The Southern Journey of a Civil War Marine : The Illustrated Note-Book of Henry O. Gusley

On September 28, 1863, the Galveston Tri-Weekly News caught its readers' attention with an item headlined "A Yankee Note-Book." It was the first installment of a diary confiscated from U.S. Marine Henry O. Gusley, who had been captured at the Battle of Sabine Pass. Gusley's diary proved so popular with readers that they clamored for more, causing the newspaper to run each excerpt twice until the whole diary was published. For many in Gusley's Confederate readership, his diary provided a rare glimpse into the opinions and feelings of an ordinary Yankee--an enemy whom, they quickly discovered, it would be easy to regard as a friend. This book contains the complete text of Henry Gusley's Civil War diary, expertly annotated and introduced by Edward Cotham. One of the few journals that have survived from U.S. Marines who served along the Gulf Coast, it records some of the most important naval campaigns of the Civil War, including the spectacular Union success at New Orleans and the embarrassing defeats at Galveston and Sabine Pass. It also offers an unmatched portrait of daily life aboard ship. Accompanying the diary entries are previously unpublished drawings by Daniel Nestell, a doctor who served in the same flotilla and eventually on the same ship as Gusley, which depict many of the locales and events that Gusley describes. Together, Gusley's diary and Nestell's drawings are like picture postcards from the Civil War--vivid, literary, often moving dispatches from one of "Uncle Sam's nephews in the Gulf." The confiscated Yankee diary that ran in the Confederate press, fully annotated and illustrated with drawings by a fellow Civil War Marine. On September 28, 1863, the Galveston Tri-Weekly News included an item headlined “A Yankee Note-Book.” It was the first installment of a diary confiscated from U.S. Marine Henry O. Gusley, who had been captured at the Battle of Sabine Pass. It was so popular, the newspaper made an ongoing series of the entire diary, running each excerpt twice. For Confederate readers, Gusley's diary provided a rare glimpse into the opinions and feelings of an ordinary Yankee, an enemy whom—they quickly discovered—it would be easy to regard as a friend. This book contains the complete text of Henry Gusley’s Civil War diary, expertly annotated and introduced by Edward Cotham. One of the few surviving journals by a U.S. Marine serving along the Gulf Coast, it records some of the most important naval campaigns of the Civil War, including the spectacular Union success at New Orleans and the embarrassing defeats at Galveston and Sabine Pass. It also offers an unmatched portrait of life aboard ship. It also includes previously unpublished drawings by Daniel Nestell—a doctor who served alongside Gusley—depicting many of the events the diary describes. Together, Gusley's diary and Nestell's drawings are like picture postcards from the Civil War: vivid, literary, moving dispatches from one of “Uncle Sam's nephews in the Gulf.” Contains the text of Henry Gusley's Civil War diary. This title records some of the most important naval campaigns of the Civil War, including the spectacular Union success at New Orleans and the embarrassing defeats at Galveston and Sabine Pass. It offers a portrait of daily life aboard ship. A rare diary illustrated with previously unpublished period drawings that records some of the most important naval campaigns of the Civil War.