The Civil War Reminiscences of Major Silas T. Grisamore, C.S.A.

In 1846, Silas T. Grisamore (1825-1897) left Indiana for Louisiana, where he established himself as a successful retail merchant. When the Civil War erupted, he joined a Confederate volunteer company and, because of his business experience, quickly rose from the ranks of the infantry to a series of posts as a field quartermaster. His reminiscences, published in installments in the Weekly Thibodaux (La.) Sentinel between 1867 and 1871, benefit from Bergeron's ( Guide to Louisiana Confederate Military Units ) thorough organization. Contributing significantly to a growing body of literature on the Civil War's western theater, Grisamore's writing highlights the Confederacy's mounting administrative problems. Railway networks were thin, and scarce accommodations kept troops constantly on the move. This account of the difficulties involved in transporting food and fodder from supply depots to nosebags and haversacks provides a rare view of daily life on the Civil War battlefields. History Book Club selection. (May)