author
Carlton McCarthy
1847–1936
A Richmond writer, civic leader, and former Confederate soldier, he is remembered for vivid firsthand writing about the Army of Northern Virginia and for books rooted in the history of his city.
1 Audiobook
Detailed minutiæ of soldier life in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865
by Carlton McCarthy
About the author
Born in Richmond in 1847, Carlton McCarthy served in the Confederate army while still very young and was present through much of the war, later surrendering at Appomattox. Afterward he built a public life in Richmond as a lawyer, writer, and civic figure, eventually serving as the city's mayor from 1904 to 1908.
As an author, he is best known for Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia, a memoir-like account valued for its close attention to the routines of everyday military life. He also wrote works connected to Richmond itself, including Walks About Richmond and Our Distinguished Fellow-Citizen, showing a lasting interest in the people and character of his hometown.
Modern readers may come to McCarthy both for his eyewitness perspective and for what his work reveals about how former Confederates remembered the Civil War in later decades. His books are part personal recollection, part local history, and part window into the values and memory culture of his time.