of the time was spent in camp or marching from location to location, not only physically demanding but the sheer boredom was nearly unbearable in between flashes of horror.
Watkins captures the initial patriotic fervor, as today, at the outset of war when the great “cause� of protecting home, being a real man among one’s peers and impressing the ladies was the driving psychological force. That never seems to change, it was my mindset at this age (boys need that red badge of courage) and always precedes the anguish and cries for mother heard so often on the battlefield. I’ll let the author speak for himself so you can decide whether you want to read. I found it lively, entertaining, and it lived up to my expectation of being a rare, best of kind, memoir:
p. 14: “One evening, General Robert E. Lee came to our camp. He was a fine-looking gentleman, and wore a moustache. He was dressed in blue cottonade and looked like some good boy’s grandpa. I felt like going up to him and saying good evening, Uncle Bob! …his voice was kind and tender, and his eye was a gentle a dove’s. His whole make-up of form and person, looks and manner had a kind of gentle and soothing magnetism about it that drew every one to him, and made them love, respect, and honor him. I fell in love with the old gentleman.�
p. 25: The penalty for being AWOL was severe, sometimes ground for execution. It also generated tremendous hatred and resentment in the troops, when administered too harshly or unfairly: “And when some miserable wretch was to be whipped and branded for being absent ten days without leave, we had to see him kneel down and have his head shaved smooth and slick as a peeled onion, and then stripped to the naked skin. The a strapping fellow with a big rawhide would make the blood flow and spurt at every lick, the wretch begging and howling like a hound, and then he was branded with a red hot iron with the letter D on both hips, when he was marched through the army to the music of the ‘Rogue’s March�.�
p. 25: “We became starved skeletons; naked and ragged rebels. The chronic diarrhea became the scourge of the army. Corinth became one vast hospital. Almost the whole army attended the sick call every morning. All the water courses went dry, and we used water out of filthy pools.�
p. 31, the confederate man had more to lose and was widely regarded as superior in fighting spirit, though bedraggled in resources. Here is a snippet, in thrall just after a victory: “We were in an ecstasy akin to heaven. We were happy; the troops were jubilant; our manhood blood pulsated more warmly; our patriotism was awakened; our pride was renewed and stood ready for any emergency; we felt that one Southern man could whip twenty Yankees. All was lovely and the goose hung high.�
p. 52, the soldiers were not above stealing from their own, due to desperation, as they came across farmhouses. Here is a better time, when the author and a couple of scouts had a respite from the war and a real meal in a warm and welcoming home: “They had biscuit for supper. What! Flour bread/ Did my eyes deceive me? � At the head of the table was the madam, having on a pair of golden spectacles, and at the foot the old gentleman. He said grace. And, to cap the climax, two handsome daughters. I know that I had never seen two more beautiful ladies. They had on little white aprons, trimmed with jaconet edging, and collars as clean and white as snow. They looked good enough to eat, and I think at that time I would have gen ten years of my life to have kissed one of them.�
p. 58, the author muses on his experience: “A soldier’s life is not a pleasant one. It is always, at best, one of privations and hardships. The emotions of patriotism and pleasure Hadley counterbalance the toil and suffering that he has to undergo in order to enjoy his patriotism and pleasure. Dying on the field of battle and glory is about the easiest duty a soldier has to undergo. It is the living, marching fighting, shooting soldier that has the hardships of war to carry. When a brave soldier is killed he is at rest. The living soldier knows not at what moment he, too, may be called on to lay down his life on the altar of his country. The dead are heroes, the living are but men compelled to do the drudgery and suffer the privations incident to the thing called ‘glorious war.’�
p. 85, our author in the midst of a major battle, near the Georgia line, on one of the hottest days of the year: “I have heard men say that if they ever killed a Yankee during the war they were not aware of it. I am satisfied that on this memorable day, every man in our regiment killed from one score to four score, yea, five score men. I mean from twenty to one hundred each. All that was necessary was to load and shoot. In fact, I will ever think that the reason they did not capture our works was the impossibility of their living men passing over the bodies of their dead. The ground was piled up with one solid mass of dead and wounded Yankees. I learned afterwards from the burying squad that in some places they were piled up like cord wood, twelve deep.�
p. 87, what this author thought they were fighting for: “Only trying to protect their homes and families, their property, their constitution and their laws, that had been guaranteed to them as a heritage forever by their forefathers. They died for the faith that each state was a separate sovereign government, as laid down by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of our fathers.�
