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Time for another tale from Civil War author and humorist Private Sam Watkins of the 1st Tennessee Regiment. Here’s how he lived to fight another day.Sam was on guard duty after a battle. It was never much fun. He writes: “You don’t move more than ten feet at furthest before you have to halt…. You

Robert E. Lee is famous as a battlefield commander, but the Civil War had been raging for over a year before he led men in battle. Here is how it happened.Lee and Joseph E. Johnston were classmates at West Point, and they distinguished themselves during the Mexican-American War (1846). In 1861, they resigned from the

Private Sam Watkins was on picket duty on Missionary Ridge, on top of Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, Tennessee.Sam watched a night battle at the base of the mountain: “It looked like lightning bugs on a dark night.”  Sam, Theodore Sloan and Hog Johnson were in an old log cabin, no sleep for two days, but

The Civil War Battle of Lexington, Missouri is also known as the Battle of Hemp Bales. As you may know, hemp is a variety of the Cannabis plant that is used for making rope.Some quick background. Missouri was sort of neutral in early 1861. Then Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion.

When a battle raged, Rebels and Yankees fought like the devil. But when things were quiet, they often got along rather well. Private Sam Watkins had recently been in the thick of battle at Chickamauga – only Gettysburg saw more casualties. It was Sunday and Sam and his buddies were relieving a guard detail on

No town was more fought over during the Civil War than Winchester, Virginia. It changed hands so many times that we don’t have a decent count. Some say over 100.Winchester was about 70 miles east of Washington, DC, in the Shenandoah Valley. It was surrounded on all sides by hills, so an approaching army was

Texan John Bell Hood was not one to back down, on or off the battlefield.At the end of the Second Battle of Manassas 1862, Hood’s men captured some Union ambulances, and he allowed the men to keep them for the brigade’s personal use. General N. G. Evans ordered him to turn them over. But Hood

Reading about the Civil War would certainly be a lot less interesting without the firsthand accounts of our Confederate friend, Sam Watkins of Company H, 1st Tennessee. Here is his story of how one day he applied for a furlough. You probably already have an idea of how this is going to go. He writes:“Now, reader,