A Soldier's Story of His Regiment (61st Georgia): And Incidentally of the Lawton-Gordon-Evans Brigade Army of Northern Virginia

Series Editor’s Preface

Series Editor’s Preface “I have read a great many histories of the war,” George W. Nichols wrote at the beginning of his memoir, “but have never read one that was correct.” His aptly titled A Soldier’s Story of His Regiment (61st Georgia) and Incidentally of the Lawton-Gordon-Evans Brigade Army, Northern Virginia set about telling his own story as accurately as possible.The result is one of the classic narratives of front-line infantry service in the army of Northern Virginia. Nichols’s 61st Georgia fought in the renowned brigade commanded consecutively by generals Alexander R. Lawton, John B. Gordon, and Clement A. Evans. Nichols framed his account without any excess of sentimental hindsight. In addition to reporting on great battles and dramatic moments, he told the story of two cousins killing each other in a quarrel about cooking duties, and described maggot-infested corpses around Spotsylvania’s Bloody Angle. An annotated roster of the 61st supplies details about Nichols’s fellow veterans, some of it not available anywhere else. Years of exhaustive research have made Professor K. S. Bohannon of the University of West Georgia the nonpareil leading authority on Georgia’s Civil War troops. Bohannon’s introduction adduces strong new evidence about George Nichols and his book. A thorough index also makes the work more accessible than earlier editions. Robert K. Krick Fredericksburg, Virginia S'I'ONnWA'L'L Gl;tN. JACKSON. ...