author
Frank M. Mixson
b. 1846
A Civil War memoirist from South Carolina, he wrote with the directness of someone who had lived the events himself. His best-known book, Reminiscences of a Private, offers a personal soldier's view of Confederate service during the war.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born on December 5, 1846, at Barnwell Court House, South Carolina, Frank M. Mixson is known for Reminiscences of a Private, a firsthand account of his experiences as a Confederate soldier. In the book's opening pages, he identifies himself as the youngest of a large family and recalls growing up in Barnwell District.
Mixson served in Company E of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, known as Hagood's regiment, and later turned those memories into the book for which he is remembered. Published in 1910, Reminiscences of a Private stands out for its personal, plainspoken view of camp life, marching, battle, and hardship.
Because reliable biographical information about him is limited in the sources reviewed here, the clearest picture of Mixson comes from his own writing. That gives his work a strong sense of immediacy and makes it especially interesting to readers looking for a personal Civil War narrative rather than a broad military history.