All for the Union: The Civil War Diary & Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes [Paperback]

Elisha Hunt Rhodes (Author), Robert Hunt Rhodes (Editor), Geoffrey C. Ward (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: July 28, 1992

All for the Union is the eloquent and moving diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, who enlisted into the Union Army as a private in 1861 and left it four years later as a 23-year-old lieutenant colonel after fighting hard and honorably in battles from Bull Run to Appomattox. Anyone who heard these diaries excerpted on the PBS-TV series The Civil War will recognize his accounts of those campaigns, which remain outstanding for their clarity and detail. Most of all, Rhodes's words reveal the motivation of a common Yankee foot soldier, an otherwise ordinary young man who endured the rigors of combat and exhausting marches, short rations, fear, and homesickness for a salary of $13 a month and the satisfaction of giving "all for the union."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Featured in the PBS-TV documentary The Civil War , Union soldier Elisha Hunt Rhodes's diary chronicles that bloody conflict from Bull Run to Appomattox. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"One of the best firsthand accounts I have read of campaigning and combat in the Civil War." -- James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom

"One of the most remarkable diaries I have ever read. Elisha Hunt Rhodes saw action from Bull Run to Appomattox and somehow survived, and his diary came to represent, better than any other I found, the spirit of the Union soldier." -- Ken Burns, director and writer of The Civil War

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Civil War Library ed edition (July 28, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679738282
• ISBN-13: 978-0679738282
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > History > Military > Regiments

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! August 29, 2000

By Wayne A. Smith VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Men of a simpiler time were made of much harder and enduring stuff than our contemporaries.

From age nineteen to twenty three, Elisha Hunt Rhodes endured almost all of the worst that a full tour of duty with the Army of the Potomac entailed. Frequently cold, wet, tired and unfed, preiodically the witness to death, destruction incompetence and poor generalship, he endured knowing that it was "All for the Union."

This book gives a great soldier's eye view of the Civil War experience. Knowing more of the fear and boredom that were Rhode's life (and that of all line troops) while generals contemplated their moves rounds, out one's understanding of the Civil War.

Easy to read, Rhodes is a good writer who convey's scenes and experiences with an economy of words.

This is the type of book one would be tempted to read by pulling an "all-nighter."

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful. September 12, 2003

By Rheumor VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is the best war diary I have read, and for many reasons. Elisha Rhodes has an excellent, straightforward writing style with very good grammatical structure. This makes the diary easy to follow. He was involved in virtually the entire war fought by the Army of the Potomac, and so it is pretty much a complete history in that sense.
At the same time, this private who ultimately became a colonel (in his early 20s!) remains about as unaffected as a man could be. Nothing good or bad really changes his simple and honest view of the war's ultimate justice, and many times he refers to the sacrifices as being easily justified by the gain of saving the union and of freeing the slaves.
He is religious but not judgmental, and never does he develop any real hatred of the enemy. He does his duty with a minimum of fuss. He enjoys his army life, but is quite happy to return to civilian life at the end.
Maybe most interesting to me was his innocent myopia. He never really knew the "big picture" of how the overall war was being fought, or even what the importance of many of the battles he was involved in might have been. He was content to leave that to the generals, and especially to Grant, in whom he had a great deal of trust.
This is a great weekend read for any civil war buff.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable view of the American Civil War July 1, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I've read and re-read Elisha Hunt Rhodes' memoirs of the Civil War many times now, and always find additional nuances and new perspectives on every visit.

The drama and horror of the Civil War become even more vivid and personal as you read Rhodes' simple, yet expressive prose. But even more than a story of this war, "All for the Union" is a story of a young man's coming of age. Elisha joined the Union Army in 1861 with utterly no military experience whatsoever. Yet, he fought in every major campaign of the Army of the Potomac, rose to command his regiment--and somehow survived. Almost incredibly, Elisha was always around to report on the historic events of this tragic conflict as the Union Army of the Potomac engaged in its four-year death struggle with Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. There is humor, hardship, politics, adventure, and great courage detailed in these pages, which makes this a compulsive page-turner even for non-Civil War buffs.

The book includes some fine photographs, although some detailed maps of the Army of the Potomac's theater of operations would have been nice.

Highly recommended.