A Union Soldier's diary of the war in the Trans-Mississippi

books:


	• A Rough Introduction to This Sunny Land: The Civil War Diary of Private Henry A. Strong, Co. K, Twelfth ... University of Arkansas Press, 2007 - 96 pages average customer review:based on 1 review
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A Union Soldier's diary of the war in the Trans-Mississippi

The preface from Edwin C. Bearss, Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service sets out in one sentence the very basis of this book: "The observant Strong "tells it like it is" out on the western border." This diary details a war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt; a story about Union Soldiers, white and "darky" (Colored U.S. Infantry units), fighting Confederates, Bushwhackers, Indians, along with the cold of one of the coldest winters in years, lack of food, and just plain old boredom.
This book details a fight that few know about from the War Between the States: that of fighting in the Trans-Mississippi, the country west of the Mississippi River. There are numerous books on the war that takes place in Virginia, Georgia, the Carolinas; these are nearly always by officers although you occasionally find one by an enlisted man. But when it comes to the Trans-Mississippi, there are few books on the War west of the Mississippi. This one is a real gem. It was so easy to place myself in the shoes of Private Strong as he talks about marching 12, 18, 20 and sometimes more miles a day, or having to carry all his supplies on his back and finding out he can get by on a blanket and spare shirt, burning what he does not want to carry, or the times he was hungry because of a lack of food. This book was a real delight because so many of the place names are still familiar to us today, as Strong hikes the road from Fort Scott, through Cowskin Prairie by Maysville, Cincinnati, Cane Hill, Fort Smith, Van Buren, and other marches over a two year period to Little Rock, Washington, Camden, Hot Springs, Ozark, Indian Territory, and other places. It details a life of seemingly needless drill, standing guard duty, foraging for food, guarding convoys out collecting hay, going to watch the "darkies" drill and parade (including the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry). He even mentions playing baseball, as a way to drive away thoughts of hunger! But this is the diary of a soldier. He writes about skirmishes and battles such as Massard Prairie outside Fort Smith, Jenkins Ferry, fighting bushwhackers all over Arkansas. Strong comments on the ability of the Colored Infantry to stand and fight, and seems to be impressed with them as fellow soldiers, expressing anger over the execution of them and their white officers at the fighting near Jenkins Ferry. "April 19 (1864) They killed after our boys surrendered the wounded that had been put in ambulances. If this is true no punishment is too great for them." One memorable event is floating on the Arkansas River, on the steamer J.R. Williams, which was seized near Fort Coffee (north of the town of Spiro, Oklahoma) by men under Confederate General Stand Watie while it was sailing to Fort Gibson, and his escape, evasion, and return to Fort Smith. It details the hunger of the civilians, deprivations by bushwhackers on the countryside, the executions of a few who are captured, having the blues from not receiving any mail from friends or family, and just being bone-tired weary from long marches in the cold, or in the rain and being soaked to the skin while on campaign to seek out and fight the Rebel Army. Strong writes about the joy of hearing about the surrender of Lee in Virginia, Kirby Smith seeking terms of surrender down near the Texas/Arkansas Border; and the mourning caused by the assassination of President Lincoln. Finally, the diary winds down as Strong writes about the long wait to be demobilized and his journey back to Kansas and his family.
This is a short diary, the book being less than 100 pages covering Private Strong's time as a soldier from his enlistment in August, 1862 to July 18, 1865, when he was mustered out and received his final pay. Professor Tom Wing, who teaches history at the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith, has inserted numerous footnotes detailing information about people, places and fights that Strong mentions in his diary, and some of these folks ended up fighting in other areas of the country. It was an easy read, and a most enjoyable book. It certainly is an important book because of the level of detail about the experiences of a soldier in the Trans-Mississippi Theater, who fought in the Western part of Arkansas.

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