Co. Aytch: A Confederate Memoir of the Civil WarA classic Civil War memoir, Co. Aytch is the work of a natural storyteller who balances the horror of war with an irrepressible sense of humor and a sharp eye for the lighter side of battle. It is a testament to one man’s enduring humanity, courage, and wisdom in the midst of death and destruction. Early in May 1861, twenty-one-year-old Sam R. Watkins of Columbia, Tennessee, joined the First Tennessee Regiment, Company H, to fight for the Confederacy. Of the 120 original recruits in his company, Watkins was one of only seven to survive every one of its battles, from Shiloh to Nashville. Twenty years later, with a “house full of young ‘rebels’ clustering around my knees and bumping about my elbows,” he wrote this remarkable account—a memoir of a humble soldier fighting in the American Civil War, replete with tales of the common foot soldiers, commanders, Yankee enemies, victories, defeats, and the South’s ultimate surrender on April 26, 1865. |
Contents
| 1 | |
SHILOH | 25 |
CORINTH | 31 |
TUPELO | 40 |
MURFREESBORO | 59 |
SHELBYVILLE | 66 |
CHATTANOOGA | 77 |
CHICKAMAUGA | 92 |
Red Tape | 123 |
Falling Back | 130 |
Kennesaw Line | 136 |
Dead Angle | 142 |
On the Banks of the Chattahoochee | 155 |
Am Promoted | 171 |
Old Joe Browns Pets | 184 |
JONESBORO | 193 |
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Common terms and phrases
Army of Tennessee artillery Atlanta bang battlefield beautiful Billy blood Bonnie Blue Flag boom boys Bragg brave breastworks brigade called camp cannon Captain captured cavalry charge Chattanooga Cheatham cheer Chickamauga Cleburne Colonel Field command Company H Confederate corps dead death earth face Federal felt fight fire flag forward furlough glory guard hallooed hands hear heard Hood horse hundred John Branch Johnny Jonesboro Joseph E killed knapsack knew ladies laugh Leonidas Polk line of battle looked Lookout Mountain loved Maury county minnie ball Missionary Ridge morning Murfreesboro never night old Joe ordered passed picket Polk poor fellow private soldier rations reader rear Rebel remember river scene seemed shoot shot side skirmish soon Stonewall Jackson tell Tennessee Regiment Tennessee river thing thought told tramp tree whipped whole army wounded Yankee line yards yonder