Among the enormous body of American Civil War memoirs, this one stands out as a unique indictment of military despotism and ineptitude by a highly-educated and articulate officer, Colonel Edward Savage Bacon. Stinging with irreverence and humor, articulate and profane, Bacon wrote one of the best Civil War memoirs and illuminates in wonderful prose the vagaries of commanding men under corrupt leadership. His descriptions of battle are detailed and afford a look at the human side of combat, not just statistics. His description of the siege of Port Hudson and the disastrous Union charges there is among the best you'll find in any war memoir.