 For People With An Active Interest in the Civil War Today |
|
Use these links to navigate on CWN's web site Home/
Calendar/
News/ News
Archive/Opinion/ Book
Reviews/Living History
|
|
|
Book Reviews These are some reviews from a recent issue of
The Civil War News:
|
|
A Yankee At Arms: The Diary of Lieutenant Augustus D. Ayling, 29th Massachusetts Volunteers.
Edited by Charles F. Herberger.
Illustrated, maps, notes, bibliography, index, 301 pp., 1999. The University of Tennessee Press, Communications Dept., Knoxville, TN 37996, $36 plus shipping.
The whole is presented in a dated diary form but with full, substantive material and incidents — not just a daily log of weather reporting, marches and meals documented as are many Civil War soldier diaries. Ayling enlisted as a private in the 7th Battery, Massachusetts Volunteer Light Artillery. With family connections and influential help he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 29th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infan-try, in early January 1862. His service, until his muster out in January 1866, spanned campaigns in both the eastern and western theaters. It also included a stint as an aide to Gen. R.S. Foster, adjutant of the 24th Massachusetts Infantry and judge advocate of the 24th Corps with the army occupying Richmond, Va., right after the war. From the very beginning of his service as a private soldier, through the end of his service as a 1st lieutenant, Ay-ling was a very astute observer and ably penned his experiences. His diaries are really more of a narrative of events; at times an adventure, at times an ordeal, at times a real suffering, but with each experience he became more of a seasoned soldier and a respected, knowledgeable and useful officer. Ayling personally saw the duel between the Monitor and Merrimack. He experienced the shock of battle with his regiment during the Peninsula Campaign, he traversed the endless mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky, and he felt the drain upon his body from a bout with malaria contracted in the swamps of Mississippi. He went home almost dead from sickness on two occasions yet rallied and returned to his regiment to continue service. His diaries are full of minutiae of everyday life that makes reading this soldier’s account so pleasurable. For the so-called "hard core" (ain’t no such thing really!) reenactor, this book will give some ideas of what to do to fabricate and plan for "living history" events. For the sentimentalist, his month in Paris, Ky., and his heart-rending and short love affair will keep you reading into the wee hours just to see how it turned out. For the intrepid campaigner his misery and pain of marching through rain, mud, snow and freezing cold will keep you reading at a fast pace just to get yourself beyond that extremely uncomfortable trial — you’ll probably even shiver a little even if you are reading the book in the warm comfort of your home. Ayling’s writing is that good. Ayling’s story does not end with his Civil War service, though his diaries do. The editor continues the story via an interesting epilogue up to his death in 1918. Shortly after Ayling was discharged he moved to Nashua, N.H., where he joined the National Guard and was commissioned a first lieutenant. Because of his exceptional abilities as an officer and organizer, he was appointed Adjutant General and Chief of Staff in 1879, and served full time in command of the New Hampshire National Guard from that time until he retired on Jan. 3, 1907. This man took to things military from his first taste as a private in 1861 and continued his affec-tion for it for half a century. The diaries are set apart by periods of time with the editor setting the stage via short introductory remarks for each chapter/period. Very little other editorial interjections have been made and need not have been. For the reader who knows something about the Civil War, the diaries and information related therein are well edited by the writer him-self and will be readily understood by today’s buff. This is one of the few "meaty" diaries I have read and I assure the reader that it will keep your interest and attention throughout. Though not on the same par as Theodore Lyman’s account, it certainly is of the same flavor and value. As a document of a junior officer’s experiences and insights, yea his interesting commentary on his fellow officers, soldiers, surroundings and course of the war, it is a real pleasure to read.
Mike Winey
Mike Winey, who has a BS in history and MS in his-tory mu-seum train-ing, has been a curator for more than 20 years. He is with the U.S. Army Military History Institute in Carlisle, Pa.
|
|
| Use these links to navigate on CWN's web site Home / Calendar / News
/ Opinion / Civil
War on the Internet |
|