The Vacant Chair

 Book 88 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read from December 7 - 14

The Vacant Chair: the Northern Soldier Leaves Home by Reid Mitchell

published 1993

Summary (via Goodreads)

In many ways, the Northern soldier in the Civil War fought as if he had never left home. On campsites and battlefields, the Union volunteer adapted to military life with attitudes shaped by networks of family relationships, in units of men from the same hometown. Understanding these links between the homes the troops left behind and the war they had to fight, writes Reid Mitchell, offers critical insight into how they thought, fought, and persevered through four bloody years of combat.

My Opinion

2 stars

This wasn't what I expected.  The book jacket said the author drew from letters, diaries, and memoirs of soldiers and I thought it would be more of the actual writings and less of the author's recap with quotes from soldiers sprinkled throughout.  That skewed it on the 'textbook non-fiction' side versus the 'story non-fiction' I enjoy more.

There were some interesting things to consider but I found my mind wandering as I read.