Unspoiled Heart: The Journal of Charles Mattocks of the 17th Maine

This second title in the Voices of the Civil War series, edited by Racine, who teaches history at Wofford College in South Carolina, presents the personal account of Union officer Charles Mattocks within the framework of recent scholarship that includes copious editorial notes and bibliographic material. Mattocks was 22 in 1862 when he joined the 17th Maine Volunteers as a lieutenant. A year later he was a major commanding the regiment, and in 1864 he was transferred to command the elite 1st U.S. Sharpshooters. He fought through Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, was captured in the Battle of the Wilderness, escaped, was recaptured, then paroled to rejoin the 17th Maine. Mattocks's journal entries consistently reflect his determination to keep his men up to the mark, and under his command the 17th Maine was one of the best fighting regiments in the Army of the Potomac. Particularly useful is Mattocks's detailed account of his internment as a prisoner of war in a Confederate prison--a subject still relatively neglected by Civil War scholars. Illustrations. (May)