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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.