A Rebel's Recollections

Rating:
Summary: Not a memoir but sketches of people and places
Review: Eggleston writes in an amusing, subtly ironic style; the editor of the edition I read completely missed the irony but it's there. He describes pre-war Virginia society, not without some affectionate mockery, and gives sketches of people he knew during the war, from generals to the conscripts in his unit who enlisted out of a Richmond prison. His portrayal of General Stuart is quite good and his portrayal of General Jackson isn't so good. The ex-prisoner Baltimore Irishmen in the battery of which Eggleston was sergeant major are very humorously described. He was present at the siege of Petersburg and talks a little about that as well as about the retreat to Appomattox and the post-war state of lawlessness in the countryside. This doesn't contain much in the way of gory battle scenes but is an amusing and interesting read.