In all of the dusty volumes of Civil War memoirs that no one reads anymore, once in a while we come across one such as this. Written by a man with literary aspirations from a regiment of like-minded soldiers, Albert Marshall's use of the pen produced more eloquence than did that of many of his contemporaries. He left one of the most compelling accounts of the siege of Vicksburg from a private soldier's point of view. He also wrote of service in Texas, which is rare among Civil War memoirs. Eloquent, funny, poignant, and immensely satisfying, Marshall's memoir from his journal is one of the best of the genre.