Recollections of War Times: By an Old Veteran While Under Stonewall Jackson and Lieutenant General James Longstreet

Recollections of War Times is a dramatically improved edition of William A. ‘Gus’ McClendon’s memoir of his service in the 15th Alabama Infantry. It has long been recognized as among the rarest books by any veteran of the Army of Northern Virginia. Previously printed in 1909, copies of that edition are exceedingly rare, and the few that exist are in very poor condition. Keith S. Bohannon has conducted relentless research that uncovered a gratifying array of new information about McClendon, as well as new striking photographs. The introduction based on that research, full of details acquired from arcane sources that throw new light on the subject, might be a model for the genre. Bohannon’s new exhaustive index also makes McClendon’s memoir notably more accessible. ‘Gus’ McClendon joined the 15th Alabama Infantry Regiment, and served in many of the Eastern Theater engagements. More than fifty years later, he sent down his reminiscences, still an unreconstructed Southern patriot, although able to look back with some amusement on his younger self.