A Rebel's Recollections

by George Cary Eggleston, Gaines M. Foster (Introduction)

Originally published in 1875, George Cary Eggleston's memoir, which proved immensely popular among readers throughout the country, is a nostalgic, often amusing collection of essays based on the author's Civil War experiences.Eggleston describes life in Virginia before the war, offers glowing assessments of the men who made up the Confederate army and the women who stood behind them, satirizes the Confederacy's finances and its army's red tape, and recollects the war's end. He provides compelling portraits of his heroes from the war, lavishing praise on Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and especially Jeb Stuart.By 1905, A Rebel's Recollections had gone through four editions, suggesting how well it reflected the mood of the nation, which by then wanted to forget angry sectionalism and glorify the soldiers of both sides in an idealized view of the war.

Genres: Civil War, History

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1874

About the author

George Cary Eggleston was an American author and brother of fellow author Edward Eggleston (1837–1902). After the American Civil War, George Cary Eggleston published a serialized account of his time as a Confederate soldier in The Atlantic Monthly. These serialized articles were later collected and expanded upon and published under the title "A Rebel's Recollections." He also served as an editor of Hearth and Home magazine in the early 1870s.

Reviews

[Adhoc · Rating 1 out of 5]

Its telling that in the 200 pages of this civil war book -from the southern viewpoint - the word slavery never appears. This is a rose colored fantasy view of the south. Slavery wasn't that bad. They only seceded as a matter of principle and not because they wanted to maintain the ownership of human beings.

'The negro is constitutionally loyal to his obligations as he understands them, and his attachments, both local and personal, are uncommonly strong. He speedily forgets an injury, but never a kindness, and so he was not likely to rise in arms against the helpless women and children whom he had known intimately and loved almost reverentially from childhood, however strongly he desired the freedom which such a rising would secure to him. '

Its all fun and games until your children are sold down the river

Eggleston was a righteous religious man with elastic morals very similar to most Americans currently voting in the USA


Not worth reading don't waste your time.

[Michael Rubin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1874, almost a decade after the end of the Civil War, this book gives you insights into the Confederacy by a former soldier with a glib writing style. The prose is so direct and immediate, it is hard sometimes for a reader to remember that this book was written 140 years ago.

[Alex Brooks]

It's a little slow right now