author
Charles H. Olmstead
1837–1926
Best known for a vivid Civil War memoir, this Savannah native wrote from direct experience as a Confederate officer and later remained active in Georgia historical circles. His recollections give readers a personal window into wartime service and nineteenth-century Southern life.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1837, Charles Hart Olmstead was a military officer, businessman, and writer whose name is most often remembered through his memoir Reminiscences of Service with the First Volunteer Regiment of Georgia, Charleston Harbor, in 1863. He served in the Confederate army during the American Civil War, including at Fort Pulaski, and later returned to civilian life in Savannah.
Olmstead also had a long connection with the Georgia Historical Society. Material about his life preserved in archival collections notes that he wrote not only about wartime service but also about life in Savannah in earlier decades, which helps explain why his work still interests historians and general readers today.
He died in 1926. For audiobook listeners, Olmstead is mainly of interest as a firsthand memoirist: his writing combines personal memory, military detail, and a strong sense of place, offering a direct voice from the nineteenth century.