Mark
Twain...Confederate...
Unlike
Stephen Crane, Sam Clemens, or Mark Twain actually participated in the War
Between the States, albeit a very small role, but a role nonetheless. While not an authority on big battles and
campaigns, he set down a small narrative that gives some insight into the
Western Theatre, particularly Missouri.
The Show Me State was ravaged during the Civil War, trampled by Partisan
Rangers on both sides of the conflict, as well as Confederate and Federal
soldiers. It was a hard place to ride
out the National Tragedy. Twain's part in
the War was brief and he opted to head west into California and Nevada after
his short stint as a Confederate soldier.
The Private History of a Campaign
That Failed was published in The
Century Magazine and occupies a place within that magazine's venerated Battle and Leaders of the Civil War
series.
Some
have said that Twain's small Civil War accounting was highly fictionalized, but
I find it to be a heartfelt and emotional piece, one that serves up the feeling
of the times, which is far more valuable than just a dry accounting of exact
dates, names and places. Twain was even
investigated for his Confederate activities while serving as a newspaperman in
Nevada towards the end of the War...which gives his story more weight...even if
some would like to denigrate his a war story...which really is an anti-war
story if you think about it...
A
bit of a tricky story to find, but here it is...in all its glory...
The
Century Magazine for December of 1885...