John Davis Billings (1842–1933)

This work presents an in-depth review of several areas of the life of the common Civil War soldier, particular attention to light artillery to which the author was assigned, and details many items not generally found in other writings. The writing is easy to read and reflects the post-war career of the author in education. This work may be particularly useful in ascertaining certain details of the minutiae of army life; however, the author is clear to point out that his frame of reference is solely with the Army of the Potomac and thus experiences may differ from those serving in other units.… (més)

I was a little disappointed in the fact that this wasn't an actual true first account, and personal stories, of the author, himself. It was more of a "general" account of the war with a touch of his personal experiences. I also found it a little hard to read as he writes in that early American style.

That being said, I did learn some things that, before, I never would have even thought about, such as how the officer's had to deal with the many different personalities, and the dead beats, in camp, or dealing with the enormous wagon trains when they met head on in those narrow dirt roads, building pontoon bridges to cross the many creeks, streams and rivers, flag signaling in a kind of morse code from hilltop to hilltop, etc...

It appears that the Union Army were well taken care of compared to the Rebels who had seceded from the union and, I gather, had no government support. After all, that was the first reason the war began...to force them back into the union, then to deal with the issue of slavery.… (més)

An account of day-to-day life in the Army of the Potomac. There’s nothing about combat here – it’s enlistment, tent life, marching, rations, hazing new recruits, drill, foraging – not a shot is fired. That, of course, is what army life has been about since Sargon of Akkad – long periods of boring routine punctuated by rare occasions of terror. The author was an officer in a Massachusetts artillery regiment but covers the infantry and cavalry as well.

Written in 1887, Hardtack and Coffee is not politically correct; blacks are “colored” or worse and are usually seen as “contrabands” or in other noncombat roles (although there is a mention of the Ninth US Colored Infantry as train guards). The reader is expected to be aware of the basics of Civil War history and know what (for example) “the Peninsula Campaign” and “the Mud March” are without further explanation. My copy was scanned and turned to OCR text but without further proofreading; thus there are numerous OCR errors – “rebel lion” for “rebellion”, “corn mission” for “commission” and “Army mill” for “Army mule” are some of the more egregious examples. There are a few unintelligible sentences as a result. The original had a color plate section, which is not included in the edition; it’s mentioned in the text but seems to have been mostly US Army corps patches rather than battle or camp scenes. No notes or index. Interesting enough, possibly useful for reenactors. For more on US Army life in the 19th Century, see Forty Miles a Day on Beans and Hay.… (més)