Has anyone read Jubal Early's Memoirs

[tripax]

I have a family connection to Jubal Early (pm me if you are interested) and wanted to read his memoirs (I was reading, "Autobiographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States"). I started reading and found them strange and a bit boring. He seemed preoccupied with how much of an underdog he and the Confederacy was and was full of praise of great men, but didn't talk about the things I'm interested in (day-to-day details, strategic and tactical details, anecdotes and stories about individuals or interesting circumstances). I put it down after only a few pages (e-reader, so I don't know how many pages, but I gave it at least a half an hour, probably over an hour).

I enjoyed Grant's memoir and "10 Years in the Ranks" by Myers and am currently reading "Company Aytch". I've got a very long list of additional memoirs, so I'm not really looking for recommendations. What I'm curious about is if anyone thinks Early's memoir (and which one) is a good read or agrees that it isn't?

[Stonewall]

I thought it was terrible.

If you want good memoirs, try these.

Joshua L. Chamberlain's, The Passing of Armies. It's kind of short, and chronicles the last 2 weeks of the war. Fascinating reading.

James Longstreet's, Manassas to Appomattox. Boring, but informative and somewhat insightful. Every failure is passed on to someone else. However, it is a stark contrast to what you're currently reading. It's the opposite of Early's "Lost Cause" themed stuff.

John B. Gordon's, Reminiscences of the Civil War. Opposite of Longstreet. Very fun read. Anecdotes and stories out the wazoo. A good portion of it seemed exaggerated, but it was quite a fun read. Link.

Robert E. Lee Jr., The Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee. Not memoirs, per se, but this is probably what you're looking for. Entirely primary source material, put together by his son. 2/3 of the book was sourced between 1865 and 1870. It's truly insightful reading. Link.

[tripax]

Thanks, from that list only Chamberlain's was on my list somehow. I'll definitely check them out. I put down Early's work a long time ago. I got through Authur Freemantle's "3 Months" pretty quickly, and started on E P Alexander's "Military Memoirs Of A Confederate". Reading the first part of that, I realized what I liked.

Grant, Freemantle, Meyers, and Watkins all focus on their own personal experiences, rather than writing a history of the war (I have Foote for that, and I find Foote easier to read - actually I usually listen to a recording of it - than some others have). When E P Alexander talks about his personal experiences such as working to set up the signal corps and how it functioned, I find it fascinating. When he talks about the general goings of the battle, I find it harder to read. I put down Alexander's memoirs for now - I think his other memoir is more personal and I'll try to get that some time in the future - and started on James Harvey Kidd's, "Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman With Custer's Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War" which I really like so far - although I've only just gotten to their mustering in.