Of the 120 men enlisting in his company in 1861, Watkins was one of only seven remaining upon its surrender two weeks after Appomattox. Killing, the fortifying … ditching … drilling, and standing guard, for eleven dollars a month and rations.” Rather, he wanted to “tell of the fellows who did the shooting and “I do not pretend to write the history of the war,” he wrote. Watkins continually reminds readers that his memoir is not history. Still,īeyond a small circle of Civil War devotees, Sam Watkins was unknown until about 20 years ago, when Ken Burns’s groundbreaking “Civil War” series made him famous. Aytch” (as in “H”), which appeared after the war and offers an unparalleled look at the life of a rank-and-file Southern soldier. The anecdote comes from Watkins’s memoir, “Co. His whole household had gone visiting … In fact, I think all of the citizens of Perryville were taken with a sudden notion of promiscuous visiting about this time at least they were not home to all callers. We got very friendly … and made a raid upon a citizen’s pantry where we captured a bucket of honey, a pitcher of sweet milk, and three or four biscuits. As Sam explains, that night they were not enemies. Upon drawing picket duty on the eve of the battle, a Confederate private named Sam Watkins of the First Tennessee was surprised to discover a Union guard, also on duty, just across 8, 1862, initial troop deployments occupied the preceding day while local residents pondered whether they should stay or leave. Disunion follows the Civil War as it unfolded.Īlthough the battle of Perryville, Ky., was fought on Oct.

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