This eloquent memoir records the Civil War experiences of Robert J. Burdetteprivate in the 47th Illinois Infantry Regiment.From Peoria to Corinth from Corinth t... » 

This eloquent memoir records the Civil War experiences of Robert J. Burdetteprivate in the 47th Illinois Infantry Regiment.From Peoria to Corinth from Corinth to Vicksburg up the Red River countrydown to Mobile and Fort Blakely and back to Tupelo and Selma the 47th marchedthree thousand miles during Burdettes tour from March 1862 to December 1864.In a literate voice rare in war memoirs Burdette speaks of comradeship builtand tested the noise and confusion of the battlefield the conflictingfeelings of witnessing a military execution. Both nostalgic and piercinglyimmediate his remembrances evoke the sights sounds smells and above all theinner feelings stirred up by war from exuberance to terror and from patrioticfervor to compassion for a fallen enemy.Originally published on the eve of another great conflict in 1914 TheDrums of the 47th is a moving depiction of the inner life of the commonsoldier. Like Stephen Cranes The Red Badge of Courage Burdettes book puts ahuman face on the war and his words speak to all who have served or imaginedserving under fire. The introduction by John E. Hallwas provides a biographicalsketch of Burdette and a commentary on his memoir. «