Sam R. Watkins' Story Essay

Company Aytch, a memoir written by Sam Watkins, tells the personal tale of a lowly private fighting four long years in the American Civil War. Watkins was from Columbia, Tennessee, and was a part of Company H, 1st Tennessee Infantry. He recounts his military career in chronological order, from before the Battle of Shiloh in 1862 to the day the Confederacy surrendered at Nashville in 1865. Watkins is a humble writer, often reminds the reader that he is not aiming to provide a comprehensive account of the entire war, but rather a collection of personal stories. Military history books often recount the lives of generals and of great strategies, but this book insists that history should not exclude the common men who filled the ranks of the military.

A saying i've kept to myself is to get back up when knocked down. This saying doesn’t just stand for getting up when literally knocked down but can keep a deeper meaning than what it says as for example being knocked down by a difficult obstacle to overcome and getting up to find a way to get past it and achieving it. Some people may not see this as something important but they don’t think about how getting up after knocked down can be something that can or would have been like a positive outcome into their life and how they are given two choices when knocked down which is to stay down or get back up and continue going forward.

What sort of education is best for a child with special needs? Does inclusion prepare a child who is mentally challenged for the real world or is it unfair? How does inclusion affect the whole classroom?

In “Company Aytch,” Sam R. Watkins first wrote this book to describe his experience at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, in 1864. As a soldier in Company H of the First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment, CSA, Watkins witnessed the panorama of war in grand scale as he marched and fought with the hard luck Confederate Army of Tennessee across the Western Theater. His honest, vivid, and dramatic memoir, published in the 1880s, is a classic that conveys the horrors, humor, and realism of the Civil War, and the firsthand experience of being in this war

The troops had little food, lick grass for water, had to bear the sight of other’s deaths, as well as live under the thought that they could

In the most suitable cases, the soldiers had cabins, which were crude, small, and very unsturdy. In most instances, however, they got tents made out of canvas, which frequently ripped and did not help keep out cold in the dead winter. Because of this, many men got illnesses such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and dysentery. In fact, so many got sick that the hospitals were overflowing, even though each section had a hospital for itself. Some soldiers’ wives agreed to be nurses to help, but there were not enough medical supplies, so many died. Out of 12,000 men, 3,000 died and 2,000 left because they were sick.

“You have killed my two brothers, and now I’ve got you.” (Watkins and Inge 134) Samuel Watkins, a Rebel soldier in the Civil War, heard these words from a Yankee soldier right after he shot two others dead. Watkins heard a bang, felt the gun shoot, and saw his great friend, William A. Hughes, another Rebel soldier, grab the gun and take the bullet in his stead. Watkins watched as his dying friend was taken off of the battlefield by infirmary corps, never to be seen again. (Watkins and Inge 133-4) This heart-wrenching scene is just one example of Sam Watkins’ experience as a Rebel soldier in the Civil War. He was influenced by many instances such as this, however the three aspects of the war that had the greatest impact on him were his comrades, the battles he participated in, and the horrific injuries and deaths he witnessed.

Samuel R. Watkins was an American writer and confederate soldier and fought throughout the entire Civil War and being included in several major battles. He is best known for his memoirs Co. Aytch which are accounts of his time in the army and as soldier in First Tennessee. Watkins was born in Maury County, Tennessee, on June 26, 1839. After his 21st birthday, in May of 1861, Watkins join the army when his state left the Union. He was apart of Company H and he was one of seven men who remained when the company surrendered to Major-General W. T. Sherman in North Carolina, April 1865. Watkins died at the age of 62 with military honors.

War can be and has been proven to be a deeply scarring experience for many soldiers. Evidently, nothing can prepare them for warfare, seeing close friends die, and narrowly escaping death themselves. Yet, the worst part of it all is having to live with those memories for a lifetime and the inability to forget. “But the thing about remembering is that you don 't forget” (O’brien 34, 1998). The war which is fought in the minds of soldiers lasts a lifetime, and its effects stretch far beyond the actual battle that is being fought. War can significantly affect a soldier mentally, as seen in the novel “The things they carried” by Tim O 'brien, an interview with Richard Dlugoz, and the poem “Coming Home” by Joe Wheeler.

When I first started thinking about college schools I never thought about going to MSU or Ole Miss. I wanted to go to the bigger universities, but I knew I wouldn’t do well if I went there my first year. My high school did not prepare me enough for University, and I hadn’t decided on a major either. I choose East Central Community College (ECCC) as the school I would go to for many reasons, and when I got here I knew I made the right choice.

This story shows the stark reality of how many people actually die during war. The author uses repetition to convey the harsh idea of constant death and loss. “Billy Boy Watkins was dead, and so was Frenchie Tucker… Bernie Lynn and Lieutenant Sidney Martin had died in tunnels. Pederson was dead and Rudy Chassler was dead. Buff was dead. Ready Mix was dead. They were all among the dead.”While other forms of media may try to convey the harsh deaths that come from war, Tom O’brien’s use of repetition makes the reader’s mind ring over and over again with the word death, giving the power of the word time to sink in. In addition Tim O’brien uses descriptive language to give the readers a bone chilling idea of the awful living conditions that the soldiers were forced to live in. At one point in the story the narrator describes how they were located in a humid place, causing people to get skin infections and funguses. Then the narrator uses cringe-worthy language to describe how one man tried to fix his skin with a blade. “...drawing it swiftly across his forearm to peel off a layer of mushy skin.” Another harsh effect of war can be seen at the end of this story when the man who scraped off his mushy skin with a knife ultimately lost it to infection later on. Part of what makes this novel more powerful when conveying the effects of war is that it doesn’t gloss

The soldiers face loneliness, isolation, the heavy burden of fear, and the weight of their reputations. The soldiers carry such a heavy weight from the past, in the present, and for the future. Even after the war, the psychological burdens the men carried during the war continues to define them. Those who survive the war carry guilt, grief, and confusion.

The men fighting in the Civil War endured very harsh conditions. The soldiers on both sides not only had to witness bloody carnage on a daily basis, but also had to cope with subpar living conditions such worm infested rations and the spreading of diseases among the camps. Soldiers sometimes had to march hundreds of miles with 40 pound packs on their backs. I found very interesting through my reading of the material that soldiers only carried half of a tent and had to

The novel dramatizes these aspects of World War I and portrays the mind-numbing terror and savagery of war with a relentless focus on the physical and psychological damage that it occasions. At the end of the novel, almost every major character is dead, epitomizing the war’s devastating effect on the generation of young men who were forced to fight it. These men in the novel are subject to physical danger, as they could literally be blown to pieces at any moment. This intense, physical threat also serves as an unceasing attack on the nerves, forcing soldiers to cope with instinctive

The wartime lives of the soldiers who fought in the war were in a state of mind of mixed feelings. Happiness and devastating are two adjectives that can describe the soldier’s feelings in the war because at one second they can be happy that they succeeded on a mission, but on the other hand, it can be very devastating because one of their own soldiers could have been killed during the war. Aside from physical danger losing one of your own soldiers or having your family worry about you every day and night are some negatives and unpleasant parts about fighting in a war. For example, soldiers loved ones worried each day, and hoped that they would not get a knock on their door by someone who was going to tell them that their fathers, husbands, sons, or brothers have died in the war.