Reminiscences Of The Civil War And Other Sketches

Book excerpt: A short but colorful memoir by a sergeant in the 2nd Texas regiment, which served with distinction in the Western Theatre of the Civil War. Sergeant Smith volunteered in the first months of the outbreak of the Civil War, but his first real taste of the conflict came as part of the Army of the Mississippi under General Albert Sidney Johnson at Shiloh. The author recounts the confused nature of the fighting around the Hornet’s Nest and the sorrow of the repulse but above all the deep sense of loss at the death of their Confederate leader. After duties around the outskirts of Vicksburg, Smith and his comrades were among the Confederate soldiers that were penned up there by the Union forces under General Grant. Despite a fierce resistance the Confederate soldiers of Vicksburg were forced to surrender and the troops were paroled. Eventually exchanged, Smith spent the rest of the war in the garrison of Galveston under General Magruder before settling in San Marcos Texas.