The BEST Memoir of the War?

[ole]

So long as you're not paying real money for it, tackitt, go for it. Even in the most ill-advised, self-justifying memoirs there are usually some revealing statements about things outside the author's intent.

As history, Longstreet's book is barely reliable, but in it he reveals some of himself -- when not digging trenches and repelling attackers.

ole

[samgrant]

Originally Posted by tackitt27

Has anyone read Manassas to Appomatox by James Longstreet? Im about to purchase this online and was wondering if there were any opinions on it out there.

I liked it. As Ole said, Longstreet is not much of a writer, but he tells what he thinks.

E. P. Alexander's Fighting for the Confederacy might be a better choice.

[cash]

Originally Posted by tackitt27

Has anyone read Manassas to Appomatox by James Longstreet? Im about to purchase this online and was wondering if there were any opinions on it out there.

It's a good read, but Longstreet's recollections were filled with errors.

Regards,
Cash

[Borderruffian]

Originally Posted by ole

So long as you're not paying real money for it, tackitt, go for it. Even in the most ill-advised, self-justifying memoirs there are usually some revealing statements about things outside the author's intent.

As history, Longstreet's book is barely reliable, but in it he reveals some of himself -- when not digging trenches and repelling attackers.

ole

Agreed. I much prefer G. Moxley Sorrel's "Recollections of a Confederate Staff Officer." when studying up on Ol'Pete.

[gary]

BTW, if there was any book that got me "hooked" on Civil War literature, it was John Worsham's One of Jackson's Foot Cavalry.

Longstreet can be useful, but better to read the basic history by historians like James McPherson or novelist turned historian Shelby Foote first. Get a grasp of what's going on and then go get Longstreet out of the Library. I enjoyed my copy, but I think he wrote it after the Lost Cause Myth arose, and being on the "wrong" side of the Lost Causers (he had criticized Lee and became a Republican which did nothing to mend his rift with his former Confederates), there's a lot of post-war politics involved in his memoirs.

[samgrant]

Originally Posted by gary

I think he wrote it after the Lost Cause Myth arose, and being on the "wrong" side of the Lost Causers (he had criticized Lee and became a Republican which did nothing to mend his rift with his former Confederates), there's a lot of post-war politics involved in his memoirs.

That is why I suggest Alexander. What he wrote also had some critcisms of Lee and Jackson, but it was not ever intended for publication, but left as a testament to his children. So as not having been branded by Early and the Lost Causers, he did not need to defend himself.

He was also author of Military Memoirs of a Confederate published in 1907.

-

[gary]

Concur with you SamGrant. I originally read Military Memoirs of a Confederate and loved it. It cost me $15 for the Morningside Reprint in Omaha, Nebraska. When I learned that Fighting For the Confederacy came out, I bought that too and thought that was even better.

BTW, a new edition of Sam Watkins Company Aytch has been released. It has all the revisions that Sam Watkins wanted to include but never got published. Now a descendent is releasing a new copy.

[FSPowers]

I thought Longstreet's was a bit dry.

I recently read Watkins' account and found it fascinating.

I also read Grant's, Hood's, and Alexander's accounts and IMHO found then informative.

[gary]

I've also read John Bell Hood's memoir, Attack and git beat. He certainly explains his aggressiveness and why he had a strong disliking for trench warfare. Thankfully he wasn't around to lead men in WW I.

[dccaughey]

"Best" always depends on one's perspective -- is a general's better, or a private's. As someone already noted, the private's tends to be less self-serving, and generally more amusing as well.

I'd lie to recommend "Common Soldier, Uncommon War" by Sidney Morris Davis. He's a young private who enlists in the 6th US Cavalry as it's forming at the beginning of the war. He provides excellent accounts of a soldier's initial training and the early campaigns in the eastern theater. His tongue in cheek writing style makes the book a very easy and enjoyable read.

He's captured during the Gettysburg campaign, and also has some great first hand accounts of life at Belle Isle as well.

It's a little hard to find copies, but they're still available on amazon and alibris.