Customer Reviews

Bridge Building In Wartime: Colonel Wesley Brainerds Memoir (Voices of the Civil War Series)

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The title above refers to the fact that there are VERY few memoirs, diaries or published letters relating to the engineers in the Civil War, even though the engineers were considered the "elite" of the army. "Bridge Building in Wartime" is a great addition to the literature of the engineers. As a field officer, Brainerd was "in the know" about many behind the scenes occurrences in the 50th New York Volunteer Engineers. Because the memoir was not for publication, but written chiefly for his son, it contains many honest and frank comments about his colleagues and superior officers that might not have seen the light of day had his reminiscences been published while he lived.
Ed Malles, the editor, needs to be thanked for bringing Brainerd's memoir to the public. He does a good job of explaining things Brainerd takes for granted in the memoirs. The only disappointment is that the memoirs end about the time the siege of Petersburg begins in June of 1864. Hopefully, the rest of the manuscript (if available) will be found and brought to light in time...
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the War Between the States and especially for those who want to know more about the war fought by the engineers.