Campaigns of a Non-Combatant

“I have endeavored to reproduce not only the adventures, but the impressions of a novitiate, and I have described not merely the army and its operations, but the country invaded, and the people who inhabit it.” —George Alfred Townsend, Preface, 1866

Although George Alfred Townsend is no longer a well-known name today, by the end of the Civil War he had become a popular war correspondent covering the Civil War for the New York Herald and the New York World. In 1866 his book Campaigns of a Non-Combatant and his Romaunt Abroad during the War was published. This book represented his reflections on the Civil War and on his two-year journey in Europe during the war.

Campaigns of a Non-Combatant and his Romaunt Abroad during the War is a must read for historians, fellow journalists, and all who are interested in personal stories about the Civil War.