Artillery Private

[ASMA PVT]

I'm still new to the hobby of reenacting and would like to know more about the people I am portraying. I am portraying a private in the artillery of either army (since my battery must galvanize). I'm looking for any websites/books I could read to learn about the life and actions of the privates.

Thank you for all of your help.

Heath

[ScottCross]

Hardtack & Coffee by John D. Billings
Yankee Artilleryman by Rowell, John W.
Confederate Artilleryman: 1861-65 by Philip Katcher
The Military Memoirs of a Confederate by E. Porter Alexander

Also:
L. VanLoan Naisawald, Grape and Canister; The Story of the Field Artillery of the Army of the Potomac, 1861-1865, 1960

Jennings Cropper Wise, The Long Arm of Lee, or, the History of the Artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia, 1915

Larry Daniel, Cannoneers in Gray: The Field Artillery of the Army of Tennessee, 1861-1865, 1990

[ThumbStall]

All of these are Union artillery related. All are in print and provide good info about life of the common soldier in the artillery:

Hardtack and Coffee by John D. Billings (Billings was an artilleryman in the 10th Mass. Battery. The chapter "A Day in Camp" is mostly told from an artillery perspective.)

The History of the Tenth Massachucsetts Battery of Light Artillery in the War of the Rebellion 1862-1865 By John D. Billings (By the author of 'Hardtack and Coffee,' this book is considered by some historians as being in the top ten of all regimental histories from the Civil War).

History Of The Ninth Massachusetts Battery by Levi W. Baker (Very readable history of the battery that stood alone at the Trostle Farm at Gettysburg).

Three Years a Soldier: The Diary and Newspaper Correspondence of Private George Perkins, Sixth New York Independent Battery, 1861-1864 by Richard N. Griffin (The 6th first served as light artillery and then was transferred to the horse artillery).

A Grand Terrible Dramma: From Gettysburg to Petersburg: The Civil War Letters of Charles Wellington Reed by Eric A. Campbell, Editor (This is the same Charles Reed that illustrated 'Hardtack and Coffee.' Reed was bugler of the 9th Mass. Battery and won the Medal of Honor for saving the life of Capt. Bigelow at Gettysburg).

Chicago's Battery Boys: The Chicago Mercantile Battery in the Civil War's Western Theater
by Richard Brady Williams (Recently published, this is an artillery "Band of Brothers" story. The book is getting great reviews from every quarter.)

And my favorite:

Turned Inside Out: Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac by Frank Wilkeson (A very readible memoir by a rather embittered veteran of the 11th New York Battery. Historian William Marvel tried unsuccessfully several years ago to claim that Wilkerson never served in combat, but subsequent research by Patricia McAndrew has proven otherwise. Wilkeson was the son of famed 19th century newspaper correspondent Samual Wilkeson and the younger brother of Lt. Bayard Wilkeson, Battery G, 4th US Artillery, who was killed on the first day at Gettysburg).

As far as web sites are concerned, when it comes to Civil War artillery, these are the best:

http://www.cwartillery.org/artillery.html

http://www.civilwarartillery.com/