This is a valuable Civil War memoir from a regimental officer of the Army of the Confederacy. Its author, Richard Taylor has taken a well rounded view of his experiences relating them against the events of the opening phases of the war to his military life on campaign during the Peninsula and Valley Campaigns through to Berwick's Bay, the Red River and the closing operations of the armed conflict. As a Southerner Taylor had to experience the hardships of occupation and reconstruction under Johnson and Grant and his book provides interesting perspectives on this period immediately following the cessation of hostilities. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket-a credit to the bibliophile's library