Customer Reviews

Blue and Gray Laughing

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This collection of anecdotes from soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War is amusing, but I would not describe the stories as funny. Each is a short statement by a soldier or civilian about some aspect of their experiences during this ferocious conflict. In most of them you would not know which side they were on if you were not explicitly given that information. Most of the comments deal with poor clothing, a lack of food, comments about their officers or being dirty and miserable rather than the actual fighting. It is clear that many of the comments have been cleaned up; there is almost no swearing and little about the brutality and witnessing the destruction of men.
There is very little in the way of history that can be gleaned from these comments, the people uttering them are generally simple soldiers expressing their immediate feelings about their position in the war. However, there are a few comments that cannot be completely understood without the reader having some knowledge about the principals, specifically the man known as Stonewall Jackson.
It seems clear that with the exception of comments about the weapons being used, the utterances of these soldiers are no different than those of men in battle for the last several thousand years.