Diary of Confederate Soldier

by John S. Jackman

John S. Jackman's forthright depiction of life in the Confederate Army of Tennessee's 9th Kentucky Brigade is the longest, most informative, and most unvarnished account available of service in the Orphan Brigade, a regiment that participated in most of the major Western campaigns. An unusually articulate soldier, Jackman served as a regimental clerk, and from his privileged position he faithfully recorded his wartime impressions in a diary that is one of the few complete primary sources extant by an enlisted man in the Army of Tennessee.

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

184 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1990

Reviews

[Andrew]

Good Civil War diaries are like treasure, they're hard to find and you have to sort through a lot of less valuable material to get to them. This book is definitely one of those treasures, though. Jackman's account is far from the usual one, being rare for his being a member of the famous Orphan Brigade, but also for his being an enlisted man. Not only that, but Jackman was more educated and literate the the average enlisted soldier of the time (he came from a relatively privileged background).

Jackman covers most of the actions of the Orphans, although he missed a few due to sickness or injury, with wit and clarity. While he's sometimes a bit more laconic that I would have liked, I found his account of his part in the war engaging and entertaining to read.

[Donna Peake]

The weather , food, and his illness were written about almost daily.

He seemed to attend church quite often.

To pass time they would shoot at alligators. I just never pictured anything to do with alligators during the Civil War.

[SheLove2Read]

I'm a huge fan of history, especially the Civil War, but I just can't seem to get into this book, which is why I'm not rating it.