Rating: 
Summary: Compelling
Review: Compelling is the only word I can use to describe this first person account of the Civil War in the Western Theater. Watkins, the common soldier gives a very clear and sometimes horrifying account of his experience. While my study has mostly involved diaries - usually those of southern women - I have read some diaries/journals of soldiers. This book will clearly stand out in my mind for a long time.There are two things that will clearly stand out in my mind from this book. Watkins wit. There are many downturned pages in the book - pages I want to go back again and read because within the wit there is an element of truth. Second is the haunting images he's left in my mind of his wounded comrades. For some reason, his descriptions seem more horrifying than any of the pictures of the wounded/deceased left on the battlefield. There are also somethings that touched my heart - his feelings for his beloved girlfriend back home and just the way he talked about he friends and fellow soldiers who died on the battlefield, and finally, his moral compass - his inability to take clothing and shoes from a Union soldier he had just killed even though he needed the shoes and how he felt & what he did after stealing an animal from a civilian family. The only thing I found distracting was Watkins constant interjecting his reminder to the reader that he was not a strategist and that if we want to know why he was doing what he was doing we'd have to refer to histories. I found this to be a little more than slightly annoying, however, when I went back to the preface and re-read it after I finished the book, I found that at some point, his accounts had been serialized before they were published as a book. To that end, it does make sense to remind the reader. I guess I can, therefore, excuse it. I originally purchased this book while in Franklin, TN & after touring the Carter House. I was looking for more of a first hand account of what happened that terrible day in Franklin and there was a chapter on Franklin. While it didn't provide me with what I was looking for on that subject, I found that I learned a lot from the book and had a very difficult time putting it down.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the BEST FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS
Review: I first read COMPANY AYTCH back in the late 1980's and thoroughly enjoyed it. I often re-read certain books many years later to see if my attitude towards it has changed. In this, Watkins is STILL an EXCELLENT read. For students of the Civil War, COMPANY AYTCH is among the best first hand accounts. (Alongside Billings' HARDTACK AND COFFEE) Watkins was educated, observant and witty. (Some might say he was a bit of a romantic as well) Watkins covers both glory and gory with equal coverage. Especially telling is how the war affected the civilian populations, with the food shortages, etc. Southerners have all too long been thought of as illiterate, depraved hillbillies ala TOBACCO ROAD. Sam Watkins shows a different view.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good!
Review: Sam R. Watkins writes very well, and he shows what it was like to be a confederate soldier.He does not tell you the history of the battles only becuase he only knew what he did. He stresses this fact throughout the book so the reader doesn't get angry. There are some funny parts in it, and there are some errors. He also tells you (which I think is important) is that he fought to defend his home and a little bit for states rights.
He said that most confederates (definetly the majority) did the same. This book will be worth your money and time, and is worthy enough to be a Civil War classic.
Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK WILL TAKE YOU THERE!
Review: Sam R. Watkins, a soldier of Company H, 1st Tennessee Regiment, C.S.A., wrote this book in the 1880s, twenty years after the fall of the Confederacy. It is his account of his personal experiences during the war. He fought in a large number of battles, and was one of the very few men in his outfit who lived to tell about it. This book is written through the eyes of a private in the Confederate Army. He does not attempt to explain the strategy of the war. He gladly "leaves that to the generals." In his account, Sam Watkins brings the war home to the common man. From the time he leaves his home in Columbia, TN, with bands playing and women cheering, until he is mustered out four years later, he takes the reader on an unforgettable experience. His descriptions of hand-to-hand combat, passing by on the field at Shiloh and seeing General Albert Sydney Johnston lying mortally wounded, and nervously standing guard alone and between two armies at night, will move you! He also presents the war in human terms. He talks about camp life, and tells colorful stories of body lice and how they raced them on plates. One soldier heated his plate on the fire before the race, so that his louse would crawl off his plate first, and he would win the contest. Sam Watkins also longs for the girl he left behind. He eventually marries her after the war is over, and at the time he is writing these memoirs, he is doing so "with a group of young Rebels clustering around my feet." THIS BOOK IS ONE OF THE BEST PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF THE WAR FOR SOUTHERN INDEPENDENCE THAT I HAVE EVER READ!
Rating:
Summary: A Memoir of a Confederate Soldier
Review: Sam R. Watkins, a twenty-one-year old boy, has just signed up for the First Tennessee Regiment, Company H, in early May of 1861. He is fresh with energy and excitement for what he thought a short Civil War. Little did he know what the next four years would bring that he can still remember almost everything that happened in his years as a soldier. Watkins does not fail to give the morbid details of battles he fought in and the environment of hospitals for the wounded. Watkins as a private soldier gives interesting tales of other soldiers and situations that the reader would not find in a history book. In fact, he continuously refers the reader to the history books for the history of military tactics and the outcome of each battle, for he writes only what he sees and interprets.
Watkins' compassion and humor are shown throughout the book. He gives a positive out take through the four years of war. He mentions the brave soldiers who were his friends that died so gallantly while many time he had close calls himself. He falls in "love" with every pretty girl he mees on the way, swearing to marry her. However, he only has one sweetheart waiting for his return back home whom he loves more. Every general in command of his regiment he had respected, and although he did not love them all, he gave them the benefit of the doubt as a person. Each mentions of a person he knew that died and how he describes them tears at a reader's heart.
Twenty years later, Sam Watkins is writing his recollection of the Civil War years that he experienced with his little ones bouncing around him. Even though his memory fails him at times, the descriptions he gives are well written. He talks about his enlisting all the way until the surrender of the Confederate army to the Union. Overall, the book was enjoyable and interesting to read. It is suggested tremendously for anyone who is interested in what goes on in a soldier's life during the Civil War.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting insight, but tainted.
