The War Outside My Window: The Civil War Diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865 Paperback – September 28, 2019

An extended version of this originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.---When he was twelve, LeRoy Wiley Gresham, of Macon, Georgia starts keeping a daily journal (well, as close to it as anyone really ever does). The year is 1860 and he and his father are headed to Philadelphia to consult with leading doctors about LeRoy's medical condition, which local physicians have been unsuccessful in dealing with -- the book contains a medical foreword and afterword that will explain these circumstances better than LeRoy ever does (partially because he doesn't have the whole story). From Philadelphia they return home and to talk of succession -- it's not long before the Confederacy is born and Fort Sumter is fired upon. This is the setting for these journals -- published for the first time this year.LeRoy was born to be a Southern Gentleman and was raised as such -- and between the War, his age and disease, he never really had an opportunity to examine his upbringing. As such, he is incredibly partisan, shows nothing but contempt for the Union, Lincoln, the Union Army, etc. The language and attitudes he uses toward his family's slaves (and pretty much everyone's slaves) is par for the course during the Civil War, readers need to remember this going on. He is also a pretty astute observer and realist -- when the tide begins to turn for the Confederacy, he's aware and his upfront about it (there are even traces of "I told you so" to his writing when it comes to certain strategies).Meanwhile, life continues -- people go to school, crops are grown and harvested, babies are born, people die and are married, kids get pets. LeRoy's family were staunch Presbyterians, his father a leader in the local church -- presbytery and synod meetings are also reported on.For LeRoy, the years after his return from Philadelphia (and those leading up to it, really) are also years of deteriorating health, bouts of pain, and ineffective treatments. Those who put this book together have determined (and it seems only likely) that there are two major health problems going on here -- a horrific leg injury sustained when he was 8 and tuberculosis. Neither did him any favors -- his life wasn't going to be easy just with the injury, but TB made it short. Tracing the worsening of each is tragic -- and LeRoy dies not long after the end of the War.All of these topics are detailed and recorded -- almost every day -- in a few brief sentences. Sometimes it can be jarring the way he'll go from casualty numbers, to talk about his coughing, to a comment on peach harvests and the book he's reading in a paragraph a little briefer than some of the longer ones in this post. But that's just what was on his mind that day. Sometimes there are strange doodles or other things recorded, lists of Bible questions, practice trials of his own developing signature and other things like that (often with photos included).The War reporting is going to get the bulk of each reader's attention. Which is completely understandable -- and it gets about half of the space of the book, the other topics compete for the other half of the space. His information (as the wonderful footnotes demonstrate) is frequently mistaken -- and he knows his, and will often speculate about as he reports what the newspapers say. We're used to news stories developing over minutes and hours, LeRoy had to be content with learning about something days after the event, and then still learning details weeks later. His frustration about that is seen occasionally -- especially as te War grinds on and it's harder for newspapers to be printed and delivered (paper itself becomes scarce). At one point there's such an outbreak of smallpox that there's no one available to bring his family their newspaper, so they have to send someone to retrieve it -- LeRoy's utter disgust at that is both hard to believe and completely human. "Fascinating" doesn't come close to reading his perceptions and understanding the events that are history to us - talking about famous battles as they're happening and news is getting out. His account of Sherman's March is incredible - and adds so much perspective to the contemporary reader's own understanding.Normally, this writing would be something I'd pan and complain about. But this was never intended for publication -- that's clear -- it's a young man's private journal and reads like it. You see a growth in his style, his way of thinking -- and reading. But it isn't an easy read with a strong narrative pulling you along. It's repetitive, full of details that mean only something to him, stupid humor written for an audience of one (which isn't to say that I don't appreciate his wit). Don't expect to enjoy this read, to find a style that will grab you (or really, any style at all). It's authentic -- and not authentic in a "so well researched and told that it might as well be the real thing" way, but in a this is what this person thought and recorded about others' thoughts in the 1860s to himself -- it's completely honest (well, there might be some self-deception/self-aggrandizement at work, but not much).I grew to really like LeRoy -- his attitude, his quiet faith, his patience, his stupid jokes, his intelligence. You watch someone's life day-to-day for a few years and you almost can't help it. His death -- which I knew was coming before I opened the book, and knew was nigh given the date (and lack of pages left in the book) -- struck me hard. I couldn't believe it, really, but I got emotional in the last couple of entries.His last entries are followed by the text of his obituary from the Macon Telegraph and a letter that his mother sent to her sister which filled in some details about his last days and condition. That letter is a great touch and helps you see that a lot of what you had learned about LeRoy from his writing was also seen by his family -- it wasn't just LeRoy's self-image. You also see that LeRoy's critical gaze, which is displayed frequently, was a family trait (but pretty understandable in the context)The effort putting this book together -- transcribing, deciphering, tracing the family members and friends -- the medical research to diagnose LeRoy all these years later) -- I can't fathom. Croon deserves so much more reward than she'll likely ever receive for this. Really, I'm in awe of her work. The Publisher's Preface, Introduction, and Postscript (and aforementioned Medical Foreword/Afterword) are must-reads and will help the reader appreciate LeRoy's own writing and Croon's efforts.You have never read anything like this -- it will appeal to the armchair historian in you (particularly if you've ever dabbled in being a Civil War buff); it'll appeal to want an idea what everyday life was like 150 years ago; there's a medical case study, too -- this combination of themes is impossible to find anywhere else. This won't be the easiest read you come across this year (whatever year it is that you come across it), but it'll be one of the most compelling.It feels stupid putting a star rating on this -- but, hey, that's the convention, so...no doubt about it: 5 BIG stars.Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher.

