The backstory to this read is I’m part of a very nerdy hobby where my hubby and I dress in funny clothes and teach the public about American Civil War history.
(aren’t we adorable?)
As such, I end up looking for obscure primary sources about the people who didn’t end up having movies made about them. I was very happy to stumble across “The Civil War Journal of Pvt. Heyward Emmell,” and the story of how the diary came to be purchasable on Amazon is just as interesting to me as what Emmell wrote 175 years ago.
The original journal is housed at a local historical society, and the book’s editor, Jim Malcom, happens to married to the director of said historical society. Jim’s wife, Kate, thought the diary was important for public consumption, but didn’t have anyone to sit and transcribe. Jim volunteered, not only transcribing the tightly packed handwritten scribbles, but also corroborating any of the events mentioned, combing the library and local historical societies for photographs, and indexing every name and place.
He gives a short forward in each chapter to give some background to the entries, and also includes an epilogue describing what happened to Emmell after the war ended (spoiler, he makes it!).
There’s no evidence to why Emmell decided to keep a journal for his wartime activities, since there are no other journals, or any writings at all, extant by him. But from his enlistment date in 1861 to his last day on Oct. 8, 1864, Emmell captures the day-to-day drudgery, hunger, terror, and sadness facing the peon soldiers of the Union Army. What struck me as most interesting is what he chose to write about. He rarely mentions rubbing elbows with anyone important, even though battle records put him running with the biggest names of the day. Based on his tone and observations, Emmell had signed up to do a job, and he was doing it, and going home. He writes about the little things (which are the things I’m mostly interested in anyway); being cold, being hungry, being rained on, being scared. He’s a bit obsessed with the weather, with almost every entry mentioning something about the temperature. He’s a candid observer, calling things for what they are, and noting a line of bull-shit coming from above. Anytime something big happens, it’s no more than a line, while he waxes poetic on the picket lines, the building of forts, and daily camp life. He lists the dead or wounded sometimes, specifically if they were dear to him, and he gives detailed accounts of the battle scenes in the later half of the book once he becomes a stretcher bearer. He does manage to make it through his 3-year enlistment without ever being wounded, although he loses most of his friends and acquaintances along the way. It’s easy to see he’s affected by all the loss and carnage he’s surrounded by, but he also maintains his warmth and humor, even in the darkest entries. I surmise that Emmell was a quiet observer, an every-day sort of man who was just trying to get through a really bad time. I enjoyed spending time in his head, even if I wouldn’t want to spend time in his world.
As excited as I was to read this, it’s taken me about four months to get through it. Malcom chose to leave most of the spelling and grammar intact in his transcriptions, as well as cataloging the entries in a running list as they were in the original diary. While this did preserve the levels of authenticity he was going for, it made it very hard for me to stick with.
That being said, I do think it’s a fantastic read for anyone interested in the American Civil War or history in general. First-hand accounts are always an excellent resource for getting a clear picture of a time long gone, and Pvt. Emmell is a warm and kind personality to sit with.
4 stars.