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The Civil War is an enormous stage.  Reading about the war – in the hands of a skillful author — is like stepping onto a stage, and you discover that the actors and actresses are real people, sweating, swearing, praying, and struggling.  Kenneth Lyftogt invites us to join the action in Iowa and the Civil War, Volume 2:  From Iuka to the Red River, 1862–1864. 

Lyftogt does this primarily by quoting Iowa Union soldiers, spouses, and nurses.  He also paints vivid pictures.  For example:

Each man was issued five days’ rations of hardtack, the biscuit staple of the infantry while on the march.  The soldiers were also issued several pounds of raw, white, sowbelly bacon.

Because there was “no convenient way” to carry bacon, “the men simply fixed their bayonets, stabbed the bacon, and carried it on their shoulders.”  Lyftogt describes a scene:

Hundreds of bayonets in each regiment dangled huge chunks of raw sowbelly bacon, swinging and swaying in the air as the soldiers marched.

Forward, March, in Rain or Shine

Foot soldiers often became footsore.  Lyftogt describes a scene outside of Vicksburg: 

It had rained during the night and into the day, the soldiers were soaking wet, and the bayou was three or four feet of deep mud and slime …

The Rebel artillery opened up, shot and shell screeching into the trees above the heads of the soldiers, sending deadly shards down into the ranks.  Lawler gave the command ‘Forward, march!’ and the soldiers of the 2^nd Brigade splashed into the thick mud of the bayou.

The View from a Field Hospital

Medical personnel had a unique perspective.  Nurse Annie Wittenmyer describes serving in a medical unit near the front lines:

The ceaseless roar of artillery, and scream of shot and shell; the sharp whirr of small shot just over our heads; the June sun blazing down on us with torrid heat, and no shelter for the sick but the white canvas tents perched on the sides of the bluffs in places excavated for them, the bank cutting off the circulation of air – were almost unbearable.

A Steep Climb

Lyftogt includes this amazing first-person account of scaling the heights of Lookout Mountain:

We obeyed orders as best we could, climbing up steep sides and clambering over the huge rocks as they piled one upon the other … the thunders of battle were rolling and reverberating about and above us … we were crowding up the mountainside into the very muzzles of the enemy’s cannon as they belched forth with flame and smoke their fiery missiles over our heads.

A Persnickety Suggestion

There is much to commend in Lyftogt’s second volume of his three-volume history.  I have a minor negative critique:  This book has a dearth of commas.  Lyftogt’s next volume would benefit from inserting commas to separate clauses, thereby improving clarity and flow. 

My Recommendation

This book is very readable, and it contains good details, clear explanations, and photographs.  I can report that I learned some new things about the Civil War.  I highly recommend Iowa and the Civil War, Volume 2:  From Iuka to the Red River, 1862-1864. 

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