"Hardtack and Coffee" or "Company Aytch"? Which is better?

Both can be found free on the internet. Both are also really cheap on Amazon used books. I'm currently listening to Hardtack and Coffee and have Company Aytch on que. But not sure how to say if one is better than the other. Billings is thorough and covers areas where he doesn't exactly have experience (he was in the artillery) but talks authoritative in an easy manner to follow. And of course, they cover completely different armies.
 
Both can be found free on the internet. Both are also really cheap on Amazon used books. I'm currently listening to Hardtack and Coffee and have Company Aytch on que. But not sure how to say if one is better than the other. Billings is thorough and covers areas where he doesn't exactly have experience (he was in the artillery) but talks authoritative in an easy manner to follow. And of course, they cover completely different armies.
I must not have looked closely on Amazon. I will try again. I like to hold a book if I can. I will use Kindle app if I have too.
I have never tried audio version but might use it in the car....if I'm alone!
 
I must not have looked closely on Amazon. I will try again. I like to hold a book if I can. I will use Kindle app if I have too.
I have never tried audio version but might use it in the car....if I'm alone!
Hardtack and Coffee is currently $0.97 and Company Aytch is starting at $0.01 for used books plus shipping. The vast majority of my books are used and only one have I've been disappointed in the condition but that's my fault really. I look for Very Good or Good but read the descriptions.

I mainly listen to it as I fall asleep of if I have to drive somewhere.
 
Hardtack and Coffee is currently $0.97 and Company Aytch is starting at $0.01 for used books plus shipping. The vast majority of my books are used and only one have I've been disappointed in the condition but that's my fault really. I look for Very Good or Good but read the descriptions.

I mainly listen to it as I fall asleep of if I have to drive somewhere.


Generally Used Library Book is a good indicator too.
 
I can't say one is "better" than the other but they do have different styles. Company Aytch is more of a narrative and incorporates lot's of folksy stories (some a tad far-fetched). It was originally written as a series of articles and reads that way to me. I'd describe Hardtack as a bit more formal and somewhat more of an encyclopedic format (but not dry).

But given that you can get these on printed paper for under five dollars (I got both of mine used for about that - both in very good condition) why not get both ?
 
Generally Used Library Book is a good indicator too.
Agreed. The only issue I have with former library books are the call number stickers that are sometimes laminated onto the dust cover or ones that are really difficult to get off of the book. Other than that, the quality of the book is normally really good.
 
But given that you can get these on printed paper for under five dollars (I got both of mine used for about that - both in very good condition) why not get both ?
DOH! Great suggestion! I did get a hardcopy of Hardtack after listening to most of it for my classroom but also got All For Union by Elisha Hunt Rhodes....got both for under $10 total with shipping and handling.
 
Agreed. The only issue I have with former library books are the call number stickers that are sometimes laminated onto the dust cover or ones that are really difficult to get off of the book. Other than that, the quality of the book is normally really good.

I don't bother with call numbers or markings. My shelves look like either the old stacks in a library or a kleptomaniac's books.
 
I can't say one is "better" than the other but they do have different styles. Company Aytch is more of a narrative and incorporates lot's of folksy stories (some a tad far-fetched). It was originally written as a series of articles and reads that way to me. I'd describe Hardtack as a bit more formal and somewhat more of an encyclopedic format (but not dry).

But given that you can get these on printed paper for under five dollars (I got both of mine used for about that - both in very good condition) why not get both ?
The only thing better than books: more books. :wink:

I think I probably will get both now that I see how inexpensive they are....
And I like books too....but am not the reader some are....I have to take breaks...sometimes long ones....like my 20's.
 
Hardtack and Coffee is currently $0.97 and Company Aytch is starting at $0.01 for used books plus shipping. The vast majority of my books are used and only one have I've been disappointed in the condition but that's my fault really. I look for Very Good or Good but read the descriptions.

