Tenting Tonight: The Soldier's Life

The Civil War #10

by James I. Robertson Jr.

A gripping, comprehensive account of the Civil War, including eyewitness testimony, profiles of key personalities, period photographs, illustrations and artifacts, and detailed battle maps. Fully researched, superbly written.

Genres: Civil War, History, American Civil War, Nonfiction, Military History, War

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

James I. Robertson Jr. is an Alumni Distinguished Professor of History at Virginia Tech. He published the definitive adult biography of Stonewall Jackson, Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend, and also wrote Standing Like a Stone Wall for young adults. He lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another unique addition to the Time-Life Civil War series. I felt this book showed both the human spirit and human suffering that cost the lives of so many. This book specifically examines the life of the soldier on both sides. I learned women masqueraded as men to serve their nation (pg. 27), Native Americans volunteered to fight (pg. 31), and blacks answered the call to arms in the war between the States.

Camp life (Chapter 2) was examined at great length and gave a colorized photographic segment on uniforms, and gear worn by both sides, pg. 72-77. The ravages of war, battlefield surgical tools, and life of POWs are in this book.

There are lots of photographs, family portraits, and sketches portraying the life of the fighting men. I would highly recommend this book to readers of the American Civil War. Thanks!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before memorials to the soldiers who fought in the civil war are removed, consider the word of Gen. Braxton Bragg, reviled by many but clear in the belief that praise of generals was misplaced: "We have had in great measure to trust in the individuality and self reliance of the private soldier. Without the incentive which controls the officer who hopes to live in history; without the hope of reward and actuated only by a sense of duty and patriotism, he has justly judged that this contest was his own and gone into it with a determination to conquer or die."

[Gerry Dobbs]

I've always enjoyed Bud Robertson's writing style. It flows easily with lots of pertinent information. The accompanying photos are quite helpful in keeping the flow going.

[Heinz Reinhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a well known scholar of the War Between the States (James I. Robertson), this volume of the Time-Life set gives an overview of the average experience of Civil War soldiers, North and South.
Covering the topics of recruitment and training, diversions and entertainments, medical care (or punishment, considering the state of medical technology of the mid 19th century), the hellish situation of prisoner of war camps, and the test of courage that was the fighting itself.
Replete with period photographs, numerous eye witness quotations, and astute analysis and a fast flowing narrative, this can easily serve as a single volume treatment 19th Century military life and of the US Civil War in particular.
Very well done.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve long had a fondness for the many series of heavily illustrated works of history published by Time-Life. I was the copyeditor and indexer for several years on one of the series, so I know what kind of research and fact-checking went into them. On top of that, Prof. Robertson of Virginia Tech is an award-winning and very highly regarded author of some two dozen volumes having to do with various aspects of the Civil War, so you know you can’t go wrong. This is primarily a social, not a military, history that focuses on five broad topics: How the Northern and Southern armies were recruited, especially at the very beginning of the conflict, and what the results were of all those amateur soldiers and officers stumbling around and bumping into each other; what life was like in camp on both sides; the crushing effects of disease from lack of sanitation and the bleak future of those who suffered serious wounds; the plight of the P.O.W., especially of captured Confederates under the thumb of vengeful Northern officers (Andersonville gets the bad press but Elmira was at least as bad, and worse in the winter); and the role of religion and the chaplain in the life of the soldier. There are additional vignettes of pickets on opposite sides sharing their coffee and tobacco, the fate of condemned deserters, the popularity of baseball as an antidote to boredom, and the shock and aftershock on the men in battle. Throughout the book there are many quotes from letters and later memoirs, and -- of course -- many, many fascinating photos. Very highly recommended.

[David Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again very good

[Daniel Duval · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good volume.