Edward T. Cotham (EDT) Southern Journey of a Civil War Marine

Annotation

The confiscated Yankee diary that ran in the Confederate press, fully annotated and illustrated with drawings by a fellow Civil War Marine. On September 28, 1863, the Galveston Tri-Weekly News included an item headlined ';A Yankee Note-Book.' It was the first installment of a diary confiscated from U.S. Marine Henry O. Gusley, who had been captured at the Battle of Sabine Pass. It was so popular, the newspaper made an ongoing series of the entire diary, running each excerpt twice. For Confederate readers, Gusleys diary provided a rare glimpse into the opinions and feelings of an ordinary Yankee, an enemy whomthey quickly discoveredit would be easy to regard as a friend. This book contains the complete text of Henry Gusley's Civil War diary, expertly annotated and introduced by Edward Cotham. One of the few surviving journals by a U.S. Marine serving along the Gulf Coast, it records some of the most important naval campaigns of the Civil War, including the spectacular Union success at New Orleans and the embarrassing defeats at Galveston and Sabine Pass. It also offers an unmatched portrait of life aboard ship. It also includes previously unpublished drawings by Daniel Nestella doctor who served alongside Gusleydepicting many of the events the diary describes. Together, Gusleys diary and Nestells drawings are like picture postcards from the Civil War: vivid, literary, moving dispatches from one of ';Uncle Sams nephews in the Gulf.'