p. 97, at the gates of hell: “About this time our regiment had re-formed, and had got their breath, and the order was given to charge, and take their guns even at the point of the bayonet. We rushed forward up the steep hill sides, the seething fires from ten thousand muskets and small arms, and forty pieces of cannon hurled right into our very faces, scorching and burning our clothes, and hands, and faces from their rapid discharges, and piling the ground with our dead and wounded almost in heaps. It seemed that the hot flames of hell were turned loose in all their fury, while the demons of damnation were laughing in the flames, like seething serpents hissing out their rage. We gave one long, loud cheer, and commenced the charge. As we approached their lines, like a mighty inundation of the river Acheron in the infernal regions, Confederate and Federal meet. Officers with drawn swords meet officers with drawn swords, and man to man meets man to man with bayonets and loaded guns. The continued roar of battle sounded like unbottled thunder. Blood covered the ground and the dense smoke filled our eyes and ears, and faces. The groans of the wounded and dying rose above the thunder of battle…They lie today, weltering in their own life’s blood. It was one of the bloody battles that characterized that stormy epoch, and it was the 22ndd of July, and one of the hottest days I ever felt…While I was sitting her, a cannon ball came tearing down the works, cutting a soldier’s head off, spattering his brains all over my face and bosom, and mangling and tearing four or five others to shreds. As a wounded horse was being led off, a cannon ball struck him, and he was literally ripped open, falling in the very place I had just moved from.�
p. 99, Watkin’s has a sense of humor, as when he drank some especially impure home-made whiskey: “All I can remember now, is a dim recollection of a nasty, greasy, burning something going down my throat and chest, and smelling, as I remember at this day, like a decoction of re-pepper team, flavored with coal oil, turpentine and tobacco juice.�
Watkins captures the initial patriotic fervor, as today, at the outset of war when the great “cause� of protecting home, being a real man among one’s peers and impressing the ladies was the driving psychological force. That never seems to change, it was my mindset at this age (boys need that red badge of courage) and always precedes the anguish and cries for mother heard so often on the battlefield. I’ll let the author speak for himself so you can decide whether you want to read. I found it lively, entertaining, and it lived up to my expectation of being a rare, best of kind, memoir:
p. 14: “One evening, General Robert E. Lee came to our camp. He was a fine-looking gentleman, and wore a moustache. He was dressed in blue cottonade and looked like some good boy’s grandpa. I felt like going up to him and saying good evening, Uncle Bob! …his voice was kind and tender, and his eye was a gentle a dove’s. His whole make-up of form and person, looks and manner had a kind of gentle and soothing magnetism about it that drew every one to him, and made them love, respect, and honor him. I fell in love with the old gentleman.�
p. 25: The penalty for being AWOL was severe, sometimes ground for execution. It also generated tremendous hatred and resentment in the troops, when administered too harshly or unfairly: “And when some miserable wretch was to be whipped and branded for being absent ten days without leave, we had to see him kneel down and have his head shaved smooth and slick as a peeled onion, and then stripped to the naked skin. The a strapping fellow with a big rawhide would make the blood flow and spurt at every lick, the wretch begging and howling like a hound, and then he was branded with a red hot iron with the letter D on both hips, when he was marched through the army to the music of the ‘Rogue’s March�.�
p. 25: “We became starved skeletons; naked and ragged rebels. The chronic diarrhea became the scourge of the army. Corinth became one vast hospital. Almost the whole army attended the sick call every morning. All the water courses went dry, and we used water out of filthy pools.�
p. 31, the confederate man had more to lose and was widely regarded as superior in fighting spirit, though bedraggled in resources. Here is a snippet, in thrall just after a victory: “We were in an ecstasy akin to heaven. We were happy; the troops were jubilant; our manhood blood pulsated more warmly; our patriotism was awakened; our pride was renewed and stood ready for any emergency; we felt that one Southern man could whip twenty Yankees. All was lovely and the goose hung high.�
p. 52, the soldiers were not above stealing from their own, due to desperation, as they came across farmhouses. Here is a better time, when the author and a couple of scouts had a respite from the war and a real meal in a warm and welcoming home: “They had biscuit for supper. What! Flour bread/ Did my eyes deceive me? � At the head of the table was the madam, having on a pair of golden spectacles, and at the foot the old gentleman. He said grace. And, to cap the climax, two handsome daughters. I know that I had never seen two more beautiful ladies. They had on little white aprons, trimmed with jaconet edging, and collars as clean and white as snow. They looked good enough to eat, and I think at that time I would have gen ten years of my life to have kissed one of them.�
