A Mississippi Rebel in the Army of Northern Virginia: The Civil War Memoirs of Private David Holt [Hardcover]

David Holt (Author), Thomas D. Cockrell (Editor), Michael B. Ballard (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1995

With a New Appendix of Excepts from His 1865 Diary.

Edited by Thomas D. Cockrell and Michael B. Ballard.

Born the eighth child in a wealthy Mississippi plantation family in 1843, David Eldred Holt joined Company K of the 16th Mississippi Regiment in 1861 and served in the Virginia theater throughout the Civil War. Late in his life, at a time when many former soldiers, both Union and Confederate, were reliving their memories of that event, Holt penned this memoir, recounting the idyllic life of an affluent southern boy before the war and the exhilarating, sometimes humorous, often terrifying experiences of a common soldier in camp and battle. This new paperback edition has been expanded to include Holt's never-before-published diary entries from the last year of the Civil War.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas D. Cockrell is head of the department of history at Blue Mountain College in Mississippi. Michael B. Ballard, coordinator of the Congressional and Political Research Center at the Mississippi State University Library, is the author of several books, most recently, CIVIL WAR MISSISSIPPI: A GUIDE. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 354 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (December 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807119814
• ISBN-13: 978-0807119815
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,349,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've ever read, January 28, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Mississippi Rebel in the Army of Northern Virginia: The Civil War Memoirs of Private David Holt (Hardcover)

Holt really conveys the attitudes, feelings, deep convictions, and courage displayed by those who fought in the war. (Not only on the Rebel side, but also on the Yankee side.) He also goes into some of the other reasons besides slavery, that caused the South to secede. Very well written and extremely interesting. It makes you feel as if you're right beside Holt following him as they go down in history. Also shows how life for the Confederate soldier was awfully harsh in the latter part of the war. Holt doesn't have shoes and is walking through snow along with men who are dying of starvation. Holt entertains readers by detailing what he and his group would do for fun, ie., sneaking away from camp to meet girls, etc.

I knew Holt was in the 16th Miss. Co. K. I was hoping it would mention Co. H where my relative fought, but it didn't.

Holt leaves for the war as a boy, but returns a man.

Great book. I highly recommend it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holt takes you with him through the war, May 17, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Paducah, KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Mississippi Rebel in the Army of Northern Virginia: The Civil War Memoirs of Private David Holt (Hardcover)

Holt's memoirs are entertaining as well as informative. This book becomes hard to put down as you read. Very good details of life in the Army of Northern Virginia. He gives the "personal" side of the war so often left out by other memoirs. Reading this book was like having Holt tell you the story himself. Excellent.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, August 18, 2010

By 

C. Poole - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Mississippi Rebel in the Army of Northern Virginia: The Civil War Memoirs of Private David Holt (Paperback)

In this book, David Holt weaves one of the most interesting and humorous accounts of the civil war that I'm sure has ever been put to paper. I highly recommend it.