Patricia M. reviewed Brothers' War : Civil War Letters to Their Loved Ones from the Blue and Gray (Vintage Civil War Library) on + 52 more book reviews
These 90 letters, chronologically arranged from the onset of hostilities in 1861 to the assassination of Lincoln in 1865 are startling, often moving documents of the Civil War, written on its battlefields by combatants from both sides. The letters accomplish what few histories can: they convey the war from the ground up, through the stunned or hardened eyes of the men who fought it. And they record the war's impact on those men with the immediacy of a bullet.
In "The Brother's War" a soldier recalls the exact timbre of a Minnie ball hurtling past a man's head, "like the single buzz of a bumble bee." A reluctant conscript begs his father to hire a substitute to take his place. A Confederate captain has pity on a hungry Yankee prisoner and taes him out for breakfast-on the condition that he promise not to run away. Illustrated with rare archival photographs, this book is a powerful account of the years that tore America in half.
...taken from the back cover of the book
In "The Brother's War" a soldier recalls the exact timbre of a Minnie ball hurtling past a man's head, "like the single buzz of a bumble bee." A reluctant conscript begs his father to hire a substitute to take his place. A Confederate captain has pity on a hungry Yankee prisoner and taes him out for breakfast-on the condition that he promise not to run away. Illustrated with rare archival photographs, this book is a powerful account of the years that tore America in half.
...taken from the back cover of the book
Thomas F. (hardtack) -
This is an interesting set of letters, most of which I had never seen before. The letters are equally from men of both sides and often portray the confusion of battle---i.e., incorrect information about the strength of the enemy, number of casualties, prejudices of the participants, etc. However, the letters also portray the heart-felt feelings of the soldiers to their cause and their families.
I wasn't too impressed with the scant number of photographs, except those few depicting the men who wrote the accompanying letter. The first photo in the book showed a "typical interior of a soldier's quarters." That image was amusing, as very few Civil War soldiers ever had quarters like that.
The author did insert a very helpful sentence or two before each letter to identify the rank, unit and some other information about the soldier writing it. Sadly, the author also mentions at the end of several letter the soldier "was killed at......"
I wasn't too impressed with the scant number of photographs, except those few depicting the men who wrote the accompanying letter. The first photo in the book showed a "typical interior of a soldier's quarters." That image was amusing, as very few Civil War soldiers ever had quarters like that.
The author did insert a very helpful sentence or two before each letter to identify the rank, unit and some other information about the soldier writing it. Sadly, the author also mentions at the end of several letter the soldier "was killed at......"
