In April, 1861, Private Robert Patrick, a talented clerk in the Commissary and Quartermaster departments of the Fourth Louisiana Infantry, began a diary that he continued until the last days of the Civil War. A keen observer who had a flair for descriptive writing, Patrick offers a fascinating look behind the Confederate front lines. In his memoir, originally written in Benn Pitman shorthand and intended for no one's eyes but his own, this articulate and practical-minded young Louisianian provides a colorful narrative of events - both on and off duty. He vividly recounts the siege around Port...