Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy

When Bell Irvin Wiley's composite portrait of the rank-and-file Confederate soldier was published in 1943, it was enthusiastically received by professional historians and general readers alike. A half century later, the book still is regarded as one of the best available accounts of the ordinary citizens who made up the Confederate army. The Life of Johnny Reb is not about the battles and skirmishes fought by the Confederate foot soldier. Rather, it is an intimate history of the soldier's daily life - the songs he sang, the foods he ate, the hopes and fears he experienced, the reasons he fought. Wiley has examined countless letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, and official records in constructing this frequently poignant, sometimes humorous account of the life of Johnny Reb.