A Southern Boy in Blue: The Memoir of Marcus Woodcock, 9th Kentucky Infantry (U.S.A.)

Rating:
Summary: Eye-witness Civil War literature
Review: It's not general known, but of the approximately 100,000 Southerners who joined the Union forces and fought against the Confederacy in the American Civil War, more than 40,000 were Tennessee, especially the Appalachian counties of East Tennessee. A Southern Boy In Blue is the personal memoir of Marcus Woodcock, a young man from Middle Tennessee who at the age of 19, donned a Federal uniform and fought as part of the 9th Kentucky Infantry. Deftly edited by Kenneth Noe, A Southern Boy In Blue is a first hand account of participation at the battles of Stone River, Chicamauga, Missionary Ridge, the Atlanta campaign, the siege of Corinth, and the Battle of Perryville. In three years Marcus rose from the rank of private to first lieutenant. He wrote his memoir in 1865 and vividly described the battles, camp life, and the politics of the times. A Southern Boy In Blue is a welcome and invaluable addition to the growing body of eye-witness Civil War literature.

Rating:
Summary: An authoritative and informative "window in time"
Review: What most people don't realize is that of the more than 100,000 Southerners who fought on the side of the Union in the American Civil War, some 40,000 were Tennesseans, coming principally from the Appalachian counties of East Tennessee. A Southern Boy In Blue: The Memoir Of Marcus Woodcock, 9th Kentucky Infantry (U.S.A.) is the candid, intimate, and vividly related autobiographical story of one of them who was not yet nineteen when the war broke out. Marcus joined the 9th Kentucky Infantry. A bout of measles kept him from the battle of Shiloh, but then he went on to see action at Stones River, Chickamuagua, Missionary Ridge, and more. Marcus wrote his memoir in 1865, and his descriptions of battles, camp life, and the politics of the time open up an authoritative and informative "window in time" that will be read with interest by academia as well as the non-specialist Civil War military buff.