Four Years with the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Journals of William R Ray, Co. F, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry Hardcover – January 1, 2002

I love the way Lance writes and tells a story. A lot of research went into this book

I personally enjoy reading primary sources. I liked it a lot. Ray's diary read like I would expect a soldier of today to write with the same experiences. I expected a lot more detail about the battles, like Gettysburg, that he experienced. Ray was wounded more than a few times, yet didn't make too big of a thing about it, just as you would expect a soldier to do. I did enjoy the details of a soldier's life and opinions, but wished that there were more. Ray did seem to be very straight laced because he never mentioned that he drank any alcohol or gambled. He didn't complain too much about the food or the sutlers yet I expected him to. This is more than a decent book to read of the period.

Great slice of history.

William Ray, a decent, optimistic, industrious, and somewhat priggish Wisconsin farmer survived three battle wounds during the Civil War, lasting long enough to be promoted to what may have been his level of incompetence as an orderly sergeant. Ray regularly sent his notebook diaries back to the homefolks, and perhaps for that reason, the diaries tend to be emotionally flat. Although the 7th Wisconsin suffered some of the heaviest casualties of any unit in the Union Army, Ray does not reflect on his perilous situation, and he refers to the dead and wounded largely as statistics rather than as friends and comrades. Occasional passages do rise above Ray's typically mundane entries--for instance, his description of being lost in the rain during the skirmishing of August 18-21, 1864.This diary will be largely of interest to Civil War buffs curious about the soldiers' daily life. Although the editors' contributions are adequate, the explanatory notes might have better explained to 21st century readers the realities that Civil War armies took for granted. Comparisons of Ray's journal with similar diaries would also have been helpful.

Nice Story

Absolutely terrible book. Boring to the extreme and I can't finish it. I feel like I have been ripped off and paid $[...] for crap.

The Civil War Journal of William Ray, Company F, Seventh Wisconsin Volunteers. William Ray was a enlisted man of the Famed Iron Brigade. His story told in his own words from a journal he kept, is an amazing story as told by some one who is there. I will let him tell about a few minutes on the 1st of July 1863 at a place called Gettysburg. His unit having been heavily engaged for most of the day were ordered to fall back though the town. "I was hit about 1/4 mile out of town by a Ball on the top of the head, come near knocking me down. But I straighted up, went on, another Ball hits sole of my shoe cutting it nearly in two, it ownly making my foot sting a little."Walking though Gettysburg he stopped at a 2nd Division "hospital" to seek help for his wounds. This "hospital" was soon surrendered to the Confederates (as they took the town), so he walked back to his unit. His story is amazing and detailed. It is a excellent testimony of how life was really like in the Union Army for a regular soldier.

I liked reading this book in pieces, since the diary like nature of it lends itself to that. Very interesting to hear the voice of a common solider giving his honest and clear thoughts on the war and his service. Not a deeply reflective man, but a genuine and fascinating one.