p. 58, the author muses on his experience: “A soldier’s life is not a pleasant one. It is always, at best, one of privations and hardships. The emotions of patriotism and pleasure Hadley counterbalance the toil and suffering that he has to undergo in order to enjoy his patriotism and pleasure. Dying on the field of battle and glory is about the easiest duty a soldier has to undergo. It is the living, marching fighting, shooting soldier that has the hardships of war to carry. When a brave soldier is killed he is at rest. The living soldier knows not at what moment he, too, may be called on to lay down his life on the altar of his country. The dead are heroes, the living are but men compelled to do the drudgery and suffer the privations incident to the thing called ‘glorious war.’�
p. 85, our author in the midst of a major battle, near the Georgia line, on one of the hottest days of the year: “I have heard men say that if they ever killed a Yankee during the war they were not aware of it. I am satisfied that on this memorable day, every man in our regiment killed from one score to four score, yea, five score men. I mean from twenty to one hundred each. All that was necessary was to load and shoot. In fact, I will ever think that the reason they did not capture our works was the impossibility of their living men passing over the bodies of their dead. The ground was piled up with one solid mass of dead and wounded Yankees. I learned afterwards from the burying squad that in some places they were piled up like cord wood, twelve deep.�
p. 87, what this author thought they were fighting for: “Only trying to protect their homes and families, their property, their constitution and their laws, that had been guaranteed to them as a heritage forever by their forefathers. They died for the faith that each state was a separate sovereign government, as laid down by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of our fathers.�
p. 97, at the gates of hell: “About this time our regiment had re-formed, and had got their breath, and the order was given to charge, and take their guns even at the point of the bayonet. We rushed forward up the steep hill sides, the seething fires from ten thousand muskets and small arms, and forty pieces of cannon hurled right into our very faces, scorching and burning our clothes, and hands, and faces from their rapid discharges, and piling the ground with our dead and wounded almost in heaps. It seemed that the hot flames of hell were turned loose in all their fury, while the demons of damnation were laughing in the flames, like seething serpents hissing out their rage. We gave one long, loud cheer, and commenced the charge. As we approached their lines, like a mighty inundation of the river Acheron in the infernal regions, Confederate and Federal meet. Officers with drawn swords meet officers with drawn swords, and man to man meets man to man with bayonets and loaded guns. The continued roar of battle sounded like unbottled thunder. Blood covered the ground and the dense smoke filled our eyes and ears, and faces. The groans of the wounded and dying rose above the thunder of battle…They lie today, weltering in their own life’s blood. It was one of the bloody battles that characterized that stormy epoch, and it was the 22ndd of July, and one of the hottest days I ever felt…While I was sitting her, a cannon ball came tearing down the works, cutting a soldier’s head off, spattering his brains all over my face and bosom, and mangling and tearing four or five others to shreds. As a wounded horse was being led off, a cannon ball struck him, and he was literally ripped open, falling in the very place I had just moved from.�
p. 99, Watkin’s has a sense of humor, as when he drank some especially impure home-made whiskey: “All I can remember now, is a dim recollection of a nasty, greasy, burning something going down my throat and chest, and smelling, as I remember at this day, like a decoction of re-pepper team, flavored with coal oil, turpentine and tobacco juice.�
March 27, 2023
Twenty years after participating in the war that reshaped American history forever, Sam Watkins sat down to write his memoirs, without benefit of journal or notes. He commenced his tale with a short, folksy parable of the cause of the war, as Southerners saw it. He then quickly launched into telling the tale as he viewed it - not from the heights of a general officer, but from the mud and dust covered ground-eye view of a common "webfoot" infantry soldier. In doing so, he created what is perhaps the best, most readable, and most compelling account of a Civil War infantry man that has ever seen print.
Watkins told his tale in an easy, conversational style. The book is not written as a single narrative, but as a collection of tales and memories, just as he might have told them to friends and family around his hearth. His antidotal style put side by side humorous tales and the horrors of war that he observed, showing how casual a thing gruesome death became to a soldier. He wrote with great feeling, telling the reader when recalling a particular incident left him overwhelmed with emotion still after twenty years, and constantly referencing his religious faith that he would someday see all of his fallen comrades again in a better world. He hid nothing of himself, and that candid emotion sets his book apart, providing its greatness.
This book is not a history, per say. Watkins constantly reminded his readers of this. It is a collection of impressions of what it was like to be one of the little men doing the shooting and killing - the men whom the sweep of history overlooks. Co Aytch fills in the yawning gaps of how war is really fought and experienced that you will never find in any general's memoirs. Essential for a fuller understanding of the Civil War, and highly recommended.
