Definitely no doubt Watkins was at Franklin and he was on the skirmish line. I think some of Watkins' material is a bit fluffy (like Cleburne being shot 49 times), but all in all there is really nothing else like it. I do know that Sam edited his "memoirs" but he died before a revised edition could be published. Currently, a publisher in Middle Tennessee is working with Watkins' family to get the revised Co. Aytch out there. Apparently Sam had eliminated a great deal of the fluff and gave more detail to some of the important events.
Just finished reading this for the first time (and certainly not the last). A few things stand out for me.
The first is the huge number of men shot by firing squad. Sam gives no figures, but this seemed to be a daily event.
The large number of Union soldiers that Sam personally killed.
The horrific casualties suffered by his company. They left for war 120 strong. During the war, they were reinforced by volunteers and conscripts, yet only 7 men returned.
The Confederate conscript system. Towards the end of the war, this ammounted to no more that press gangs. Any able bodied man, regardless of circumstances, was rounded up. Given a musket and cartridge box, they were told to fall in line.
Some of Sams stories sound so unbelievable, yet you feel that they must be true. No writer would invent his tale of the Battle of Chattanooga. Positioned on Lookout Mountain, his post was over run. Surrounded by Union troops he was carried forward in the attack on Missonary Ridge. He joined in the charge up the slope until he was reunited with comrades. Sounds like a tall tale, but would he invent a story like that?
If I remember correctly Sam wrote his book in his later years, some time after his war experience. Certainly he was writing for commercial appeal, though the facts were essentially correct. The 1st Tennessee infantry was in the thick of the worst part of the war.
Block:
Sam's memories were certainly contorted by time -- some expanded, some forgotten, and some vividly clear. His reminiscenses have little value as factual history, but they become extremely valuable in his participation and his colorful descriptions.
Firing squads? Not many historians talk about them -- on either side. Much too uncomfortable to think about, dontcha know? A soldier could face the squad for a number of reasons: sleeping on sentry duty, deserting, striking an officer, abusing a civilian .... Bragg developed a reputation for strict discipline. A word or two has been said that his reputation is not borne out by executions. It remains that he (and his brigadiers and regimental commanders) may well have done his (their) share. But I don't want to talk about this supremely distasteful aspect of army life -- gives me the blues. (Or grays.)
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Then, there's old Bedford Forrest who encountered a fleeing soldier during the Battle of the Cedars Dec 7, 1864 and ordered him back to the struggle. When the soldier kept fleeing, Forrest promply dropped him with his revolver. Military 'justice' was often swift and permanent. 'Examples' had to be set.
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