Fiercely loyal to his adopted South, young Isaac Hermann, at twenty-one, joined the Washington Rifles which rendezvoused with the First Georgia Regiment near Laurel Hill, Virginia in 1861. His accent drew considerable attention, whereupon he mounted a nearby stump and announced: "Gentlemen, it seems that I am eliciting a great deal of curiosity; now all of you will know me as Isaac Hermann, a native Frenchman, who came to assist you to fight the Yankees." Almost fifty years later Capt. Hermann was urged by his many friends to write his experiences while serving with three branches of the...

An adopted Georgian's story of his war with the Confederacy
Posterity is fortunate that the American Civil War has given us dozens of first hand accounts from soldiers of all ranks-and all are absolutely essential. They are source material for both serious and casual students. Accounts from the Union side of the conflict exist in numbers, but it is inevitable that those from the losing side are in fewer number. This account is by a French soldier who fought as an infantryman beside his friends from his adopted state of Georgia. In common with many in the Civil War, Hermann and the First...

An adopted Georgian's story of his war with the Confederacy
Posterity is fortunate that the American Civil War has given us dozens of first hand accounts from soldiers of all ranks-and all are absolutely essential. They are source material for both serious and casual students. Accounts from the Union side of the conflict exist in numbers, but it is inevitable that those from the losing side are in fewer number. This account is by a French soldier who fought as an infantryman beside his friends from his adopted state of Georgia. In common with many in the Civil War, Hermann and the First...