The Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil War

David Emmons JohnstonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0
Word count
392K words
Chapters
40

Tags

English Originals Documentary LiteratureMilitary Historical ReappraisalPatriotismComing of AgeGrowing UpDocumentary NarrativeTurbulent Era

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil War by David E. JohnstonAuthor: Johnston, David E. (David Emmons), 1845-1917,Language: English, Class: E456: History: America: Civil War period (1861-1865), Release Date: Feb 13, 2014

Editor's review

This is a personal memoir of the American Civil War, in which the author records his wartime experiences from the perspective of an ordinary Confederate soldier. Its value lies not in grand strategic analysis but in the firsthand details: marches, camp life, scarce supplies, comradeship, and battlefield observations, which let readers feel the concrete weight of war on an individual. As a free public-domain Project Gutenberg ebook, it is easy to search and cite, and is suitable as a primary supplementary text for teaching Civil War history and for readers interested in nineteenth-century American society and military life. Note that the author's stance carries a self-defensive Confederate coloring; it should not be taken as a neutral comprehensive history but read alongside Northern-perspective sources and modern historiography. The prose is nineteenth-century English, with some expressions and spellings differing from contemporary usage; non-native English readers may wish to use an annotated edition or introduction.

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Reading tips

  1. Read a brief history of the Civil War first to establish a timeline before entering the memoir, to avoid confusing people and battles.
  2. Mark passages concerning supplies, marches, and morale as you read, for later comparison with secondary research.
  3. Read alongside Northern soldiers' memoirs or modern historiography to balance the slant of a single perspective.
  4. When encountering nineteenth-century English expressions or military terms, look them up first and then reread the whole passage; do not struggle over every word.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
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  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
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  30. 30
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  36. 36
  37. 37
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  40. 40

FAQ

Is this book a complete history of the Civil War? No. It is a personal memoir of a Confederate soldier, focused on the author's own wartime experience and observations, and does not cover all the campaigns and political background of the Civil War. If you need a general framework, pair it with a modern history of the American Civil War and use this book as supplementary primary material.
Does the author's stance affect the source's value? It does. Writing as a Confederate soldier, the author may color his narrative with a defense of the South. Its value lies in firsthand details and individual feelings, but on questions of the war's causes and judgments of right and wrong, it should be cross-checked against Northern-perspective sources and modern historiography rather than relied on alone.
How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for self-study? The original is nineteenth-century English with long sentences, and some spellings and word choices differ from contemporary English; the overall difficulty is moderate to high. Readers with college-level English reading skills can self-study with a dictionary; non-native English readers are advised to read the introduction first or choose an annotated edition before entering the main text.

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About the author

David Emmons Johnston Author · American · 1845–1917

David Emmons Johnston (1845–1917), usually credited as David E. Johnston, was an American author born in what is now West Virginia, whose early life was closely tied to the Civil War era. His better-known work is The Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil War, a memoir-like account told from the perspective of a young Confederate soldier, describing marches, battles, and camp life he experienced. Public information about him is limited, and details of his life and literary standing are not systematically recorded; researchers generally rely on the book itself and local historical sources. His writing draws on firsthand experience, is plain in style, and values concrete detail, offering readers a useful and accessible view of the circumstances and mindset of ordinary soldiers during the 19th-century American Civil War.