My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue [Hardcover]

Samuel Chamberlain (Author), W. H. Goetzmann (Introduction)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Texas State Historical Assn; Uxg edition (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876111568
• ISBN-13: 978-0876111567
• Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 10.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,190,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Meet The Judge, May 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue (Hardcover)

Read 'My Confession' for a first hand account of the War with Mexico, as well as an eyewitness report on the notorious Glanton party. This is one of the most controverisal stories in American and Mexican history, and the discovery of these papers in the 1950s brought out an event that was otherwise best 'swept under the rug' of history. Cormac McCarthy pointed a spotlight on this whole affair when he wrote Blood Meridian, and fans of McCarthy may want to read this to confirm that he wasn't making everything up in Blood Meridian:The Evening Redness in the West. The basic storyline of The Kid, Glanton and the Judge's scalp hunt as set forth in 'Blood Meridian' is related here by the man who lived thru it all, General Samuel Chamberlin. I for one was disturbed to find the Judge among the cast of real characters, I couldn't imagine that such a horrible figure actually existed. Read the book to find out what really happened to Glanton, the kid, as well as 'the judge'. And keep your powder very dry.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of history and a little myth, March 6, 2006

By 

Bill Frazie (Memphis, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue (Hardcover)

Sam Chamberlain is a rogue, all right, but not necessarily for the reasons that this book indicates. Chamberlain's accounts of daring-do sometimes read like the pulp fiction of his era. Some of what he relates bears the accuracy of an eye-witness to history and with good reason. He had, in fact, ridden throughout much of Northern Mexico during the United States' war with the country from 1846 to 1848 and was on hand to see the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847. But he's guilty of something not uncommon among writers of his era -- making first-hand accounts of events where he clearly was not involved. The best example of this is his description of American deserters (San Patricios) hanged during the last battles for Mexico City. His description does not match others exactly, because at the time of the hangings, Chamberlain was still hundreds of miles away, likely near Saltillo, Mexico. For a reality check, read the editors' footnotes; they do a pretty good job of separating Chamberlain's facts from his flights of fancy.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tall Tales, November 17, 2001

By 

texmexfla "Seeker of Truth" (Houston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue (Hardcover)

For those interested the Mexican War, this is a "must read" book and has been used by historians as a primary source for years, but his crude paintings are also a treat for the scholar, because Camberlain captures many scenes which have escaped photographers and those who made lithographs, including the massacre of Mexican civilians by Arkansas troops in a cave in Northern Mexico.

Sam Camberlain was a 16 year old private from Boston who served in the elite 1st US Dragoons in Mexico and gives vivid descriptions with crude but animated paintings of Saltillo, Monterrey, and Northern Mexico. Although he was not at the savage fighting during the capture of Monterrey, he claims to have been there so the reader is left to wonder about his other claims and the accuracy of his paintings of the combat in which he lied about being involved. Perhaps he had contact with those who were actually there?

Sam Chamberlain was in the Mexican War and painted some interesting small glimpses of life & death. Reading his book is almost like listening to a veteran who seems to have been everywhere and done everything (especially with women). Sam Chamberlain relates deaths of soldiers to Mexican guerrillas and duty in the occupation but more often than not, Sam Chamberlain proclaims preposterous pick-ups with a host of women. The reader almost senses the author is bragging to fellow high schoolers in a locker room or to anyone who will listen in a bar, hence the title of the book is fitting "My Confessions: Recollections of a Rogue". This book would probably be disregarded as pure fantasy if it were not or the fact that sometimes he does detail military and daily life senarios which are proved by others.

Truth or Tall Tale? Read this book and you be the judge.