The ragged rebel: A common soldier in W.H. Parsons' Texas Cavalry, 1861-1865 - Hardcover

Gallaway, B. P.

3.75

8 ratings by Goodreads

9780292770249: The ragged rebel: A common soldier in W.H. Parsons' Texas Cavalry, 1861-1865

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0292770243 ISBN 13: 9780292770249

Publisher: University of Texas Press, 1988

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Dave Nance's personality animates this volume and makes it interesting reading. His writings display a sense of humor and a youthful longing for adventure mitigated by a growing devotion to God based on his experiences with the suffering he encountered as a soldier. Gallaway, in viewing the war through the eyes of a sensitive young man, has provided an important source in nineteenth-century social history. Significantly, the narrative reveals the contrast between the formal accounts of the battles found in the Official Records and the vivid, sometimes exaggerated, impressions of a common soldier. This book is a valuable addition to the growing field that intertwines social and military history. Gallaway's study of Nance enhances our understanding of how the war affected the men who fought. --Southwestern Historical Quarterly Here is the adventurous, eloquent, true story of David Carey Nance-- a young Texas farmer caught up in the carnage of the Civil War as a soldier in William H. Parsons' Texas Cavalry. In presenting Nance's story, Gallaway gives not only a history of a Confederate soldier but also a personal treatise of a young man who, fired by unexpected experiences, becomes vehemently antiwar. He also sheds new light on one of the most famous mounted units in the service of the Confederacy, Parsons' Texas Cavalry Brigade, and presents a vivid picture of the Civil War as fought west of the Mississippi.

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About the Author:

B.P. Gallaway is emeritus professor of history at Abilene Christian University. His other publications include Texas, the Dark Corner of the Confederacy.

Review:

Gallaway is a professional historian who brings a scholar's touch to Ragged Rebel. Readers get a 'bird's eye' view of an autobiography, yet also get the analytical overview of a master biographer. --James Smallwood, in Civil War History

David Nance's personality animates this volume . . . . Gallaway has provided an important source in nineteenth-century social history. --Anne J. Bailey, in Southwestern Historical Quarterly

PRAISE FOR THE RAGGED REBEL

;. . . a small jewel of Civil War history well worth reading. --Frank H. Smyrl, in Journal of American History

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