George Townsend, Civil War Newspaper Correspondent
George Alfred Townsend, from the Civil War until the end of the century, was one of the most widely read newspaper writers. With his flair for words, his prose marched across the page vivid, often flamboyant, and sometimes inaccurate. For the Civil War buff, Townsend is a marvelous research tool. His book and diary and letters are wonderful because they are often so wrong. He wrote what he knew --- or had read or heard --- at the moment which sometimes proved to be less than accurate. Unlike many of those who penned their wartime memoirs or published their diaries or such, Townsend did not do any extensive amount of revision putting in after war knowledge.
The following articles are excerpts from his book "Campaigns of a Non-Combatant."
This Page last updated 02/16/02