| Worthy
of the Cause for Which They Fight
The Civil War Diary of Brigadier General Daniel Harris
Reynolds, 1861–1865
Edited by Robert Patrick Bender
"Robert Patrick
Bender has rescued a well-written account from archival oblivion
and brought this well-educated, perceptive and opinionated
historical character back to life. From Wilson's Creek to
Bentonville, Reynolds provides a personal testimonial to the
fighting spirit of his fellow Arkansans and a valuable historical
record of the war in the west."
—Civil War Times, June 2012
“Historians
increasingly argue that the Civil War was won/lost in the
West. They will, thus, be pleased to have in print yet another
source of information on this theater of war: D. H. Reynolds’s
diary. It is a welcome and important publication that will
find a ready audience among historians and buffs.”
—John F. Marszalek, executive director and managing
editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, Mississippi State
University.
Worthy
of the Cause for Which They Fight chronicles the experiences
of a
well-educated and articulate Confederate officer from Arkansas
who witnessed the full evolution of the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi
Department and western theater. Daniel Harris Reynolds, a
community
leader with a thriving law practice in Chicot County, entered
service in
1861 as a captain in command of Company A of the First Arkansas
Mounted Rifles. Reynolds saw action at Wilson’s Creek
and Pea Ridge
before the regiment was dismounted and transferred to the
Army of
Tennessee, the primary Confederate force in the western theater.
As Reynolds
fought through the battles of Chickamauga, Atlanta, Nashville,
and Bentonville, he consistently kept a diary in which he
described the harsh realities of battle, the shifting fortunes
of war, and the personal and political conflicts that characterized
and sometimes divided the soldiers. The result is a significant
testimonial offering valuable insights into the nature of
command from the company to brigade levels, expressed by a
committed Southerner coming to grips with the realities of
defeat and the ultimate demoralization of surrender.
Robert
Patrick Bender
is a history instructor at Eastern New Mexico University–Roswell.
He is the author of Like Grass before the Scythe: The
Life and Death of Sgt. William Remmel, 121st New York Infantry.
November
6 x 9, 343 pages,
17 images, index
$34.95 (s) paper
ISBN 978-1-55728-971-1
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