Wow! eBook
From Western Deserts to Carolina Swamps: A Civil War Soldier's Journals and Letters Home
Author(s): John P. Wilson
- Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
- Publication Date: 15 May 2012
- Edition: Illustrated
- Language: English
- Print length: 296 pages
- ISBN-10: 0826351425
- ISBN-13: 9780826351449
Book Description
While eyewitness accounts of the Civil War by enlisted men are uncommon, even scarcer are personal narratives from the Civil War in the West. These journals and letters were written by Lewis Roe, an Illinois farm boy who served in the 7th U.S. Infantry and the 50th Illinois Volunteer Infantry between 1860 and 1865. They offer details of an epic march from Fort Bridger, Wyoming, to New Mexico, a firsthand account of the Battle of Valverde (1862), and Roe’s efforts to understand ongoing events as the country rushed toward the outbreak of hostilities. Later in the war, Roe documented the Union occupation of Rome, Georgia, and the battle of Allatoona, and left us a candid account of an enlisted man’s experiences with Sherman’s army on its March to the Sea and in the Carolinas Campaign. His relative objectivity and attention to everyday details make this valuable record a lively read.
Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
These journals and letters offer details of an epic march from Fort Bridger, Wyoming, to New Mexico, a firsthand account of the Battle of Valverde, and a soldier’s efforts to understand ongoing events as the country rushed toward the outbreak of hostilities.
About the Author
John P. Wilson is also the editor of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid as I Knew Them: Reminiscences of John P. Meadow and When the Texans Came: Missing Records from the Civil War in the Southwest, 1861-1862.
