In the years after the American Civil War, famous generals and common soldiers alike published their remembrances. These accounts appeared in books, in magazines, and, as was the case here, in newspapers. The press created Civil War series such as the one reprinted here from the New York Tribune. The most famous of all these series appeared in The Century Magazine and in the late 1880s was published in four volumes under the title Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. (In 2002, a fifth volume was added to the original four.)
What follows here – “The Affair on the Raymond Road” – is an excellent example of this kind of writing. Henry O. Dwight, the adjutant of the 20 Ohio Regiment (Colonel Manning Force), 2nd Brigade (Brig. Gen. Elias S. Dennis), Third Division (Maj. Gen. John A. Logan), XVII Corps (Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson), Army of the Tennessee (Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant), discussed his unit’s experiences in the Battle of Raymond, May 12, 1863, a part of the Vicksburg Campaign.
This series of battles, of which Raymond was but one part, saw Union General Grant brilliantly out-maneuver Confederate Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and capture Jackson and then Vicksburg, Mississippi. Many historians believe the fall of Vicksburg was the most significant Union victory of the war