I mainly listen to it as I fall asleep of if I have to drive somewhere.
We must be kindred spirits, huskerblitz! Most of the books I've read in the last few years have been "$0.01 plus shipping" ($3.99) used books from Amazon. Like you, I have found that most of them are in great shape -- and if they're not, I got fair warning of that in the description. That grand total of $4.00 is cheaper than a movie ticket, cheaper than the cheapest fast-food meal, even cheaper than a magazine. Best bargain there is!!!
 
Generally Used Library Book is a good indicator too.
Great thing about the library books is they won't have highlighting, underlining and notes in the margins from previous readers. (As opposed to my books once I'm done with them. Nobody's ever gonna want to buy them, since I am an "interactive" reader -- if you know what I mean! :wink:)
 
I must not have looked closely on Amazon. I will try again. I like to hold a book if I can. I will use Kindle app if I have too.
I have never tried audio version but might use it in the car....if I'm alone!
Since half the joy of Hardtack and Coffee, according to numerous commenters at Amazon, is the illustrations -- which don't come through well on my old-fashioned Kindle -- I went ahead and paid a little extra to get a nice but used hardbound copy with all the wonderful drawings. Very happy with it!
 
Since half the joy of Hardtack and Coffee, according to numerous commenters at Amazon, is the illustrations -- which don't come through well on my old-fashioned Kindle -- I went ahead and paid a little extra to get a nice but used hardbound copy with all the wonderful drawings. Very happy with it!
So did I. I'm listening to it from Audible.com but heard about all the drawings but since, obviously, I can't see the drawings and I went ahead and bought it. I got it in Very Good condition for $2.67 plus shipping....the most I've paid for a used book in quite some time. This copy you could not tell the difference between it and one right off the shelf at Barnes and Noble. I'm not sure it had ever been read before.

As for being kindred spirits....maybe. I know I'm just a cheapskate! :cool:
 
Unless you want the actual paper in your hands, they can be read online for free here:
https://archive.org/stream/coaytch00watk#page/n5/mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030908242#page/n7/mode/2up

As John Winn said, Hardtack & Coffee is much more factual; it goes into detail explaining every bit of a soldier's life, as well as other subjects that go along with it. Wheres Co. Aytch is more of first hand account; Watkins doesn't cover nearly everything Hardtack & Coffee does, but he's not out to explain every detail of camp life, drill, etc. but simply what he saw and did.

There are many other memoirs out there like Co. Aytch, such as Val C. Giles' Rags and Hope, Rebel Yell and Yankee Hurrah by John W. Haley, or Recollections of war times by W. A. McClendon. Actually I might recommend some of these over Co. Aytch, as they are at times more factual and straitforward than Watkins' memoir.
 
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Cause I can only read one first! And if I buy an actual book there's expense to be considered.

Apples and oranges - what are you personally most interested in? Hardtack... was written by a former Union artilleryman based on his own observations and interviews with many other members of the eastern Army of the Potomac; Aytch is the very personal reminiscence of a member of the western Confederate Army of Tennessee. The Confederate book most comparable to Billings' is Carleton Mcarthy's Detailed Minituae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia; like Billings, Macarthy was also an artilleryman, a member of the Richmond Howitizers, and his book similarly combines his own experiences and observations with those of others. Of those two, Billings is better, longer and features illustrations by fellow battery member, bugler Charles Reed.
 
We must be kindred spirits, huskerblitz! Most of the books I've read in the last few years have been "$0.01 plus shipping" ($3.99) used books from Amazon. Like you, I have found that most of them are in great shape -- and if they're not, I got fair warning of that in the description. That grand total of $4.00 is cheaper than a movie ticket, cheaper than the cheapest fast-food meal, even cheaper than a magazine. Best bargain there is!!!

I'm currently collecting the rest of the volumes in the 1990's Time-Life series, Voices of the Civil War that way. So far, I've gotten Seven Days, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and First Manassas - with Shiloh on the way!
 
DOH! Great suggestion! I did get a hardcopy of Hardtack after listening to most of it for my classroom but also got All For Union by Elisha Hunt Rhodes....got both for under $10 total with shipping and handling.

All For the Union is probably the eastern Union equivalent of Company Aytch.
 
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