Fighting Men of the Civil War

In The Fighting Men of the Civil War, William C. Davis shows us the common soldier's Civil War. Shifting the focus from the officers to the men in the ranks, he begins with enlistment & training, follows with life in the camp & on the march, & concludes with experiences of combat, imprisonment & sickness. Following the men through a wealth of anecdotes & firsthand accounts, Davis brings us the reality of war. Each branch of the service is highlighted, as are combatants such as sailors in both navies & the many African-American troops traditionally denied the limelight. Camp life, uniforms, weapons, & a host of personal items are featured in a series of specially commissioned photographs - together with illustrations of the arms, armament, & uniforms of both Confederate & Federal forces. "Civil War soldiers leavened their daily serious business with wit & humor. So does William C. Davis in this marvelous account of those three million Rebels & Yankees who went to war from 1861 to 1865. The human side of this tragic but triumphant conflict emerges not only in Davis's lively text but also in the vivid contemporary photographs of men at war & the modern full-color photographs of the artifacts they left behind them. This lavishly illustrated book with its sprightly narrative is a must for anyone interested in the American Civil War."--JAMES M. MCPHERSON, author of Battle Cry of Freedom. WILLIAM C. DAVIS is the author or editor of more than thirty books on the American Civil War & Southern history, including "A Government of Our Own": The Making of the Confederacy, A Way Through the Wilderness: The Natchez Trance & the Civilization of the Southern Frontier, & The Battlefields of the Civil War (University of Oklahoma Press). For many years editor & publisher of the magazine Civil War Times Illustrated, he was a consultant most recently for the Arts & Entertainment Network's "Civil War Journal" & the CBS miniseries "The Blue & the Gray." RUSS A. PRITCHARD serves on the Board of Governors for the Civil War Library & Museum, Philadelphia, & is a consultant for the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond.