James Riley Weaver's Civil War : the diary of a Union cavalry officer and prisoner of war, 1863-1865

666 days of diary entries documenting the life of a Union officer held in Confederate prisons Captured on October 11, 1863, James Riley Weaver, a Union cavalry officer, spent nearly seventeen months in Confederate prisons. Remarkably, Weaver kept a diary that documents 666 consecutive days of his experience, including not only his life in a series of prisons throughout the South, but his precaptivity cavalry duties, and his eventual return to civilian life. It is an unparalleled eyewitness account of a crucial part of our history. Weaver's observations never veer into romanticized descriptions; instead, he describes the "little world" inside each prison and outdoor camp, describing men drawn from "every class of society, high and low, rich and poor, from every country and clime." In addition, Weaver records details about life in the Confederacy that he gleans from visitors, guards, new arrivals, recaptured escapees, Southern newspapers, and even glimpses through windows. As the editors demonstrate, Weaver's diary-keeping provided an outlet for expressing suppressed emotions, ruminating on a seemingly endless confinement that tested his patriotism, religious faith, and will to survive. In the process, he provides not only historically important information but also keen insights into the human condition under adversity. Prologue: Instilling the "ideal of Christian manhood," 1839 to 1863 -- "The arts and scenes of active warfare": the making of a cavalry officer, June 1 to July 17, 1863 -- "Slept to dream of war but woke to find all quiet": campaigning in Northern Virginia, July 18 to October 11, 1863 -- "What a little world in itself have we in Libby": Libby Prison, Richmond, October 12, 1863, to January 16, 1864 -- "Our happiness is alloyed by the fear of being disappointed": Libby Prison, Richmond, January 17 to May 6, 1864 -- "Think of home and wonder when the space that now separates us will be traversed": Macon, Georgia, May 7 to July 27, 1864 -- "They go high like a shooting meteor and fall abruptly as stars": Charleston, South Carolina, July 28 to October 5, 1864 -- "Escape is the order of the day": Camp Sorghum, Columbia, South Carolina, October 6 to December 11, 1864 -- "Sitting outside my tent penning these lines": Camp Asylum, Columbia, South Carolina, December 12, 1864, to February 13, 1865 -- "Altho' these things seemed as of former days, yet I could not realize that I was free": homeward bound, February 14 to April 1, 1865 -- Epilogue: "Students are co-laborers with the instructor in the investigation of specific subjects," Weaver's post-war career, 1865 to 1920 "This is an annotated edition of the diary of Union cavalry officer James Riley Weaver. Weaver wrote every day from June 1, 1863, to April 1, 1865, creating an unbroken 666-day record of his military engagements in the Union cavalry, almost seventeen months in seven Confederate officers' prisons, and return to civilian life. The depth of detail, clear prose, emotional restraint, and dissection of human nature under duress provide an unparalleled eyewitness account of one man's Civil War. Weaver avoids the sectional rancor that colors most published Union prisoner narratives and traces the changing nature of cavalry warfare and prison life over an extended period of time. His entries are honest, analytical, and even-handed in their assessments and connect soldiering, imprisonment, and personal experiences and their meaning with external events beyond his immediate purview"-- Provided by publisher