The Civil War Journals of John Mead Gould, 1861-1865. Ed. by William B. Jordan, hc, dj, 8.5 x 11, 546pp., index, illus.
The Civil War Journals of John Mead Gould 1861-1866
Edited by William B. Jordan
In 1855, as a teenager enrolled in Gould Academy, John Mead Gould initiated a daily journal that he continued for more than fifty years. Of the sixteen quarto volumes that comprise his lifeís writings, five cover his eventful Civil War experiences.
Enlisting in 1861, Gould still managed to maintain nearly daily entries. Writing on thinlined blue onionskin paper, Gould provided details about army life, people, places and combat. When several pages were accumulated, he mailed them to a friend who carefully preserved them until after the war. Miraculously, none were lost.
Gould enlisted in 1861 with the 1st Maine Infantry, a three-month outfit. When its term of enlistment expired, the majority of this unit transferred to the 10th Maine. During 1862, Gouldís regiment was stationed at Relay House, Harperís Ferry, and Winchester. The unit participated in the 1862 campaigning from Gedar Mountain to Antietam, and Gould wrote extensively about both of these engagements.
In 1863, the 10th Maine was mustered out. After a brief respite, Gould enlisted in the 29th Maine. He experienced and described New Orleans and the Red River Campaign. Subsequently, the 29th Maine was attached to Sheridanís army. Gould participated in and described the fighting at Winchester, Fisherís Hill, and Cedar Creek.
When the war ended, Gould and the 29th Maine performed occupatio duty in South Carolina. His detailed description of the occupation is an excellent account of the early reconstruction era.
After the war, Gould used his journals to write A History of the FirstñTenthñTwenty-Ninth Maine Regiment, long considered one of the better regimentals penned by a veteran. These journals, however, exceed his published regimental.
Gould vividly describes the daily life of a soldier, including details on how recruits improvised in camp and what they carried in their pockets. Political intrigues among officers and the horror of the battlefield are witnessed and recorded in an unabridged manner. He also described the people he met-slaves, freedmen, whites- and occasionally recorded conversations that he held with them. Gould graphically described the places he saw, including Baltimore, Harperís Ferry, New Orleans, Federal lines around Petersburg, and much more. Interspersed throughout his text are numerous crude diagrams that illustrate some of what he observed. Many of these illustrations are included in the book, as are a large number of photographs of unit members.
The worth of the Gould journals can be surmised from the comments penned by John J. Hennessy (author of Return to Bull Run) after he perused the document: "Save for Wainwright, diaries and journals are generally only marginally useful in my view, but the Gould piece is a decided exception. In fact, if you publish this, it will instantly become one of the most commonly cited of all primary sources relating to the topics it covers. It's a fabulous document. Itís immediate, unvarnished, and full of detail and observation rarely found in a document of this sort. It's certainly in the upper echelons of the primary source material I've seen. It would rank as one of the best sources published in the last fifty years."