Watkins told his tale in an easy, conversational style. The book is not written as a single narrative, but as a collection of tales and memories, just as he might have told them to friends and family around his hearth. His antidotal style put side by side humorous tales and the horrors of war that he observed, showing how casual a thing gruesome death became to a soldier. He wrote with great feeling, telling the reader when recalling a particular incident left him overwhelmed with emotion still after twenty years, and constantly referencing his religious faith that he would someday see all of his fallen comrades again in a better world. He hid nothing of himself, and that candid emotion sets his book apart, providing its greatness.
This book is not a history, per say. Watkins constantly reminded his readers of this. It is a collection of impressions of what it was like to be one of the little men doing the shooting and killing - the men whom the sweep of history overlooks. Co Aytch fills in the yawning gaps of how war is really fought and experienced that you will never find in any general's memoirs. Essential for a fuller understanding of the Civil War, and highly recommended.
November 22, 2008
This book was written by a "family connection," a distinction that probably only matters to old Southern women. Sam Watkins married a relative of mine. The book is a nice thing to talk about at family reunions, so I thought I would pull it from Project Gutenberg and read it.
I have now learned that this memoir is considered to be the or one of the best primary-source accounts of the private experience in the Civil War.
I was certainly blown away by a lot of it. Sam tells his story in a way that is accessible over time and makes you feel as if you were one of his company. He tells horror and humor in equal measure, and you feel his nostalgia for the camaraderie and his enduring grief of the many friends he saw die. You also get a very different view of the administration of the war -- generals are evaluated not in the battles that they win, but how well they feed and clothe their troops and how they let snubs to their pride affect their command of their men.
I personally was touched by the deeply affectionate references to "Jennie," the woman with whom I share some small amount of blood. I need to get someone to tell me how we are related.
I highly recommend the book to any war buff or anyone interested in engaging first person accounts of history.
I have now learned that this memoir is considered to be the or one of the best primary-source accounts of the private experience in the Civil War.
I was certainly blown away by a lot of it. Sam tells his story in a way that is accessible over time and makes you feel as if you were one of his company. He tells horror and humor in equal measure, and you feel his nostalgia for the camaraderie and his enduring grief of the many friends he saw die. You also get a very different view of the administration of the war -- generals are evaluated not in the battles that they win, but how well they feed and clothe their troops and how they let snubs to their pride affect their command of their men.
I personally was touched by the deeply affectionate references to "Jennie," the woman with whom I share some small amount of blood. I need to get someone to tell me how we are related.
I highly recommend the book to any war buff or anyone interested in engaging first person accounts of history.
March 12, 2016
What an amazing man this was. What I thought would basically be a war journal, akin to All for the Union or Red Badge of Courage was so much more. Sam Watkins was an extraordinarily intelligent, well-spoken, nuanced man. He balances a tone of whimsical despair with fierce patriotism. He speaks of his soldierly duty without lecturing on the divisive issues of the day. The Civil War is often called "a rich man's war, but a poor man's fight." To exemplify this, read , followed by this. You will be disgusted with the lofty rationalizations of slavery and states' rights by the former, written by aristocrats from their high castle. Then when you read from humble Sam the life of the ordinary private soldier, you will come to respect the "poor men" fighting only to defend their homes. I think part of what makes this a great read is that Sam wrote it twenty years after the war, as a middle-aged family man. Doubtless the intervening years matured him, compared to how he would have written a journal as a 21-year-old soldier in the moment.
November 9, 2021
I think I read this book in fits and starts. But 17 years? It spent most of those 17 years sitting on a shelf. But this summer I saw it on the shelf and couldn't believe I hadn't finished it yet. Decided to get it done!
Excellent memoir. Saw it heavily quoted in Ken Burns' Civil War show on PBS. Drove me to pick it up. I picked up other books from that show, too - , .
Here, we have the memories of a private in a Tennessee regiment. It is well written. A must have for Civil War "buffs".
Excellent memoir. Saw it heavily quoted in Ken Burns' Civil War show on PBS. Drove me to pick it up. I picked up other books from that show, too - , .
Here, we have the memories of a private in a Tennessee regiment. It is well written. A must have for Civil War "buffs".
September 4, 2009
Watkins wrote this book near his death in his eighties, long after he fought with the confederate army of the tennesee through four years and all of it's major campaigns. As you read the book he continues to remind you that he is no writer and no historian and if you want the facts thats who you should talk to, this is just how he saw it.
Quickly the reader comes to see that for these very reasons this account offers something that no historian ever could. We hear about him foraging for a bite to eat as the army starves, he seems to remember the chickens he found and the girls he met more fondly than the battlefield victories he took part in. We hear about him stuck in inclimate weather with no shelter and how many find their deaths this way. In a very hokey country boy sort of way Watkins manages to magnify the civil war experience to that of the single anonymous private trudging in the ranks. Trials and tribulations that most of us would never consider come to the forefront. His recolections of combat are shocking and grotesque in their simplicity.
