Reminiscences Of The Civil War. A Soldier In Hood's Texas Brigade, Army Of Northern Virginia

JUDGE JOHN W. STEVENS

Publication: Hillsboro Mirror Print, 1902, Hillsboro

First edition. 8vo. Penciled gift inscription on the front free fly leaf, "Miss Mary Head with compliments of the author." Original blindstamped cloth, titles stamped in gilt on the front cover and spine, 213 pp., frontispiece [portrait]. A scarce and valuable work, giving a firsthand account of service in Hood's Texas brigade during the Civil War. Stevens' work is a classic of Texas and Civil War literature. He was made a captain in Hood's brigade at the outbreak of the war, and participated in Lee's defeat of McClellan in Virginia, and in subsequent battles at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Stevens fought in the Battle of Little Round Top at Gettysburg and describes the slaughter that went on all round him. He was captured on 2 July 1863 and spent the rest of the war in Union prisons at Fort Delaware and Point Lookout and recounts those experiences in detail as well describing, for example, the black soldiers who guarded him. Paroled in 1864 he returned to Texas. Stevens began writing his reminiscences for the local PICAYUNE newspaper, and then decided to work it all into a book. Despite the distance of some 40 yeas from the events he recounts, his memoir has been seen as a quite accurate and significant record of the events covered. An introductory note from seven fellow Confederate veterans vouches for the accuracy of Stevens' account of battles and prison. The book closes with chapters on "An Analysis of the Negro Problem as a Result of the War," discussing the state of race relations since the Civil War, the inferiority of blacks, and the increase in crimes caused by them (especially their "mania" for assaulting white women), though Stevens stands opposed to lynching. Quite scarce on the market. Not in Nevins. Covers lightly soiled with light wear to the spine ends and corners, else a very good copy.

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