The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865
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The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865
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Narrated by:
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Gregg Rizzo
About this listen
This audiobook was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 156
The memoirs of Civil War generals are some of our most common sources that we look at when learning about this tumultuous conflict. But what about the voices of the common soldier? Frank Wilkeson aimed to rectify this and reassert the importance of looking at the accounts of the men who carried the muskets, served the guns, and rode into the heat of battle. Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac is a wonderfully refreshing account of the American Civil War that takes listeners to the heart of what it would have been like to have served in the front ranks.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By Jimmy K on 10-07-21
By: Frank Wilkeson
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All for the Union
- The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes
- By: Robert Hunt Rhodes
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
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Story5 out of 5 stars 68
All for the Union is the astonishing and eloquent diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, the Union soldier featured in Ken Burns' highly acclaimed PBS television documentary The Civil War. Enlisting as a private in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Rhodes fought in every major campaign waged by the Army of the Potomac, from Bull Run to Appomattox. Here, in his own powerfully moving words, Rhodes reveals why he was willing to die to preserve his beloved Union.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Captivating Narrative
- By Nathan on 07-13-17
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Witness to Gettysburg
- Inside the Battle That Changed the Course of the Civil War
- By: Richard Wheeler
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 75
Witness to Gettysburg brings the bloodiest, most crucial battle of the Civil War to life through on-the-spot eyewitness accounts. From the courageous fighting men and officers to the civilians watching as the conflict raged through their towns, from the reporters riding with the regiments to the children excited or terrified by the titanic drama unfolding before them, each account stems from personal experience and blends with the whole to create a startlingly vivid tapestry of war. In their own words, and through the eyes of their closest aides, such commanders as Robert E. Lee, Jeb Stuart, and George Meade.
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5 out of 5 stars
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So Well Read...A lesson to the Overly Dramatic
- By Charles on 08-06-13
By: Richard Wheeler
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Sherman's March
- The First Full-Length Narrative of General William T. Sherman's Devastating March Through Georgia and the Carolinas
- By: Burke Davis
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
In November 1864, just days after the reelection of President Abraham Lincoln, General William T. Sherman vowed to "make Georgia howl." The hero of Shiloh and his 65,000 Federal troops destroyed the great city of Atlanta, captured Savannah, and cut a wide swath of destruction through Georgia and the Carolinas on their way to Virginia. A scorched-earth campaign that continues to haunt the Southern imagination, Sherman's "March to the Sea" and ensuing drive north was a crucial turning point in the War between the States.
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1 out of 5 stars
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This is fiction, not history.
- By Anonymous User on 11-25-19
By: Burke Davis
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The Rough Riders
- By: Theodore Roosevelt
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 144
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 125
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 125
Along with Colonel Leonard Wood, Theodore Roosevelt instigated the founding of the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry in 1898 at the beginning of the Spanish-American War. Nicknamed the “Rough Riders” by journalists, the Cavalry engaged in several battles. This is Roosevelt’s best-selling account of one of the most fascinating regiments in American military history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Death, hardship, honor and renown.
- By Darwin8u on 02-25-18
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Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade
- By: John O. Casler
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 276
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 247
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 245
Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever. But this is one of the clearest and most informative ever put into audio. As a commander in Stonewall Jackson's brigade, John Casler experienced all the horrors and comedy of the American Civil War. His time was not so different from his countrymen on the other side, with the exception of point of view.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Common Soldier's Story
- By Dennis on 10-13-17
By: John O. Casler
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Three Months in the Southern States
- April-June, 1863
- By: Arthur James Lyon Fremantle
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
The author of this book, Arthur James Lyon Fremantle, has, perhaps, achieved more renown in recent years than at any time since the publication of his literary efforts. Those familiar with the film Gettysburg will recall the unusual figure of a British Guards officer attired (inaccurately) in his full dress Guardsman's scarlet uniform among the ranks of the Virginians at the famous and pivotal battle.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great subject matter and excellent narration
- By J. Keith Jones on 04-13-17
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Company Aytch
- A Side Show of the Big Show
- By: Sam Watkins
- Narrated by: Dan Calhoun
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 156
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 80
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 82
This book is considered to be the best account of the Civil War ever written from the Confederate point of view. It is also the one most frequently cited by historians of the Western campaigns. Sam Watkins, a high private in the Army of Tennessee, brings a vividness and detail to his story unmatched in the genre.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Nothing can top being there.
