Diary of a Young Officer: Serving with the Armies of the United States during the War of the Rebellion [57th NY Inf] by Josiah M. Favill. 298 pp., hc.

Diary of a Young Army Officer

By J.M. Favill

The publication of this diary is due to the solicitations of one, alas ! no longer with us, who took much pleasure in reading the original manuscript, and frequently urged the publication of it in book form for the pleasure of those who participated in the movements described.

Anything that is authentic and comes to us in its original form pertaining to the great drama of the Civil War is still of interest to a very considerable number of those who love their country and delight in heroic deeds; and these pages, simple through they be, and relating generally to matters within a narrow compass, may be therefore of interest to others than the participators in the stirring scenes described. The diary is, in truth, what it purports to be, witth only trifling changes, mostly of omission, the daily record of active campaigning recorded at the time by one who was himself an active participator in the great struggle for the preservation of the Union, 1861-65, in the ranks of that mighty host which fought and died for the life of our beloved country. The opinions expressed are those of that time and are perhaps of no importance, but are allowed to stand as curiosities of the times. From my own knowledge of the making of history in official reports, I can affirm that something in the interest of truth may be found in these pages that may perhaps in the future be worthy the notice of the dignified historian. Many official reports are decorated with after thoughts, and some of them made to show things as they should have been, and not as they were. One official report, that of General S. K. Zook, covering the operations of the Chancellorsville campaign, is supplied, that is missing in the great ìRecords of the Rebellion.î I have recently had the honor of furnishing this original report to the War Department to complete its records.

The social side of the army in the field, described in some detail, I think will be of interest, and our relations with the luckless women and children of the Confederacy shows that we were no the monsters that many in the South have delighted to paint us, but that we performed a stern duty with the least possible offense.

Covering most of the campaigns of the Fifty-Seventh New York Infantry and the gallant old Third Brigade of the First Division, Second Corps, it will, I hope, be of sufficient interest to beguile a pleasant hour of some of my old comrades, and perhaps of their boys and girls.

December, 1908