Customer Reviews

The Long Lost Journal of Confederate General James Johnston Pettigrew

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I really, really, really enjoyed this book! I am not really a history buff but I read this book in a matter of a few days.
Having lived in Illinois all my life I never really understood
the Southern perspective.
I think this would be a great book for teachers to use with
students for it is extremely well researched. Written in Journal
foremat it would be easy for students to follow. I work for a public school system so is readily apparent to me.
Following General Pettigrew from pre-civil days in Charleston, South Carolina to Gettysburg, Pennslyvania was a wonderful reading experience. For example, When the Charleston
Courrier woman correspondent meets General Pettigrew and he is
astonished at her blommers I could only wonder what a gentleman of the 1860's thought. He was probably as perplexed as many men are over some of the attritire of todays women. The journal entry
dealing with the slave Jupiter and his story of the death of
Mom Lizzy still has me laughing.
Once again, this is a wonderful book, but don't take my word for it, read it yourself and enjoy!!

As a reenactor and history buff, I have read quite a number of books, both fiction and nonfiction, on the Civil War, but the "Long Lost Journal of Confederate General James Johnston Pettigrew" stands out among them all.
Not only is it excellently researched; by telling the General's story in diary format, Dan Bauer makes the reader see the events leading to the Civil War and its development in the first three years through Pettigrews eyes, thus creating a feeling of "being there" and painting a vivid picture of life in the mid-19th century, with plausible, life-like characters and fascinating insights into the mindset of a person of that time.
Whether you love historical fiction or fiction in general, don't miss the opportunity to read Dan Bauer's wonderful book!

This historical novel is well written, historically accurate, well researched and extremely enjoyable to read. The journal foremat that this novel employs allows the reader to cover several journal entries, then put the book aside and pick it up again in a day or two and not lose the narrative of the story.The book touches on the institution of slavery as viewed by a Southern gentleman as well as from the view point of the slave. The book shows the horror of slavery and the horror of war. Yet there is also another side to this excellent book. There are many journal entries that show the humerous side of camp and army life. This book does pay homage to the General who lead the Southern charge at Gettysburg.I think General Pettigrew would have enjoyed reading this fictional journal of his life. As a former history teacher I strongly recommend this book!

Dan's book takes us back to a different time, a different place, and for Northerner, a different perspective. Dan has done extensive research to give an accurate flavor of those times and the feelings of a gentleman of the South. To me, it was interesting to read about the day to day life of a man of the south in that time period and the horors of war - that become more vivid as you grow to know and like Pettigrew. I believe Dan has accurately captured the dilemma of an educated, southern man raised with the tradition of slavery. Am I supporting and fighting for an institution that is inherently wrong? That so many did not see the evils of slavery makes the Civil War even more horrible and the fate of Pettigrew even more sad.

Dan Bauer's recent historical novel, The Long lost Journal of Confederate General James Johnson Pettigrew makes excellent reading. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would like to share my thoughts on Mr. Bauer's work with future readers. The fictional journal follows General Pettigrew from the 1860 Presidental election to his death at the hands of Union cavalry during the retreat from Gettysburg. This is no ordinary historical novel for it is soon apparent it is based upon extensive research into Pettigrew's era.Intertwined into the narrative are scenes of camp humor, personal anecodotes, and most importantly, many reflective insights into that one question that per-occupied and seemingly preplexed Pettigrew-" Is slavery a benefit or a curse to the South"? Bauer's descriptions of many of the battle scenes are horrifically realistic-"you'll stop at the end of a passage and realing that your heart is pounding and your pulse racing from the din of battle." Yet as realistic and descriptive as the battle scenes and accounts of slavery are, it was the humorous scenes I enjoyed best. Most Civil War books are completely void of humor.Did no one in the 1860's have a sense of humor? In the Long Lost Journal we meet "Old Barrels", "Peter the Slave", and others who amuse with their all to human faults and schemes. Read this book if you get a chance. You will learn of the Civil War through the eyes of an intelligent cavalier of the South. Reading the book I felt as though I had been there!

