Life in the Confederate Army;: Being personal experiences of a private soldier in the Confederate Army,

by Arthur Peronneau Ford

The following account of my experiences as a private soldier in the Confederate Army during the great war of 1861-'65 records only the ordinary career of an ordinary Confederate soldier. It does not treat of campaigns, army maneuvers, or plans of battles, but only of the daily life of a common soldier, and of such things as fell under his limited observation. Early in April, 1861, immediately after the battle of Fort Sumter, I joined the Palmetto Guards, Capt. George B. Cuthbert, of the Seventeenth Regiment South Carolina Militia. Very soon after, the company divided, and one half under Captain Cuthbert left Charleston, and joined the Second South Carolina Volunteers in Virginia. The other half, to which I belonged, under Capt. George L. Buist, remained in Charleston. Early in the fall Captain Buist's company was ordered to Coosawhatchie, and given charge of four howitzers; and thenceforth for three years, until December, 1864, it served as field artillery. I did not go with my company, as at that time I was a clerk in the Charleston post-office, and really exempt from all service. On April 2, 1862, however, then being about eighteen years of age, I resigned my clerkship, and joining the company at Coosawhatchie, with the rest of the men enlisted in the Confederate service "for three years or the war."

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1905

Reviews

[Charles van Buren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The war from an enlisted man's perspective

Review of free Kindle edition
A Public Domain Book
Publication date: August 23, 2011
Language: English
ASIN: B005ISZVYY
144 pages

This book is in two parts, the first, LIFE IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY BEING THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF A PRIVATE SOLDIER IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY by Arthur Peronneau Ford. The second part is, AND SOME EXPERIENCES AND SKETCHES OF SOUTHERN LIFE BY Marion Johnstone Ford.

For most of the war Arthur Ford served in the artillery around Charleston, South Carolina. In this duty, he engaged in some artillery duels with both the Yankee army and navy. He was at Charleston when the Union forces began shelling the city including civilian areas. Marion Johnstone Ford was in Charleston as Union shells demolished neighboring houses. Her family's house was damaged by the shelling and just avoided taking a hit which would likely have killed Johnstone Ford and possibly others.

Near the end of the war, with Sherman's army pressing into the Carolinas, burning and looting civilian property as they came, his unit was converted to infantry. The war ended for him when Joseph E. Johnston surrendered in April 1865. Ford and his compatriots may not have suffered serious hardships for as long as did the men in other theatres but suffer they did as they tried to halt an unstoppable tide. This is a story of men who endured to the end for love of country and family.

The second part of the book, written by Ford's wife tells the story of civilian life in and around Charleston during the war and the first part of the occupation. Some of the recollections and letters are interesting and moving but it is a disjointed effort with some of the stories having no conclusion. For instance she writes of her family's efforts to pay a Yankee property tax, apparently imposed on Charleston even before the war ended. Her story tells of their first unsuccessful effort to raise $180 but ends there. We never learn if they were ever able to pay the tax and save their home.

[Eddie Inman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating Read

The accounts of Ford about his war experiences are highly interesting, but the real worth of this volume are the letters about the cruelty of the northern soldiers towards defenseless women and children.

[R McAusland · Rating 3 out of 5]

POV Distinctly Southern

Looking back with a lot of Southern spin. Too much resume praise for Southern officers, overloaded with Confederate “success.” Conventional Southern patrician view of slavery, today called racist.

[Jennifer Zartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of this book contains memoirs of a private in the confederate army. The second half, written by his wife, offers letters that she wrote during the war, a story of a gifted and faithful slave accompanying his master to war, and a tribute to a black woman named Tay. First hand accounts such as this one can give valuable insight into historical events and attitudes. Some families who owned slaves treated them well, evidenced by the fact that there were slaves who refused to leave their masters after the Emancipation Proclamation. Marion Ford's family appears to have been among them, and her account offers a consistently positive view of their slaves and even of black people as a whole. Arthur Ford's account contains more of the rancor toward blacks that we would expect to find from that era. I recommend it as a short and easy read that offers first hand insight.

[Douglas Hillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Mr. Ford recounts it, with the Confederate Army consistently inflicting casualties in the 2:1 or 3:1 ratio at every battle, it's a wonder that the North won the war at all.