If you were going to read one book on the subject of the American Civil War, and one only, this would be a good one to pick up. It's short and to the point never bothering to paint the big picture but telling us more about the war than any multi-volume study has ever managed. READ IT!
(This can also be found under the title "A Sideshow of the Big Show" I think it's original title.)
Quickly the reader comes to see that for these very reasons this account offers something that no historian ever could. We hear about him foraging for a bite to eat as the army starves, he seems to remember the chickens he found and the girls he met more fondly than the battlefield victories he took part in. We hear about him stuck in inclimate weather with no shelter and how many find their deaths this way. In a very hokey country boy sort of way Watkins manages to magnify the civil war experience to that of the single anonymous private trudging in the ranks. Trials and tribulations that most of us would never consider come to the forefront. His recolections of combat are shocking and grotesque in their simplicity.
If you were going to read one book on the subject of the American Civil War, and one only, this would be a good one to pick up. It's short and to the point never bothering to paint the big picture but telling us more about the war than any multi-volume study has ever managed. READ IT!
(This can also be found under the title "A Sideshow of the Big Show" I think it's original title.)
February 3, 2012
Powerful yet astounding writer is Sam R. Watkins. He writes of memory and life as a private soldier. Never once did I want to put this book down. Sam R. Watkins is a very lucid and elaborate writer as I would consider it a work of art. As you're reading along you feel as if you were there, living the life of a confederate soldier. This is a must read for any commoner who wants to get a little bit of knowledge of what the Civil War was really like; you wont regret reading it.
April 13, 2018
This book was very moving. The reality of war is uncovered for all to see, as is the authors unyielding and optimistic spirit. His faith in God is mentioned frequently, something I think sheds light on his willingness to continue on and never give up. These writings were Originally newspaper Articles, for this reason the storyline is very episodic. needless to say, this book surprised me greatly, as I'm not crazy about war accounts at all, but the author's focus on people really intrigued me.
August 1, 2017
I listened to this on Libravox and thoroughly enjoyed hearing a middle Tennessean's memories of his part in the Civil War. My only complaint would be that the narrator had the Tennessee accent, but over all this was a fascinating glimpse into one man's war experience.
July 14, 2015
A gifted storyteller's first hand account of everything from the day-to-day life of a Confederate private soldier to several major battles of the Civil War.
March 27, 2025
"Well, reader, let me whisper in your ear. I was in the row, and the following pages will tell what part I took in the little unpleasant misconception of there being such a thing as a north and south."
An elegant account of a private soldier's experience of the Civil War, Sam Watkins poetically recollects everything (except for grand troop movements and strategies as you will "have to look to the history books for that) from comical cock fights to the absolute carnage of battle.
Watkins shows not so much what it was like to physically be in the Civil War, but conveys the driving ethos and pathos of the average Confederate soldier and Civil War soldier in general. Both history lovers and literature lovers in general should be able to come together to appreciate what this old Southern muse has to say.
An elegant account of a private soldier's experience of the Civil War, Sam Watkins poetically recollects everything (except for grand troop movements and strategies as you will "have to look to the history books for that) from comical cock fights to the absolute carnage of battle.
Watkins shows not so much what it was like to physically be in the Civil War, but conveys the driving ethos and pathos of the average Confederate soldier and Civil War soldier in general. Both history lovers and literature lovers in general should be able to come together to appreciate what this old Southern muse has to say.
August 18, 2017
This should be the one Confederate memoir for the layman to read; there aren't many good reasons for non-academicians to go around reading more than one Confederate memoir. Co. Aytch would hold its own as a work of fiction, it reads so well.
I found two things jarring about the book. The first is the increasing incidence of invocations to the glory of the "Lost Cause" and of affirmations of Watkins' faith as the book (and the war) progresses. I took these to be a reflection of Watkins' memory as he relived the increasing brutality of a war that grew more desperate as it progressed, but it's equally likely that this increasing incidence is due to overall changes in Watkins' outlook in the year he wrote his memoirs.
Secondly, slavery is noticeably absent. Watkins doesn't give so much as a nod to the institution of slavery. I'm not even sure that the word "slave" appears in this book. I don't know what to do with this, other than hope Watkins somewhere knew that defending slavery in either word or action is so shitty that he had to erase its memory entirely or else risk ruining his book.
Watkins' descriptions of army life are often humorous, touching, sarcastic, or brutal, but they are all told with a matter-of-factness that brings vividness to the incidents he details. There is a slight change in tone after Chattanooga, and this point is also where the invocations and affirmations start to ramp up. The book slumps right at the end with a couple of snide paragraphs parodying the victors of the war, but Watkins wraps up well with his epilogue.
