William Goodman: Civil War Horsesoldier

On August 30th, 1862 twenty-four year old William Goodman left his wife and three small children to join the 5th Michigan Cavalry. He participated in numerous conflicts under the leadership of George Armstrong Custer including the battles at Hanover, Gettysburg, and Monterey Pass. On October 11, 1863, he was captured near an obscure town on the James River and died nine months later at Andersonville Prison. Those battles as well as the depredations at Andersonville Prison are well documented. What lacks documentation are Goodman’s emotions and inner most thoughts. William Goodman—Civil War Horse-soldier is a work of non-fiction in that weaponry, geography and individual troop movements are meticulously adhered to and provide an accurate historical account.It is also a work of fiction in that the novel fleshes out the participants and reminds the reader that these were real people whose endurance and resolve were pressed to the ultimate limits. The dialogue is sprinkled with humor, which may seem out of place, but it is the author’s experience as a medic with the 4th Inf. Div. in Vietnam that humor is often all that maintains one’s sanity during the stress of combat. New estimates now place the cost of the Civil War in terms of human life at three quarters of a million people. After observing the death toll at Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee was moved to tears and postulated that “It is well that war is so terrible—lest we should grow too fond of it" Read more