Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac by Frank WilkesonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I would like to be able to give this 3.5 stars, as it is a bit above what I typically rate as three starts. As an artilleryman in Grant's army with a natural inclination to being a proto-gonzo journalist, Wilkeson reports directly from the ground his observations and complaints. He leaves his post to fight as an ad hoc infantry man in the Battle of the Wilderness and also reports on Spotsylvania and later Early's close approach to the bealeagured Washington, D.C. Highly critical of how the war was conducted by corrupt politicians and incompetent officers,Wilkeson served on staff briefly in the capital and helped keep the lid on the overboiling kettle of Elmira prisoner of war camp leading to a frank assessment of conditions for POWs on both sides. Wilkeson also reports graphically on the natural indignity of death on the 1860s battlefield, "coffee boilers" in the rear, the bounty system and other military and morale issues of the day.
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