Booknotes: The Military Memoirs of a Confederate Line Officer

New Arrival:
• The Military Memoirs of a Confederate Line Officer: Captain John C. Reed’s Civil War from Manassas to Appomattox edited by William R. Cobb (Savas Beatie, 2023).

From the description: "John C. Reed fought through the entire war as an officer in the 8th Georgia Infantry [Company I], most of it with General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia." His unit also campaigned in East Tennessee, the 8th unsuccessfully assaulting Fort Sanders with their comrades of G.T. Anderson's Brigade. "The Princeton graduate was wounded at least twice (Second Manassas and Gettysburg), promoted to captain during the Wilderness fighting on May 6, 1864, and led his company through the balance of the Overland Campaign, throughout the horrific siege of Petersburg, and all the way to the Appomattox surrender on April 9, 1865."

Foreword contributor Henry Persons, Lt. Col. (ret.) praises Reed's memoir for the "rich and compelling accounts of his regiment's actions and those of its sister units." Reed's First Manassas account (the 8th was part of Bartow's Brigade) is singled out by Persons for its exceptional detail and accuracy. In addition to being accompanied by a really special hand-drawn map, Reed's account also "corrects the errors in Gen. Joe Johnston's report of the regiment's actions at Mathew's Hill." You might recall Harry Smeltzer's recent addition of the Reed account and map to his invaluable First Bull Run digital archive [here].

Editor William Cobb precedes the memoir material with a brief general introduction, and he footnotes Reed's text throughout. The notes largely consist of biographical sketches of individuals mentioned in the text, but you'll also find explanations of Reed's literary allusions, some unit sketches, event descriptions, military definitions, etc. Cobb also commissioned 9 maps for the project, a fine-looking combo set from Hampton Newsome (hey, he's a pretty good cartographer, too) and Hal Jesperson.