''Johnny Reb and Billy Yank'' is a novel first published in 1905 by

Alexander Hunter Dr Alexander Hunter (1729–17 May 1809) was a Scottish physician, known also as a writer and editor. Life Born in Edinburgh in 1729 (the ''Memoir'' says 1733), he was eldest son of a prosperous druggist. He was sent to the grammar school at ...

, a Confederate soldier who served in the 17th Virginia Infantry and the

4th Virginia Cavalry The 4th Virginia Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia. History The Virginia 4th Cavalry comp ...

from 1861 to 1865. The novel is noted for encapsulating most of the major events of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, due to Hunter's involvement in the war. The contents of the "novel" are pulled from Hunter's own diaries which he kept during the war. He explains his reasons for publishing his accounts in the preface to the novel- ''The public have been surfeited with war literature. There is hardly a prominent officer North or South who has not rushed into print at every available opportunity; yet no officer high in rank dared write the exact truth, for the reason he has the feelings, the self-love and the reputations of those who served under him to consider.'' ''A private in the ranks, who has learned something of the art of war through though experience in two branches of the service, should be able to write understandingly of that internecine conflict which rocked America like an earthquake.'' ''At least he can afford to tell the truth as to what he saw, heard and thought without fear or favor. And above all, a private in the ranks, having no grievance, can be fair and just.'' ''In those days "Johnny Reb" and Billy Yank" were good comrades when off duty. They had a profound respect for each other, and as Bulwer says, "It is astonishing how much we like a man after fighting him."'' The novel is then divided into two parts, the first part chronicling Hunter's service in the infantry up until the

Battle of Chancellorsville The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. Chancellorsville is known as Lee's "perfect battle" because h ...

, and the second part depicting his service in the Cavalry until the end of the war. Although Hunter is not credited with popularizing the term

Johnny Reb Johnny Reb is the national personification of the common soldier of the Confederacy. During the American Civil War and afterwards, Johnny Reb and his Union counterpart Billy Yank were used in speech and literature to symbolize the common sol ...

he does dedicate the novel to ''"that tattered son of fortune and the nursling of many a dark and stormy hour, this book is affectionately dedicated by the AUTHOR"''

References

External links

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Johnny Reb and Billy Yank
' at the

Open Library Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet Archive, ...

Novels set during the American Civil War 1905 American novels American Civil War memoirs {{AmericanCivilWar-novel-stub