Review: The greatest charms of this book are its most fatal flaws: Being an account by an Confederate private soldier it's certainly not objective - Watkins is unashamedly and understandably biased; further, since he was a private, neither is his point of view broad or precise. His recollections of persons, dates and events are at times inaccurate which is understandable since he wrote these memoirs twenty years after the events they recount.
For no other reason, this book is socially valuable because it was written by a participant of the Civil War, not for its historical merit (or lack of).
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL NARRITAVE
Review: THIS BOOK WAS A WONDERFUL LOOK AT THE COMMON SOLDIER DURING THE CIVIL WAR. WATKINS LOOKS AT HIS TIME IN THE ARMY WITH HUMOR AND AND WIT. HE ALSO TELLS OF THE HORROR THAT WAR IS. THIS BOOK KEPT ME INTRESTED FROM START TO FINISH. IT IS A VERY INTERSTING LOOK AT OUR HISTORY. WATKINS TELLS HIS STORY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE EVERDAY PRIVATES, WHICH IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED WHEN WE READ HISTORY. IN EACH BRIEF PARAGRAPH HE BRINGSD HIS OWN UNIQUE VIEW OF THE EVENTS AROUND HIM. WATKINS GIVE USE THE HORROR AND HUMOR IN WAR AND THESE ARE THINGS WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET. I RECOMEND THIS BOOK TO ALL CIVIL WAR BUFFS!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Reference!
Review: This is a compelling story of a young private during the Civil War. Sam Watkins gives a masterful account of his adventures in Tennessee, Georgia, and other states where battles were fought. He speaks of Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Watkins gives a very wholesome perspective on the death of many of his friends. This book is a great reference book and also just fun to read. Reading any book like this is that best way I know of tho teach true history. Who can tell us better about how history came about than people who were there when it took place?
Rating:
Summary: I can't imagine a better written first hand WBTS book !
Review: This is a wonderful book by Sam R Watkins: a confederate soldier that survived the entire American Civil War (1861-1865). Watkins was a private who joined the Tennessee Army and with whom he participated in every battle and skirmish that the regiment was involved. He received several wounds but never any serious enough to keep him out of action for very long. These memoirs where written about 20 years (circa 1882) after the last shot was fired and so there are some minor errors in the facts regarding some of the events described. The descriptions are short individual vignettes of battles, marches and daily life associated with the Confederate Army. What makes this account of the civil war special is the quality of the story telling. The language has a sensitivity to it that seems to capture your imagination and emotions. It is, of course, at times explicitly descriptive, regarding some of the battles and their aftermath, but there are passages that are movingly sad and others that are quite humorous: tales of how thousands of men have to learn to live together and adapt to survive prolonged stressful conditions. The narrative description of the deprivation and dilapidation of the Confederate Army at wars end is heart rendering; men in filthy, tattered clothes, many barefoot and starving. I learned several things from this work; for instance, I was unaware of the numerous small battles that never claimed the infamy of Gettysburg, Antietam, Manassas etc. but were none the less just as vicious as their larger counterparts. Daily skirmishes were not an infrequent occurrence. I was unaware previously of the frequent court-martials and firing squads used to deal with the relatively large number of deserters from the Southern Army. Also interesting was the acute awareness and acumen of the lowly private soldiers regarding the circumstances surrounding some events that were looming in their immediate future; i.e. battle formations, forced marches, incompetent leaders etc. If the generals had the instincts that some of the "regulars" did, a lot of the carnage may have been substantially reduced or avoided. The only negatives are (thus the loss of one star)
1.) there are very few dates given(you assume the book runs chronologically)
2.) a map would have made it so much easier to follow the marches and battles locations All in all a compelling work: personal insights that you just don't find in larger accounts of this period.
Highly recommended if you have any interest in the Civil War era.
Rating:
Summary: Memoirs of a Rebel soldier
Review: This is a wonderful book by Sam R Watkins: a confederate soldier that survived the entire American Civil War (1861-1865). Watkins was a private who joined the Tennessee Army and with whom he participated in every battle and skirmish that the regiment was involved. He received several wounds but never any serious enough to keep him out of action for very long. These memoirs where written about 20 years (circa 1882) after the last shot was fired and so there are some minor errors in the facts regarding some of the events described. The descriptions are short individual vignettes of battles, marches and daily life associated with the Confederate Army. What makes this account of the civil war special is the quality of the story telling. The language has a sensitivity to it that seems to capture your imagination and emotions. It is, of course, at times explicitly descriptive, regarding some of the battles and their aftermath, but there are passages that are movingly sad and others that are quite humorous: tales of how thousands of men have to learn to live together and adapt to survive prolonged stressful conditions. The narrative description of the deprivation and dilapidation of the Confederate Army at wars end is heart rendering; men in filthy, tattered clothes, many barefoot and starving. I learned several things from this work; for instance, I was unaware of the numerous small battles that never claimed the infamy of Gettysburg, Antietam, Manassas etc. but were none the less just as vicious as their larger counterparts. Daily skirmishes were not an infrequent occurrence. I was unaware previously of the frequent court-martials and firing squads used to deal with the relatively large number of deserters from the Southern Army. Also interesting was the acute awareness and acumen of the lowly private soldiers regarding the circumstances surrounding some events that were looming in their immediate future; i.e. battle formations, forced marches, incompetent leaders etc. If the generals had the instincts that some of the "regulars" did, a lot of the carnage may have been substantially reduced or avoided. The only negatives are (thus the loss of one star)
1.) there are very few dates given(you assume the book runs chronologically)
2.) a map would have made it so much easier to follow the marches and battles locations All in all a compelling work: personal insights that you just don't find in larger accounts of this period.
Highly recommended if you have any interest in the Civil War era.
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