A Hard Trip: A History of the 15th Mississippi Infantry, CSA

Not strictly a military history, Ben Wynne examines in this book the social components of Confederate service in the context of the experiences of a single regiment. Wynne begins with a general overview of the political climate of the 1850s, localized to the region that produced the 15th Mississippi, then covers the regiment's movements through the western theater, and ends with a localized treatment of the post-war social climate and the rise of Lost Cause mythology. The emphasis in this insightful and new approach to the Civil War focuses on the experiences of the men who served in the regiment, including their intrinsic connection to their communities, reasons that they enlisted, reactions to their first combat, views on conscription, accounts of major battles in the western theater, the ebb and flow of morale, desertion, and the post-war status of the men as heroes in a culture struggling to rationalize defeat. Using first person accounts from letters, diaries, memoirs, and other primary materials, the book sets the 15th Mississippi in a personal context. The narrative is chronologically arranged by the events of the western theater of the Civil War. Emphasizing the real war and not a romanticized version, the story of this unique regiment follows a group of men who entered the war with visions of glory and honor but within one year came to recognize the true nature of the conflict.