A Boy's Experience in the Civil War 1860-1865 Thomas Hughes 1904 1st Edition

  
Privately Printed by the Author, 1904. Title page has spaces for presentation & author's signature, but remains blank.

Original red cloth with gilt titles to front. Foxing throughout; mild, even toning to pages & end papers. Faint creasing to bottom corners throughout, with mild edge wear to bottom corners of pp. Gutter pulling & partially split between pp. 2 & 3, exposing cords; binding remains solid.

Covers frayed & worn at spine ends, with a bit of loss to fabric; wear & light bumping to corners; mild wear along rear edge of spine; some light scuffs & soiling to front & rear boards; sunning to spine. An attractive & desirable of Hughes' brief memoir of his experiences during the Civil War. Living with his family in Richmond, his father's position as a well-known physician enabled the author to meet most of the key Confederate military and political figures.

Hughes devotes a portion of the narrative to descriptions of these leaders, including Robert E. Lee, Jeb Stuart, Robert Morgan, and Jefferson Davis. Hughes also discusses his experiences at VMI. The final portion of his narrative covers the state of the South before and after the Civil War. He takes special aim at the northern "opportunists, " who came south to rebuild a region destroyed by war.

Hughes prefers the antebellum plantation life. He describes each plantation as "a perfect community in itself, " and the slave experience as an almost ideal life.

The most extensive memoir of life in Richmond as a teenager, and life as a cadet during VMI's brief Richmond epoch. With the presentation area on the title page, it's assumed that the author gave most copies to friends and friends.