Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II After Manassas At Centreville Commissioned as captain and acting adjutant-general—Pay of officers—Assigned to Longstreet's brigade—The Ogle- thorpe Infantry, of Savannah—Enemy preparing for winter quarters—Beauregard takes command in West—Confederate flag—Presentation of battle-flags —Starting a theatre—Georgia Hussars—A sleigh ride. Something must now be said as to what happened to me several weeks after the Manassas battle. It will be remembered I was a volunteer aid with the rank by courtesy, but no pay. When I saw my messmates taking theirs in very comfortably, it occurred to me I should make another effort for a commission, so I wrote my application to the Secretary of War asking to be appointed a second lieutenant, C. S. A., and assigned as might be thought proper. Blushing like a girl, I asked General Long- street if he could endorse it favorably. Glancing hastily at the paper, he said, "Certainly," and then added carelessly, "but it isn't necessary." The words made no impression at the time, but they came to mind later. After the battle we had not been idle; at least I was set to work. There was no commissary to the brigade, and for a week or two I did the duty after a fashion until an officer of that department was assigned—Major Chichester. His papers, correspondence, and duties seemed to fall on me, naturally, by his consent, and the brigadier-general soon began to look to me for assistance. This had been going on for some time until the official mail one fine morning brought me a commission as captain in the Adjutant-General's Department, with orders to report to Longstreet. Then his words leaped to my memory. He had a right to nominate his own adjutant-general and had applied for me while I was fishing around for a second lieutenancy. I had h...

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Written at the suggestion of his wife while he recovered from an illness, the general gives a ground level view of the war as a young soldier. Although privy to many decisions made by his superiors, he was not in on the decision making. Sometimes there is a certain naivete about his observances.

This more personal view of the battles and times between would be of interest to any student of the Civil War. It is a valuable story, if only for his view of the controversial Longstreet.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

Candid comments about his own observations.Sep 11, 1998
Excellent book for someone trying to obtain insight into characters of the conflict. Sorrel is candid and generally does not fall into the "hero worship" that many Confederate Officers did when writing their memoirs.

He makes it very clear throughout the book that his observations are his own and may be flawed when viewed historically (and some are).

Very easy reading -- not a lot of Victorian memorializing and generally flows well. A real good book for the beginner or historian alike.