1SGDan
Major
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2009
- Location
- New Hampshire
Among the enemy –A Michigan soldier's Civil War Journal, Edited by Mark Hoffman
Mark Hoffman firmly established his connection with the 1st Michigan Engineers with his regimental history My Brave Mechanics – The First Michigan Engineers and their Civil War. His research for that effort led him to the journal of William Horton Kimball, a private in this significant regiment. Kimball's journal traces his activities during his three years of service as a Union engineer soldier. Hoffman fortifies Kimball's journal with some necessary, but not excessively lengthy, explanatory narrative that adds to the journal without becoming intrusive upon it.
Thousands of combat soldiers wrote of their experiences during the war but few accounts from engineers have reached publication. Unlike many period diaries that contain short weather reports (rainy, cold, etc.), location (In camp, on the march, etc.) or brief descriptions of activities (on fatigue, guard duty, etc.) Kimball uses every opportunity to make an expansive entry. His articulate views on his duties, his comrades, and the interaction with local populations are an interesting addition to any Civil War enthusiast's base of knowledge for the much underappreciated and understudied role of this valuable branch of service.
Mark Hoffman firmly established his connection with the 1st Michigan Engineers with his regimental history My Brave Mechanics – The First Michigan Engineers and their Civil War. His research for that effort led him to the journal of William Horton Kimball, a private in this significant regiment. Kimball's journal traces his activities during his three years of service as a Union engineer soldier. Hoffman fortifies Kimball's journal with some necessary, but not excessively lengthy, explanatory narrative that adds to the journal without becoming intrusive upon it.
Thousands of combat soldiers wrote of their experiences during the war but few accounts from engineers have reached publication. Unlike many period diaries that contain short weather reports (rainy, cold, etc.), location (In camp, on the march, etc.) or brief descriptions of activities (on fatigue, guard duty, etc.) Kimball uses every opportunity to make an expansive entry. His articulate views on his duties, his comrades, and the interaction with local populations are an interesting addition to any Civil War enthusiast's base of knowledge for the much underappreciated and understudied role of this valuable branch of service.
Bringing the