author
Augustus Meyers
b. 1841
A former child soldier turned memoirist, he left behind one of the most vivid firsthand accounts of everyday U.S. Army life before and during the Civil War. His writing is valued not for grand speeches, but for the small, lived-in details that make history feel close.
1 Audiobook
Ten years in the ranks, U.S. Army
by Augustus Meyers
About the author
Born in 1841 in Switzerland, Augustus Meyers immigrated to the United States as a boy and later entered the army at an unusually young age. He served for a decade, including during the Civil War, and his experiences took him from frontier posts to wartime service.
Meyers is best known for Ten Years in the Ranks, U.S. Army, published in 1914. The book draws on his years as an enlisted man and is especially remembered for its plainspoken, firsthand picture of barracks life, military routine, discipline, music, and the day-to-day realities of service.
Because so many accounts of the era focus on officers or major battles, Meyers's memoir stands out for showing the army from the ground level. That makes his work especially appealing to listeners who enjoy personal history, overlooked perspectives, and the texture of ordinary life inside extraordinary times.