Historical novels can often smother story with a mriad of minutia. Not the case with Dan Bauer's lively, poignant and often humorous account of the journey of James Johnson Pettigrew as he leaves his comfortable civilian station as an attorney in Charleston, South Carolina and joins the South's fight against the Union. We admire Johnson's ingenuity and determination when, dissatisfied in his initial role as a colonel with non-combat duties, he connives and cajoles his way to promotion as General of a Confederate battlefront division. An engrossing tale, birthed by Bauer's chance discovery of Johnson's journals, and obviously buttressed by extensive author research, the book splendidly captures the attitudes and travails of general officers responsible for leading soldiers into battle. Battle scenes, starting with the first at Fort Sumter, are vivid descriptions of savagery and carnage; powerfully remind us of the culpability of those political leaders who decided bullets, bayonets and cannon would best settle differences with their countrymen. The book is long, but never tedious; a read to savor.

The Long Lost Journal of Confederate General James Johnston
Pettigrew is a great read!!!! Read it if you can you will not
be disappointed.It is historical fiction at its best.
Many books in our present culture of self-help and how to
do books need a gimmick to sell. This book features solid
historical research and characters facing the dilemmas of
slavery,war against their fellow countrymen and government.
It needs no gimmick, for the writing is excellent, and the characters true to life.
This is a book that makes you both think and feel.How could
men of honor support slavery? How could the South turn away
from a government that was not committed to ending slavery in the
slave states?
James Johnston Pettigrew was a man of intelligence, honor
and great bravery. This I believe is he kind of journal such
a man would have written. To make Pettigrew come to life and his journal so believeable is a brillant and stunning achievement.
As a person from the north I enjoyed spending time with
Pettigrew, he is a most likeable man. And this is a most likeable
book!!!

The Long Lost Journal of Confederate General James Johnson Pettigrew tells the story of the "real" Civil War.

What do I mean by that? The famous poet Walt Whitman wrote that the real Civil War "will never get into the books." But author Dan Bauer has captured the beliefs, the feelings, the sights, the sounds, and even the smells of that terrible war.

Bauer's book focuses on a young man who rose from being an obscure Charleston lawyer to sharing command with General George Pickett in the famous third day charge at Gettysburg. The Journal purported to be kept by General Pettigrew, describes his war experiences, but also other characters entangled in catastrophic events.

But for all its realism, there is more to this book than the theme of constantly clashing armies, for not all wounds are suffered on the battlefield.

As I read Pettigrew's Journal I became intently interested in his reaction to the stupendous national crisis, as well as his thoughts about the war's announced objectives and about the men who formented it, fought it, indeed about the God who ostensibly orchestrated it. Was the war part of God's plan? Should it have been fought at all?

Without slavery there would have been no Civil War, and here in the Journal we glimpse the unusual relation the slave had to the Confederatesoldier. Yet in the Journal we also see slavery in all its horror, the slave an object of contempt,and even dread.

This is an unusual book! I read it in three days determined to follow Pettigrew wherever his fate would lead him. Reading this book was time well spent, a valuable source of insight into a war that will forever define our nation's history.

For much of the 20th Century, the American Civil War has been a popular favorite and familiar epic theme in American Literature and Culture. The struggle and conflict between the North and South, with its mythical ideals of sacrifice, bravery, & honor have long overshadowed the horror and reality of the conflict - the lost lives, the destruction, the pillage and carnage that a society at war with itself can inflict in such a short time. Whether or not the War Between the States was fought to put an end to slavery and emancipate the slaves - or to preserve the Union and thereby create a forward looking, nationalistic, military-industrial state is one of those American History final exam-type questions that will continue to be debated for decades.

