Theodore Reichardt

Theodore Reichardt is known for Diary of Battery A, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery, a firsthand account of service with Battery A during the American Civil War. Project Gutenberg lists him as the author of that work, and its text identifies the book as having been published in Providence in 1865.

The diary was written from the perspective of a man serving in the field, which gives it much of its appeal. Rather than reading like a later summary, it records the movement of troops, camp life, hardships, and the strain of wartime service in a direct, day-by-day style.

Little biographical information about Reichardt was easy to confirm from the sources found here beyond his authorship of this diary. What clearly stands out is the value of his writing as a primary document: it preserves an on-the-ground view of Union artillery service and remains of interest to readers of Civil War history.