"When Fort Sumter was fired into by the rebels under Genl. Beauregard from Fort Moultrie in Charleston harbor, my military spirit along with the rest of the people in the Northern States rose to boiling pitch..." Thus begins one of the most remarkable Civil War records ever discovered-a memoir of the war written by an obscure private soldier. The document, two hundred sixty-two handwritten pages long, profusely illustrated with original pencil sketches and wash drawings by its author, has turned up almost a century after it was written, along with a companion volume of letters written by the same man-Alfred Bellard. Born in Hull, England, Bellard had come to the United States with his parents. At the age of eighteen, he enlisted in the infantry, saw action in most of the important campaigns of the Army of the Potomac in 1862 and 1863, and during the final year of his enlistment served in the provost marshal's guard that kept order in the bars and brothels of Washington. From the day he joined the army until the day he was mustered out in August 1864, Bellard kept a diary, drawing details from it to complete the long letters and sketches for his family, and he later amplified these in his high-spirited memoir. "Gone for a Soldier" is a revelation: Bellard was both an adept primitive artist and a natural writer, gifted with humor and objectivity, guided by his clear intention of entertaining and enlightening his family and friends about the conduct of the war from a soldier's point of view. Bellard's recollections cover some of the most critical campaigns of the Civil War-General George B. McClellan's battles on the peninsula, General John Pope's rout at Second Bull Run, General Ambrose E. Burnside's fiasco at Fredericksburg, General Joseph Hooker's bungled battle at Chancellorsville. His memoir is an account of the daily life of the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, showing what they wore, how they cooked, what they ate, how they behaved under fire, how they spent their leisure time, where they slept. Yet while fully describing how common soldiers felt and acted, Bellard avoided the rhetorical bombast of his day. His writing-fresh, straightforward-is understated, unemotional and exuberantly expressive. Beautifully reproduced and designed, "Gone for a Soldier" integrates Bellard's words and drawings, seventy-four in full color, in a magnificent recreation of the original document's flavor and charm. Mr. Donald provides an introduction, extensive commentary of the text, appendixes and biographical index.

Includes index. Maps on lining papers.

Enlistment -- Off to Washington -- Alexandria -- Washington -- Potomac blockade -- Yorktown -- On to Richmond -- Change of base -- Rations, cookery & utensils -- Reinforcing Pope -- Defenses of Washington -- On the march -- Fredericksburg -- Chancellorsville -- Hospitals -- Veteran reserve corps -- Duties, pleasures and dangers at Provost Marshal's guard and patrol.