- By Glenn on 06-18-04
By: Sam Watkins
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Mr. Lincoln's Army
- By: Bruce Catton
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 17 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 271
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 241
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Story5 out of 5 stars 239
A magnificent history of the opening years of the Civil War by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bruce Catton. The first book in Bruce Catton's Pulitzer Prize-winning Army of the Potomac Trilogy, Mr. Lincoln's Army is a riveting history of the early years of the Civil War, when a fledgling Union Army took its stumbling first steps under the command of the controversial general George McClellan.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Very poor reader with great material
- By L Day on 07-28-16
By: Bruce Catton
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Civil War Ghost Stories & Legends
- By: Nancy Roberts
- Narrated by: Susan Larkin, Allan Edwards
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Few events have sparked more legends and stories of the supernatural than America's Civil War. The accounts of gallantry and heroism have spread far and wide. Nancy Roberts grew up listening to her father's stories of the War Between the States, and she trekked over many battle sites with him during her childhood. After reading about General Joshua Chamberlain's supernatural experience at the Battle of Gettysburg, Roberts began to collect tales of the blue and gray and write them down.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Not just your typical "ghost" story
- By R Neustel on 09-19-16
By: Nancy Roberts
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The Crowded Hour
- Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century
- By: Clay Risen
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
The “gripping” (The Washington Post) story of the most famous regiment in American history: the Rough Riders, a motley group of soldiers led by Theodore Roosevelt, whose daring exploits marked the beginning of American imperialism in the 20th century. Both a portrait of these men, few of whom were traditional soldiers, and of the Spanish-American War itself, The Crowded Hour dives deep into the daily lives and struggles of Roosevelt and his regiment. Using diaries, letters, and memoirs, Risen illuminates an influential moment in American history.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Dissapointed
- By Bill on 09-13-19
By: Clay Risen
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Shiloh, 1862
- By: Winston Groom
- Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 213
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 195
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 194
SHILOH, 1862 - The Battle of Shiloh, fought in the wilderness of southern Tennessee in April 1862, marked a violent crossroads in the Civil War. What began as a surprise attack by Confederate troops on a Union stronghold to gain control of the Mississippi River Valley became a bloody two-day conflict that would eerily foretell the brutal reality of the next three years.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Absorbing story of the hell of Shiloh
- By 9S on 02-04-13
By: Winston Groom
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On the Border with Crook
- By: John Gregory Bourke
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 20 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
John Gregory Bourke served General George Crook for 15 years and was his right-hand man. This work is an account of his time with the legendary US Army officer in the post-Civil War West. On the Border with Crook is a written recollection of Crook’s campaigns during the American Indian Wars. Bourke makes the American frontier come alive with his description. He also included descriptions not only of Crook and his fellow cavalrymen, but also of legendary Native American leaders. Bourke argues that Crook etched his name into the annals of American history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic Review of the Late Indian Wars
- By Ian K O'Malley on 08-07-20
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“Too Much for Human Endurance”
- The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg
- By: Ronald D. Kirkwood
- Narrated by: Bob Neufeld
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 22
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Story5 out of 5 stars 22
Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to “Too Much for Human Endurance” and learn about the George Spangler farm hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Readable and Entertaining
- By My Mother's Daughter on 04-06-21
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Breaker Morant
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Cameron Goodall
- Length: 23 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story5 out of 5 stars 46
Most Australians have heard of the Boer War of 1899 to 1902 and of Harry 'Breaker' Morant, a figure who rivals Ned Kelly as an archetypal Australian folk hero. Born in England and emigrating to Queensland in 1883 in his early 20s, Morant was a charming but reckless man who established a reputation as a rider, polo player and writer. He submitted ballads to The Bulletin that were published under the name 'The Breaker' and counted Banjo Paterson as a friend.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Horrors of war
- By David R. on 04-15-21
By: Peter FitzSimons
What listeners say about The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J. Budds
- 09-27-23
A Must Read for Students of the American Civil War
I stumbled upon The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, by Leander Stillwell, while reading Wiley’s classic Civil War history, The Life of Billy Yank. Considering that Wiley refers to Stillwell several times, I was certain that I needed to read Stillwell’s book.
Written in 1917 at the age of 74, and apparently at the request of his son, Stillwell provides his recollection of life in the 61st Illinois Infantry Regiment from December 1861 through the duration of the war. Five decades diminishes the best of memories, but Stillwell isn’t relying solely on memory. He kept a diary throughout the war years and refers to it repeatedly in his memoir. In fact, so certain is he of his original note keeping, that he even refutes a few minor dates that are listed in the official unit histories – dealing with troop movements.
Stillwell doesn’t glorify war, but neither is he repulsed by it. His account is stoic and somewhat detached.
Enlisting as a private soldier and advancing through the rank of lieutenant, Stillwell fought at Shiloh, Vicksburg and a number of other engagements. He skillfully captures the fear and excitement of intense infantry battle; the mind-numbing drudgery of camp life and forced marches, and the privations of an enlisted man.
For those who want a better understanding of what life was like for the common blue coat, then I strongly recommend Stillwell’s excellent book.
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