A Yankee at Arms: The Diary of Lieutenant Augustus D. Ayling, 29th Massachusetts Volunteers

When New Englander Augustus Ayling responded to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers at the outbreak of the Civil War, he began a diary that he would keep until the end of the conflict. That recently discovered manuscript now provides us with an unusual panorama of the Civil War as seen by one man who fought in three different theaters.
A company-grade officer in the Union Army for most of the war, Ayling was a highly literate, keen-eyed observer who described major events of the war in elaborate detail. Early in his service, he witnessed firsthand the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac, the peninsular campaign of McClellan, the battle of Fredericksburg, and the retreat of Burnside. Following the transfer of his regiment to Kentucky, he participated in the Vicksburg campaign, which culminated in one of the Union's most important victories. Upon returning to Kentucky, he enjoyed a brief wartime romance before a bout of malaria sent him home on sick leave. Eventually, he rejoined his regiment outside of Knoxville, where it helped to repel Longstreet's troops. After the war, Ayling was recalled to a regiment occupying Richmond and was made a judge advocate. From this vantage point he witnessed the beginnings of Reconstruction and of reconciliation between members of Northern and Southern white elites.

Throughout his diary, Ayling eloquently described the difficult conditions under which soldiers served, revealing both the pleasures and problems of an officer's life. As lively and dramatic in its reportage of key events as it is meticulous in detail, Ayling's diary provides valuable perspectives on both the battlefield and the homefront.

The Editor: Charles F. Herberger is professor emeritus at Nasson College, Springvale, Maine. His books include The Riddle of the Sphinx and The Thread of Ariadne.