I found two things jarring about the book. The first is the increasing incidence of invocations to the glory of the "Lost Cause" and of affirmations of Watkins' faith as the book (and the war) progresses. I took these to be a reflection of Watkins' memory as he relived the increasing brutality of a war that grew more desperate as it progressed, but it's equally likely that this increasing incidence is due to overall changes in Watkins' outlook in the year he wrote his memoirs.
Secondly, slavery is noticeably absent. Watkins doesn't give so much as a nod to the institution of slavery. I'm not even sure that the word "slave" appears in this book. I don't know what to do with this, other than hope Watkins somewhere knew that defending slavery in either word or action is so shitty that he had to erase its memory entirely or else risk ruining his book.
Watkins' descriptions of army life are often humorous, touching, sarcastic, or brutal, but they are all told with a matter-of-factness that brings vividness to the incidents he details. There is a slight change in tone after Chattanooga, and this point is also where the invocations and affirmations start to ramp up. The book slumps right at the end with a couple of snide paragraphs parodying the victors of the war, but Watkins wraps up well with his epilogue.
February 16, 2013
There is a reason this book is so often quoted and cited in Civil War literature. It is a pure and unfiltered account; a remarkable chronology of a Confederate soldier who participated in nearly every major battle of the war. Watkins' story is filled with humor, tragedy, and every reflection in between. What he lacked in education he made up for with passionate writing of his amazing experiences.
I had never before considered the irony of Civil War soldiers dying from tornadoes in their camps, but of course it must have happened over the passage of four years in that part of our land. That is but one of a dozen vignettes that gave me a fresh perspective on a subject I thought I knew a fair amount about. Stories I have read in the works of others about the strange mechanisms of cannonball injuries are now revealed to likely have been sourced here. Simple stories of camp life and how pickets behaved with their counterparts are only hinted at in the broader campaign literatures.
Sam Watkins, I thank you, 150 years too late, for the service you gave honestly to a cause you believed in; but more importantly, for leaving such a rich account behind, which if for no other justification, made your sacrifices and those of your friends and enemies hold greater meaning through time.
I had never before considered the irony of Civil War soldiers dying from tornadoes in their camps, but of course it must have happened over the passage of four years in that part of our land. That is but one of a dozen vignettes that gave me a fresh perspective on a subject I thought I knew a fair amount about. Stories I have read in the works of others about the strange mechanisms of cannonball injuries are now revealed to likely have been sourced here. Simple stories of camp life and how pickets behaved with their counterparts are only hinted at in the broader campaign literatures.
Sam Watkins, I thank you, 150 years too late, for the service you gave honestly to a cause you believed in; but more importantly, for leaving such a rich account behind, which if for no other justification, made your sacrifices and those of your friends and enemies hold greater meaning through time.
March 23, 2018
This book is a really interesting piece of history and I enjoyed and appreciated it as such. Sam’s writing tends to veer purple to the point that it’s hard to take him seriously. Everyone who dies is the greatest and kindest and bravest and is now wandering the green hills of heaven with the shadows of earth forever behind them and such. All in all it’s a really good book for anyone interested in the Civil War but it’s not going to appeal to you otherwise.
July 25, 2022
“Bully for Bragg, he’s hell on retreat.�
First person stories of war are the way to get a grasp on the reality of war. Especially when the author writes so descriptively. Sam Watkins puts you right in the middle of many notable battles in the Civil War. Simply amazing he survived 4 years and that he kept his sense of humor and appreciation for life.
First person stories of war are the way to get a grasp on the reality of war. Especially when the author writes so descriptively. Sam Watkins puts you right in the middle of many notable battles in the Civil War. Simply amazing he survived 4 years and that he kept his sense of humor and appreciation for life.
August 3, 2020
This has been said by others before me, but I also agree -- this is the best memoir written by a regular soldier during the Civil War. I learned so much about what the soldiers saw and experienced during the war. A great resource for lovers of history or Civil War buffs.
May 21, 2017
A book that is comedic, exciting, moving, and scary from one moment to another. In other words, it is classic of history, memoir, and literature.
April 5, 2021
My version had footnote commentary for some of Watkins' comments that were misleading. Highly recommend that.
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November 9, 2024This may be the first book I'm reviewing, but not rating.
I'm not rating it because I basically rate based on how I enjoyed the book. I feel like that wouldn't really work with this one...?
I was assigned this for school. It was helpful as I was studying the Civil War partially last week, but this week especially. I read about military leaders in history, and this book helped me understand that these people were real and that the Civil War happened.