Dan Bauer's book, The Long Lost Journal of Confederate General James Johnson Pettigrew, doesn't really try to answer any of these lofty and important questions. What it does - is to give the reader some fantastic insights into the thoughts and actions of a Southern gentleman, a Charleston lawyer, who risked and lost everything for The Cause in which he believed. As you might expect, Pettigrew's Long Lost Journal, is written from the perspective of James Johnson Pettigrew, a single, thirty-something lawyer, who decided to keep a journal as the events of the Fall, 1860 Presidential election began to unfold. His chronicles of the next three years' events include a great deal of historical fact, intertwined with a good deal of "camp humor", personal anecdotes, and most importantly, many reflective insights into that one question that pre-occupied and seemingly perplexed Pettigrew - "What is it that is so wrong about slavery"?

There are several other themes developed from Pettigrew's Long Lost Journal that are worth noting and speak volumes of Dan Bauer's craft and talent as a writer, researcher and historian. His descriptions of many of the battle scenes are horrifically realistic - you'll stop at the end of a passage realizing that your heart is pounding and your pulse racing from the din of battle. Yet, it's Pettigrew's descriptions of Confederate Army camp life that provide the truer picture of 19th Century soldiering and the ironic fact that many fine soldiers died of sickness and disease without ever experiencing the "glory of battle". In chronicling Pettigrew's campaigns, his organization and leadership of the Charleston militia prior to Fort Sumter, his "enlistment" as a private [just to see some action], his near fatal injury, capture and ultimate exchange as a prisoner of war, leading finally to his promotion to Brigadier General, Dan Bauer has accomplished the difficult task of painting a realistic picture of the Civil War without either boring the reader to death or compromising the truth of Pettigrew's service.

Dan Bauer has done a great job portraying The Conflict through Pettigrew's eyes, but that is far from all this book offers. Pettigrew's Long Lost Journal also enables the reader a glimpse into the heart and soul of a brave and noble, yet tragically flawed human being. General Pettigrew, like so many of his Southern contemporaries, was unable to comprehend the inherent evil that slavery posed. Though genuinely appalled by the many horrors, atrocities and physical abuses inflicted upon black slaves at the hands of their white masters, Pettigrew could not bring himself to do more than wonder about what the South might be like without slavery. He willingly died for The Cause, without ever questioning or considering that the institution of slavery for which he fought was so inherently evil and wrong. No amount of paternalistic rationalizing over the plight of freed slaves could ever justify the South's inhumanity toward and oppression of the slaves.

If there could be but one reason why the Civil War was fought, Pettigrew's Long Lost Journal certainly suggests an answer. It is so remarkably apparent, after reading this wonderful rendition by Dan Bauer, that the only way to purge the evil of slavery from the South, was by the blood and sacrifice of so many brave and noble men, men such as General James Johnson Pettigrew, who unquestionably believed in the "rightness" of The Cause for which they willingly fought and nobly died. While we may admire their bravery, courage, and unwavering loyalty, we should not forget that these Confederate Rebels, these noble Southern citizens were just, plain, wrong about slavery.

The passages of Pettigrew's Long Lost Journal that explain his thoughts about slavery and describe some of the events he witnessed, will make many readers of this book uncomfortable. That is good! It is all too easy for 21st Century Americans to take a four hour trip back in time and "experience" the Civil War through any number of romantic, epic tales portrayed on the silver screen. Thank you Dan Bauer for a wonderful history lesson from The Long Lost Journal of Confederate General James Johnson Pettigrew.

Gary L. Luhman Browntown, Wisconsin

Decades ago, Bruce Catton predicted that America's attics gradually would yield little treasures from our Civil War. "The Long Lost Journal of Confederate General James Johnston Pettigrew" is such a treasure and Americans owe Dan Bauer a round of applause for restoring it to view. I commend this book to any American with any interest in the Civil War.

Being a lawyer, Pettigrew was a keen observer and a lucid writer. His comments about life in the Confederacy and of battle are graphic and touching. It's as if he set out in advance to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the period.

Pettigrew was a staunch defender of the Confederacy and slavery. Yet, as a man of faith, he clearly was at war within himself about what slavery meant to blacks whom he saw as talented, tough, artistic and fascinating.

Above all, Pettigrew is a witty, likeable man. When a staff officer closes the journal with the news of Pettigrew's death, it's impossible not to mourn.