Published in 1865, shortly after the end of the Civil War, "Life and Public Services of an Army Straggler "is a fictional account of the misadventures of Will Fishback, Confederate deserter from Georgia, as he wanders the southern countryside he had sworn to protect. In its comic portrayal of the rascally Fishback, "An Army Straggler "pays homage to the forms and dialects of the picaresque frontier folktale.