War Years With Jeb Stuart

the long version

Blackford started out as one of General Stuart's staff and then was detailed to the ANV Engineer Corps. He's acerbic, opinionated and occasionally thick-headed (as when he fails to notice, during the retreat to Appomattox, that anything is wrong). He gives a good description of the Battle of First Manassas and accounts of several other battles and campaigns, including Gettysburg. Although Blackford is justly best known as a Stuart chronicler, the most unique information given in the memoir is the description of how the Engineer Corps built the trenches at Petersburg. Blackford's endearing descriptions of his horses add a human touch.