Sam Watkins Annotated

[TerryB]

Recently I was talking with a girl over lunch at work and she told me she was a descendant of two men mentioned in Company Aytch. They were cavalry, but known so well to Sam that he wished one of them goodbye when the cavalry left Atlanta--they begged them not to leave. The other was killed at Murfreesboro. She has a picture of two of these three brothers and is going to get me a scan of it, which I will post here when I get it. They are in their uniforms and from what I could see of it on her phone, it looked pretty interesting. Well, anyway, she ordered the annotated version of the book and so did I. Mine just came in the mail. A Watkins descendant took his original notes and put together a hardbound version that runs just under $30 new. Can't wait to see what's different about it.

 

[Craig L Barry]

If it is the one I am thinking of, that version is a couple years old. He mollifies his criticism of the
preacher who heads for the rear with the gear, the two girls in "pass the butter" are not nearly as
pretty as the gal he married in the new edition. In the original he would have given ten years of
his life to have kissed one of them, but probably one of his wife's friends pointed that out to her
at some point...

It is essentially the same story. A few new details which make it worth owning.

 

[TerryB]

If it is the one I am thinking of, that version is a couple years old. He mollifies his criticism of the
preacher who heads for the rear with the gear, the two girls in "pass the butter" are not nearly as
pretty as the gal he married in the new edition. In the original he would have given ten years of
his life to have kissed one of them, but probably one of his wife's friends pointed that out to her
at some point...

It is essentially the same story. A few new details which make it worth owning.

Just thumbing through it I see new details on Shiloh. And one of the Armstrong brothers, the one KIA at Murfreesboro is mentioned in the account of the execution of Rowland. I did a lot of research on Roland (it's actual spelling) having read a Nashville newspaper account of his execution, then looked up his records. His unit, 23rd Tenn, isn't in the original either.

 

[ConfederateGray]

...the two girls in "pass the butter" are not nearly as
pretty as the gal he married in the new edition. In the original he would have given ten years of
his life to have kissed one of them, but probably one of his wife's friends pointed that out to her
at some point...

haha. I thought he was pretty brazen writing that when I first read that book. My wife would have kicked my ***.

 

[kansas]

It seems to me Sam thought he saw pretty girls everytime he indeed saw a girl. I dont blame him, i still do.

 

[TerryB]

It seems to me Sam thought he saw pretty girls everytime he indeed saw a girl. I dont blame him, i still do.

Apparently so did Col. Fremantle.

 

[Craig L Barry]

IIRC,Sam still gives it to Braxton Bragg every chance he gets...not that the original was short on criticisms
of Bragg ("he's bully on retreat"), but he takes a few more shots. I have always wondered what happened
to "Florence Fleming" the much admired rifle his comrade in arms (WA Hughes) gave him..."the shiniest gun in the whole army."

I ran into the g-granddaughter of his (Ruth Hill McAllister)that compiled that edition and spoke to her about that tidbit. Of course, after surrender Sam would not have been able to return to TN with the rifle. She says none of his notes mention it or what happened to it. I heard from an older collector that claims he saw the famous "Florence Fleming" as a child, and claims it was a Springfield or Richmond, not an Enfield. Interesting...

Is this the edition you mean (Nov 2007-Providence House) or is there another annotated one?

 

[rickvox79]

Recently I was talking with a girl over lunch at work and she told me she was a descendant of two men mentioned in Company Aytch. They were cavalry, but known so well to Sam that he wished one of them goodbye when the cavalry left Atlanta--they begged them not to leave. The other was killed at Murfreesboro. She has a picture of two of these three brothers and is going to get me a scan of it, which I will post here when I get it. They are in their uniforms and from what I could see of it on her phone, it looked pretty interesting. Well, anyway, she ordered the annotated version of the book and so did I. Mine just came in the mail. A Watkins descendant took his original notes and put together a hardbound version that runs just under $30 new. Can't wait to see what's different about it.

Where could I get this annotated version of Company Aytch? I see a few versions on Amazon but want to make sure I'm getting the right one.

 

[TerryB]

Where could I get this annotated version of Company Aytch? I see a few versions on Amazon but want to make sure I'm getting the right one.

There's only one new version out, and my use of the word "annotated" may be inaccurate. The editor is Ruth Hill McAllister. My friend found a used version on E-bay for about half what I paid for a new one.

 

[Lnwlf]

What is the ISBN Number? That will tell us which is which.