That sounds kinda ridiculous. I mean, obviously the Civil War happened. But I mean, it was REAL. People DIED. Thousands of them. Homes and buildings and farms and towns were DESTROYED. Lives were wrecked, never to be the same again.
Was this war inevitable? I can't decide. What caused this war? I think at its core, for many Southerners, it was states' rights. The main "right" was slavery (because obviously owning other human beings is a right--just like killing your own child is a right). But slavery, at least that kind of slavery, had to go. But the majority of the South wasn't willing to let it go. Thus, you had compromises, like the Compromise of 1850 and the Missouri Compromise. You had people like Henry Clay, who I think really just put a bandaid on the problem. They soothed the majority for a short period of time. They didn't actually solve the problem.
So, was the Civil War inevitable? The South wasn't willing to let go, but slavery had to go. Was war the answer? I... don't think so. I think there were other ways. Maybe putting certain laws in place regarding slavery/slaves? Laws that would protect them? Would some of the states still secede? ...Maybe. But war? I don't think war would have been the answer to that still.
What is the answer? The same answer for today. People need to get saved. Pastors need to preach the Word. We need to pray for conviction and that the Holy Spirit would work.
God was the only one who could change the hearts of men then, and it's the same today.
I'm not rating it because I basically rate based on how I enjoyed the book. I feel like that wouldn't really work with this one...?
I was assigned this for school. It was helpful as I was studying the Civil War partially last week, but this week especially. I read about military leaders in history, and this book helped me understand that these people were real and that the Civil War happened.
That sounds kinda ridiculous. I mean, obviously the Civil War happened. But I mean, it was REAL. People DIED. Thousands of them. Homes and buildings and farms and towns were DESTROYED. Lives were wrecked, never to be the same again.
Was this war inevitable? I can't decide. What caused this war? I think at its core, for many Southerners, it was states' rights. The main "right" was slavery (because obviously owning other human beings is a right--just like killing your own child is a right). But slavery, at least that kind of slavery, had to go. But the majority of the South wasn't willing to let it go. Thus, you had compromises, like the Compromise of 1850 and the Missouri Compromise. You had people like Henry Clay, who I think really just put a bandaid on the problem. They soothed the majority for a short period of time. They didn't actually solve the problem.
So, was the Civil War inevitable? The South wasn't willing to let go, but slavery had to go. Was war the answer? I... don't think so. I think there were other ways. Maybe putting certain laws in place regarding slavery/slaves? Laws that would protect them? Would some of the states still secede? ...Maybe. But war? I don't think war would have been the answer to that still.
What is the answer? The same answer for today. People need to get saved. Pastors need to preach the Word. We need to pray for conviction and that the Holy Spirit would work.
God was the only one who could change the hearts of men then, and it's the same today.
March 23, 2022
The perspective of this book is what makes it 4 stars for me (over 3). Looking at the War, the causes, the battles and leaders from a Private’s perspective is something even the well-read on this war should blend in.
November 25, 2024
The only word I could think of while listening to this American Civil War vet’s recollections was: brutal. As mentioned above, I listened to the audiobook version- the particular narrator was not very good, very monotoned, and had the subject matter not been so drastic I would’ve been very bored
February 9, 2018
For someone who wants to feel the day to day of a southern soldier
November 14, 2024
Hard to follow but not as bad as some other books I've had to read for school. I didn't read the "other sketches" at the end of the book.
January 7, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 Stars (Excellent)
July 21, 2023
An interesting listen. It was neat to read alongside the Abraham Lincoln book and see the different perspectives. Especially since this was a true account. I would like to read more true narratives of this sort. No one can tell history better than those who experience it firsthand.
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July 31, 2011What is the audiobook equivalent of "couldn't put it down"? From the hour I downloaded Co. Aytch, I couldn't pull my earbuds out. I finished it in a day and a half.
Sam Watkins is a compelling storyteller. He left his home town of Columbia, Tennessee, at age 21 to follow the Stars & Bars. He would stay with the army--and his regiment--to the bitter end: Joseph E. Johnston's surrender to Sherman at Greensboro, NC. After an initial foray with Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, he returns to Tennessee just in time for the Battle of Shiloh.
What follows is an account of the Army of Tennessee: an aborted invasion of Kentucky, Stones River, Chattanooga and Chickamauga, the loss of Atlanta, the invasion of Tennessee, and the disastrous battles of Franklin and Nashville, after which the western army of the Confederacy was routed.
Along the way, Watkins balances horror with humor. He brings to life his comrades. The life, death and capture of a gamecock named "Confederacy" is classic. The horrors and gore of Chickamauga and Franklin--what Watkins calls a "holocaust"--are vividly recollected.