I admit this story intrigued me from the time I first heard about it during its development. I am not one to leave reviews, and my usual reading fare is historical fiction. Other than The Killer Angels, I have never read a Civil War book and have only been to one battlefield, and that was last year.There is no need to delve deeply into what this is about because the description is above, and most of the other reviews do that. Instead I wanted to toss out a few ways this story strikes me. I write "strike" rather than "struck" because I am 2/3s through and hope to finish in a couple days. I know how it ends because I read ahead (I don't recommend it).In a way this hit me like The House on the Strand, by Daphne du Maurier. In that book, a professor discovers a drug that sends him back into medieval England, where he observes the lives of others--their hopes, dreams, schemes, heartaches, illnesses, daily routines, and much more. The War Outside My Window is similar in that I often felt like a ghost wandering around the Gresham house looking over LeRoy's shoulder as he wrote, played chess, read, ate, laughed, spoke, hoped, and cried, all while dealing with a horrendous illness that is slowly killing him. You cannot help but fall in love with him. He was a kind young man. He loved his father and older brother especially.It is not a fast easy read. Parts are, some entries are, but overall it is slow going at times. And that is okay given what it is. Instead of devouring 40 pages in a setting, I do five or 10. The notes are long, often interesting, but often military oriented, which is not my thing so I often skim those. I think their strength is that what they contain was likely the lunch and dinner conversation of the Greshams, the depth of things Leroy did not cover in his entries. The sort of info we get her on Southern family life is fascinating. And even at the top of the pinnacle as a rich white slave-holding family, the way even they suffered from the cold, the heat, the bugs, and so on is striking.As the mother of two boys, it is interesting to watch LeRoy develop in the way he writes, interacts with others, analyzes things. He is a good writer, and very perceptive and inquisitive--and often funny in a child-like way. We meet him at 12, and he leaves us at just 17. I read his mother Mary's letter to her sister, which is published in full near the end of the book about his last hours, his last wishes, how they prepared him for burial. Mary's heartache is so real it made me cry.Is this book for everyone? No. If you are not a reader at all, I would skip it. If you read regularly regardless of the subject, get this book and read it. You will learn a lot, meet people you would otherwise never know, and for a time have the experience of a ghost hovering through life with the Gresham family.Disclaimer: I know the publisher, and have been hearing about this since its beginning. Reading it is an entirely different experience and it compelled me to pen this.

This is an interesting view of the Civi. War from the perspective of a Southern child who took his view of the war through the lens of southern narrative, the truth of which he never questioned. Life went on as the war swirled around him.The book was well researched although the footNotes were difficult to follow in ebook format.