Little to Eat and Thin Mud to Drink

Letters, Diaries, and Memoirs from the Red River Campaigns, 1863–1864

Gary D. Joiner

• Publisher: University of Tennessee Press
• Year: 2026
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9798895273876
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

Little to Eat and Thin Mud to Drink does more than just document the history of the Trans-Mississippi conflict of the Civil War. It goes much deeper, offering a profound, extended look into the innermost thoughts of the soldiers and civilians who experienced the events that took place in Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. Gleaning from a rich body of rare journals, diaries, and letters, this groundbreaking book demonstrates the significant impact that military operations in this region had on the local population in years between 1863 and 1865.

Readers will be introduced to the many different individuals who were touched by the campaign, both Confederate and Union. Ably edited by Joiner, a leading expert on the Trans-Mississippi conflict, and others, some of these manuscripts are witty, others somber, some written by Harvard- and Yale-educated aristocrats, others by barely literate farmers. All profoundly reflect their feelings regarding the extraordinary circumstances and events they witnessed.

In Little to Eat and Thin Mud to Drink, readers will have access to the diary of James A. Jarratt, a Confederate sergeant whose cogent narratives dispute commonly held views of the Battle of Mansfield. Representing a much different point of view is the diary of Private Julius Knapp, whose lengthy diary sheds light on the life of a Northern soldier fighting in the ill-fated Union march through Louisiana in 1864. A rare glimpse into the diary of a Southern woman is offered through the fascinating and melancholy musings of plantation belle Sidney Harding. Readers will also encounter the private letters of a French prince turned Confederate officer; of Elizabeth Jane Samford Fullilove, the angst-ridden wife of a Confederate soldier; and many others.

These first-person narratives vividly bring to life the individuals who lived through this important, but often neglected, period in Civil War history. Little to Eat and Thin Mud to Drink will engross anyone interested in exploring the human side of the Civil War.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• General Editor’s Note
• Introduction
• 1. James A. Jarratt and the Consolidated Crescent Regiment in the Red River Campaign of 1864
• 2. A Vermont Soldier’s Experience at the Battle of Mansfield
• 3. Lieutenant Edward Cunningham: A Kirby Smith Loyalist Complains about Richard Taylor
• 4. Private Julius Knapp, U.S.A.: A Union Soldier’s Point of View
• 5. Confederate Letters
• 6. Union Letters
• 7. Miss Sidney Harding: A Daughter of Privilege Flees Northward
• 8. Joseph Pitty Couthouy: The Death of a Sailor-Scientist
• 9. J. E. Hewitt: Commemorating Mansfield
• 10. The Battle of Mansfield Song
• Appendix 1. Orders of Battle for the Red River Campaign
• Appendix 2. Mississippi Squadron Vessels
• Appendix 3. Red River Campaign Time Line
• Appendix 4. Julius L. Knapp Diary, January and February 1864
• Appendix 5. Sidney Harding Diary Entries before March 1864 and after the Campaign
• Bibliography
• Contributors
• Index