The Chatfield Story: Civil War Letters and Diaries of Private Edward L. Chatfield of the 113th Illinois Volunteers
The Chatfield Story covers the history of the 113th Illinois Infantry Regiment from its formation through the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads as told through the writings of Pvt. Edward Chatfield. Chatfield left behind a wealth of material in letters and diaries, which have been combined here very well. Interspersed among diary entries and letters is plenty of background text by the editors that fills in the gaps and ties all the material together. Chatfield and the 113th Illinois served along the Mississippi River, first as part of the Union efforts to capture Vicksburg and then later as part of the force garrisoning Memphis. It was while undertaking the latter duty that the regiment saw its most significant combat at the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads. At this battle Chatfield was captured, and his prodigious writings thereafter ceased. Chatfield survived the war and eventually settled out west in Littleton, Colo. While his wartime service was little more significant than that of many others, Edward Chatfield became a prominent man in Littleton, and eventually many different places were named after him. One of the strengths of this book is that whenever Chatfield mentioned a comrade in his writings the editors provided as much information as possible about that person. While Chatfield is the center of the story, the editors did an excellent job expanding the story to encompass the entire regiment. An interesting benefit of having both diaries and letters written by a single individual is the ability to compare two versions of that individual’s (here, Chatfield’s) thoughts about the same subject. There was one time in particular when he complained to his diary about being sick, but in his contemporaneous letter home he said he was in perfect health. This self-censorship was easily revealed by the documents — a discrepancy the editors pointed out as well. Much of Chatfield’s service was somewhat dreary, including work on Grant’s failed canal during the Vicksburg Campaign. Because Chatfield was a frequent writer, this book is an excellent source on that sort of monotonous but vital service. Although this tome is a self-published work through BookSurge, the quality of the work does not make that readily obvious. This is one of the better self-published books I have encountered. Reviewer: Nicholas Kurtz Nicholas Kurtz graduated from the University of Colorado-Denver in 2001 with a B.A. in history. He loves wandering battlefields and is an aspiring author. Although he finds all aspects of the war interesting his primary interest is the Western Theater.
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Illustrated, photographs, maps, bibliography, appendices, index, 564 pp., 2009, BookSurge Publishing,