Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

It was difficult for me to put this book down and I finally stayed up all night and finished it. Holt's description of the hardships endured by Southern soldiers are so realistic and makes us appreciate their dedication. I was able to understand what my ancestor endured by reading this account. I recommend this book for Union and Confederates alike. It brings out the very best and the very worst in all of us. I have read many soldiers accounts of the war but this is the best and also the most entertaining. After reading this book I have revived my interest in the WBTS.

I've read about a dozen or so soldier memoirs/diary accounts, and this one ranks as one of the poorest. I find most of these have a generic nature to them - seems like if you've read one, you've read them all! Mr. Holt wrote this in his latter years, so Goodness knows how the years have treated his memory of things, although a fine editing job by Cockrell and Ballard keep things on the straight and narrow. Much of the memoirs involve Holt's escapades that have little to do with the war effort. Lot of it reads like a Mark Twain tale, with Holt often relating some of the hijinks and sit-com like situations he experienced as a soldier.