Memoranda During the War

Walt Whitman spent much of his time with wounded soldiers, both in the field and in the hospitals. The 40 notebooks he filled became the basis for this extraordinary diary of a medic in the Civil War.

Library Journal

In 1862, Whitman traveled from Brooklyn, NY, to Virginia to look for his battle-wounded brother George. The trip offered him a front-row seat to the horrors of the Civil War. He spoke to many soldiers and others involved and put together this volume, which he published privately in 1876 in an edition of 100 copies. Some of the material later was worked into newspaper articles and other books, but this volume, reedited by scholar Peter Coviello, includes it all. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Walt Whitman was born on Long Island, New York in 1819. He spent most of his early life in Brooklyn where he served as editor for a number of newspapers for brief periods. His first major work, "Leaves of Grass", was published in 1855 and was subsequently published in nine enlarged editions throughout his lifetime. In 1862 in the midst of the Civil War, Whitman set out for the battlefield to find his wounded brother and continued to volunteer in hospitals throughout the length of the war. He died in 1892.