|
|
|
|
|
|
Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade (American Civil War Classics)
written by John O. Casler
Studio : University of South Carolina Press
by University of South Carolina Press
Publisher : University of South Carolina Press
Released : 2005-09-01
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9781570035951
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 2 reviews)
List Price : $24.95
Our Price : $16.20
|
|
| |
|
Book Description |
|
From his looting of farmhouses during the Gettysburg campaign and robbing of fallen Union soldiers as opportunity allowed to his five arrests for infractions of military discipline and numerous unapproved leaves, John O. Casler’s actions during the Civil War made him as much a rogue as a Rebel. Though he was no model soldier, his forthright confessions of his service years in the Army of Northern Virginia stand among the most sought after and cited accounts by a Confederate soldier. First published in 1893 and significantly revised and expanded in 1906, Casler’s Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade recounts the truths of camp life, marches, and combat. Moreover, Casler’s recollections provide an unapologetic view of the effects of the harsh life in Stonewall’s ranks on an average foot soldier and his fellows. A native of Gainesboro, Virginia, with an inherent wanderlust and thirst for adventure, Casler enlisted in June 1861 in what became Company A, 33rd Virginia Infantry, and participated in major campaigns throughout the conflict, including Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Captured in February 1865, he spent the final months of the war as a prisoner at Fort McHenry, Maryland. His postwar narrative recalls the realities of warfare for the private soldier, the moral ambiguities of thievery and survival at the front, and the deliberate cruelties of capture and imprisonment with the vivid detail, straightforward candor, and irreverent flair for storytelling that have earned Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade its place in the first rank of primary literature of the Confederacy. This edition features a new introduction by Robert K. Krick chronicling Casler’s origins and his careers after the war as a writer and organizer of Confederate veterans groups. |
| |
|
| |
|
Classic primary source |
|
Casler's memoir is a mandatory source for anyone studying the war in the East. Many of the familiar Stonewall Brigade and Valley Campaign anecdotes quoted in secondary sources are found here. Casler spent part of the war detailed as a pioneer, and his description of the work he did, including burying bodies, is interesting. He gives quite a few details on the Valley Campaign, Gettysburg and Spotsylvania. From August 1864, unfortunately, he was unable to march and was not with his company, which in any case was virtually wiped out. He was a prisoner in Fort McHenry toward the end of the war and gives an interesting description of being very badly treated until the Confederate government threatened retaliation, upon which conditions improved. I found it interesting how much time Casler spent *not* with his company, sometimes detailed elsewhere, sometimes apparently AWOL, sometimes participating in presumably non-authorized raids on the Federals with a couple of friends. This shows how little real control the CSA (the USA was probably much the same) had over its individual soldiers, a deficiency which surely did not do them, as the outnumbered side, any good. |
| |
|
Personal and Military experiences of a private soldier. |
|
Although Casler wrote from memory late in life, his text has remarkably few errors of fact. His experiences are truly given without pretense or disguise, and are refreshingly human. I have read literally hundreds of personal accounts and diaries written by Confederate soldiers, and I rate " Four Years In The Stonewall Brigade " in my personal top five. This is a must read for anyone who wishes to experience the feel of life in the Confederate army, and to understand how service extracted its price for devotion to the southern belief in states rights. Casler is whimsical always, and downright hilarious at times. His devotion to the southern cause was unwavering, literally to the last as he was dubbed " The Last Of The Mohicans " by a Captain in his regiment. This because during the 1864 campaign, Casler was at one time, the only officer or private to be on active duty from his company. His use of " French Leave " on numerous occasions, I found personally surprising, but as written by Casler became perfectly understandable. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Gordon Boyer Lawrence |
| |
|
|
|
