Seven Months in the Rebel States
Justus Scheibert was a Prussian observer who traveled in the Confederacy from March to September 1863. Most of his time was spent accompanying the Army of Northern Virginia during the Chancellorsville and Gettysburg campaigns. By keeping a diary of events, Scheibert was able to write this highly informative and accurate book in 1867. In his introduction to this 2009 reprint edition, historian Robert K. Krick favorably comments, “That timely proximity, combined with the diary as guide, puts his narrative far ahead of the vast majority of primary accounts of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.” (p. 2) Reliable first-person accounts by non-combatants are valuable sources of information for understanding military actions. Scheibert’s observations are enhanced by his training and background as a captain in the Prussian army. They are even more valuable because of the access he was given to the upper echelon of the Confederate military, including J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee. Scheibert also had ready access to many of the officials in the Confederate government, including Jefferson Davis. Of course, his comments are not limited to the military situation. His observations about running the Federal blockade to get into, and out of, South Carolina are especially insightful. This reprint of Seven Months maintains the original text of the first edition. However, it greatly enhances the accessibility of the book’s information by updating and expanding the index. Scheibert’s observations and impressions improve our understanding of Confederate war aims in general and Lee’s army in particular. Anyone interested in either of those topics would be well served by reading this book. Reviewer: Jay Jorgensen Jay Jorgensen has written several books about Gettysburg, including Gettysburg’s Bloody Wheatfield. He is a Superior Court Judge in New Jersey.
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176 pp., 2009, University of Alabama Press,