What I liked most about this book was the way that Watkins kept perspective. He isn't trying to write a history, he says. He defends the Confederacy and the siren song of "states rights" that beckoned him to war, but he also emphatically states that "there is no north or south," that the issues that divided the Union are resolved.
Sam Watkins is a compelling storyteller. He left his home town of Columbia, Tennessee, at age 21 to follow the Stars & Bars. He would stay with the army--and his regiment--to the bitter end: Joseph E. Johnston's surrender to Sherman at Greensboro, NC. After an initial foray with Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, he returns to Tennessee just in time for the Battle of Shiloh.
What follows is an account of the Army of Tennessee: an aborted invasion of Kentucky, Stones River, Chattanooga and Chickamauga, the loss of Atlanta, the invasion of Tennessee, and the disastrous battles of Franklin and Nashville, after which the western army of the Confederacy was routed.
Along the way, Watkins balances horror with humor. He brings to life his comrades. The life, death and capture of a gamecock named "Confederacy" is classic. The horrors and gore of Chickamauga and Franklin--what Watkins calls a "holocaust"--are vividly recollected.
What I liked most about this book was the way that Watkins kept perspective. He isn't trying to write a history, he says. He defends the Confederacy and the siren song of "states rights" that beckoned him to war, but he also emphatically states that "there is no north or south," that the issues that divided the Union are resolved.
January 26, 2010
Sam Watkins' observations on the Civil War represent a gem. Here is a foot soldier of the Confederate Army, making his own pithy observations about his generals. On Braxton Bragg, he noted after the disaster at Missionary Ridge, "Poor fellow, he looked so hacked and whipped, and mortified and chagrined at defeat, and all along the line, when Bragg would pass, the soldiers would raise the yell, 'Here is your mule;' 'Bully for Bragg, he's h--l on retreat.'" As for John Bell Hood, the overmatched general in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, Watkins remarked after the debacle at Nashville: "[Hood:] was much agitated and affected, pulling his hair with his one hand (he had but one), and crying like his heart would break."
This is a book on war from the eyes of a foot soldier. And Sam Watkins had good eyes and a nice way of expressing his thoughts. There are a handful of books by such foot soldiers, and this is one of the best from the Civil War.
He fought hard for the Confederacy, but he also recognized that when the war was over, life had to go on. As he put it: "The United States has no North, no South, no East, no West. We are one and undivided."
Sam Watkins' volume is a real treasure and all Civil War buffs ought to read it.
This is a book on war from the eyes of a foot soldier. And Sam Watkins had good eyes and a nice way of expressing his thoughts. There are a handful of books by such foot soldiers, and this is one of the best from the Civil War.
He fought hard for the Confederacy, but he also recognized that when the war was over, life had to go on. As he put it: "The United States has no North, no South, no East, no West. We are one and undivided."
Sam Watkins' volume is a real treasure and all Civil War buffs ought to read it.
February 10, 2013
I've had a love/hate relationship with the Civil War for years. So, it was with mixed feelings that I began this book.
But, I'm so glad I did read it! This book provided a unique personal history of the Civil War. Sam Watkins, the author, recorded his experiences as a private in Company H of the Maury Greys. Taken from a series of newspaper articles written 20 years after the end of the war, the book provides Watkins'own memories of all aspects of serving in the army. He speaks of the cold, the lice, the general nastiness of everyday life. He talks candidly about being a sniper and killing many men. He talks of the deaths of many of his close friends. Most interesting to me are his views of the generals he encounters. The heroism of some, the cruelty of others and the ineptitude of still others really put the war in perspective.
Throughout the whole tale, Watkins'deep and abiding faith in the land ÿonder"shines through and the reader can understand how his faith sustained him during the war.
This is a great book for Civil War buffs and general readers alike.
But, I'm so glad I did read it! This book provided a unique personal history of the Civil War. Sam Watkins, the author, recorded his experiences as a private in Company H of the Maury Greys. Taken from a series of newspaper articles written 20 years after the end of the war, the book provides Watkins'own memories of all aspects of serving in the army. He speaks of the cold, the lice, the general nastiness of everyday life. He talks candidly about being a sniper and killing many men. He talks of the deaths of many of his close friends. Most interesting to me are his views of the generals he encounters. The heroism of some, the cruelty of others and the ineptitude of still others really put the war in perspective.
Throughout the whole tale, Watkins'deep and abiding faith in the land ÿonder"shines through and the reader can understand how his faith sustained him during the war.
This is a great book for Civil War buffs and general readers alike.
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