Co. Aytch

Sam Watkins of Columbia, Tennessee, (who was featured in Ken Burns's The Civil War) served in the First Tennessee Regiment. He participated in every march and engagement of this unit from 1861 until his unit surrendered with less than ten percent of its original strength in 1865. Twenty years after, he penned his memoirs of service in Company H. Anyone who wishes to hear a Southern view of why they fought should hear Watkins. Bottino's reading is clear and straightforward. However, the reader does not have a Southern accent, and often his neutral reading does not correspond to certain Southern ways of speaking. Still, this work is moving and always fascinating because it is a great text penned by a man who has seen the spectrum of human cruelty, horror and kindness. M.T.F. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine