An artillery man's experience of the war between the states Carlton McCarthy, the author of this book, was a serving soldier in the Army of the Confederacy during the great American Civil War. As a humble private soldier of the second company of the Richmond Howitzers, Cutshaw's Battalion of Artillery, he had an intimate experience of life on campaign and upon the battlefield from within the Second Corps of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. McCarthy has painted a fascinating portrait of his experience of war and army life taking the reader to the very heart of the everyday business of soldiering for the Southern states. Much detail will be found in these pages concerning the minutiae of camp and campaign in all its aspects. McCarthy gives a vivid account of the closing stages of the war, the collapse of the Confederacy and his return homeward immediately after the surrender and the difficulties of subsisting in its aftermath.