Dennis J Francis"
Date: Sat, 2 Jul 2005 00:19:34 -0400
The Lost Civil War Diaries: The Diaries of Corporal Timothy J. Regan, edited by David C. Newton & Kenneth J. Pluskat, Trafford Pub., Victoria BC, 2003, 341pp.
I recently stumbled on this book quite by accident. Was doing some research on the 9th MA during the early 1900s, and came across mention of it while doing a Google search. It's a volume that was well worth getting.
Irish-born Timothy Regan was about 28 when he began his diary on 15 April, 1861, just after hostilities opened and just before enlisting in Co. E, 13th MA Infantry, which was soon redesignated as the 9th MA. He served with the 9th throughout its time of service, mustering out with the regiment in June
1864. Along the way, in 1862 he spent some time as a POW before being exchanged, in late 1863 he goes to sick call and winds up a virtual prisoner of hospital bureaucracy , and even got involved in a war time romance. Things were much different then -it took over two years before he's allowed to call his girlfriend by her first name, a privilege he makes a big deal of in his diary (he underlined the entry).
Regan was very faithful about keeping his wartime diary up. Even while he was a POW he managed to keep a record for later inclusion. Interspersed throughout the diary are poems, songs, proverbs, stories and news items (including the usual "rumors and propaganda" common to military life).
After he musters out and the war ends, there's progressively less mention of personal experiences; eventually the diaries are entirely a report of the day's news from the local scene to the international. Some entries are merely headlines, while at other times he goes into some detail. Quite a number of entries concern Fenian activities, but I didn't see any mention that he was ever personally involved with them. He called it quits with the diary at the close of 1874, but he later made an additional entry on 10 Mar, 1876.
After he died in 1897, the diaries lay unknown in a trunk until the 1950s. Even after they were discovered, Regan wasn't ID'd as the author until 1998 and not much use was made of them in the meantime. Kudos to the editors for making them available.
Unfortunately, very little biographical info is given beyond a few basic stats. Don't know for sure but maybe there's just not much of a paper trail to reconstruct his life - he evidently left no survivors, I didn't see him in the pension index at Ancestry, and I'm not sure if any census entries are him.
The editors have a website which includes some excerpts along with the artwork contained in the original diaries but not reproduced for the publication. Hey, check it out.
Dennis
_________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Lost Diaries,
I purchased the book thinking that it may be a good resource for my teen age daughter for her social studies class and I started reading the book. By page 3 I couldn't put it down and the amazing thing about the book is it truly gives you a glimpse of what life was like being a Civil War soldier. I literally felt transported back in time. Great Book, a must have even for people with just a casual Civil War interest.
James Peterson
_________________________________________________________________________________
I am forwarding my comments on Lost Civil War Diaries.What a Find! I agree wholeheartedly that they are Civil War artifacts since they go into such depth of feelings,facts during the Civil War and for a period thereafter.
I must admit I am not one that cares for poetry as it slows one down,but,once I realized how it too portrayed what was going on during that period,I began to appreciate it.
Corporal Timothy J. Regan seemed like a man of great moral character.He is someone you would want on your side in a battle or as a friend.Through the poetry I see a strong trend of references to death,love and sadness.His love of this Country and the Union cause is apparent.
I believe Menta loved him,regardless of the differences.It is sad how he lost her in the end.It is very apparent as one reads the diaries that he had a strong sense of right is right and that is it.
I found the account of John Wilkes Booth very interesting Considering what has occurred in other assassinations in our Country this revelation is quite possible
IT IS A RARE FIND AND A TRUE TREASURE!! I enjoyed reading the diaries immensely
Sincerely yours
Wallace Daggett
_________________________________________________________________________________
Hi Ken!
I just wanted to tell you that one of the detectives in our division is reading your book. Whenever I see him he tells me how much he's enjoying it!
Lori
E-mail this page to a friend.
