" ...Goddard's diary is remarkable in several respects. He served in the field with the cavalry (second lieutenant),
"...an outstanding annotation of an important first-hand account of the war in the East. Highly recommended."
infantry (sergeant major and lieutenant), and artillery (brigade ordinance officer). Using his professional writing and observation skills, he chronicled not only camp routine and regimental politics, but also offered insights into the broader areas of strategy and government policy. ...He demonstrated his courage on numerous occasions. At Fredericksburg he rescued his colonel and on Marye's Heights and escaped death when a minie ball grazed his canteen. At Chancellorsville, while rallying the 14th Connecticut during Stonewall Jackson's surprise flank attack, he was knocked unconcious by shrapnel. Thereafter, physically unable to endure rigorous marching, he served as a brigade artillery officer with Winfield Scott Hancock's Second Corps until honorably discharged as physically unfit for infantry service. After the war Goddard resided in Hartford, Conn., and then relocated to Baltimore to work as an insurance executive and frequent contributor to periodicals. He maintained cordial correspondence with both Confederate and Union veterans. ....Goddard's correspondence with veterans also disclosed some evidence that after Antietam George B. McClellan might have sought to meet with Lee to discuss ending hostilities through a march by both armies upon Washington. Goddard characterized the post-war ambivalence of many Federal veterans toward the freed slaves. He actively promoted an equitable, egalitarian treatment of African Americans. ....Readers will find the wartime and REconstruction correspondence of Henry Goddard to be an articulate, insightful primary source addressing camp life, the battlefield and the home front. Calvin Goddard Zon, as great-grandson and fellow journalist, addresses his subject in a loving but objective manner. Biographical and contextual notes are comprehensive but unobtrusive. The Good Fight That Didn't Die [sic] is an outstanding annotation of an important first-hand account of the war in the East. Highly recommended."
"Personal accounts of Civil War service are common enough in the literature (as we all know), but ones that deeply
"...useful source material for researchers of the military campaigns of the eastern theater as well as historians interested in the key issues raised by the societal upheaval of the post-war decades, North and South."
extend into and beyond the Reconstruction years are less so. Such are the writings of Norwich, Connecticut's Henry P. Goddard, compiled and edited by his great-grandson Calvin Goddard Zon.... Zon, who contributed the book's introduction and index as well as brief transitional narratives and occasional notes, has skillfully arranged Goddard's writings, which include letters, diary entries, and post-war reminiscences. Other sources, such as Charles D. Page's History of the Fourteenth Regiment, Connecticut Vol. Infantry, are extensively excerpted by Zon, to provide context and additional information. The last third of the book comprises Goddard's journalistic work for Connecticut and Baltimore newspapers. In these articles he critically explores important issues of race relations, Reconstruction, and national reconciliation. While his newspaper writings advocated for black civil rights, they also reflected the deeply conflicted feelings many in the public had over Reconstruction policy. Zon's work is an exceptionally thoughtful compilation of his ancestor's writings, which comprise useful source material for researchers of the military campaigns of the eastern theater as well as historians interested in the key issues raised by the societal upheaval of the post-war decades, North and South."
..."Goddard's descriptions of fellow officers and men, the rumors and idle talk of camp, and the quests for food that occupied their time give insight into the motives, hopes, and fears of federal troops. His embrace of what he called President Abraham Lincoln's "freedom breathing proclamation" (p. 63) did not convince him that the South could be defeted, and as late as 1863 he expected that the unhappiness of Northerners at emancipation would ultimately undermine the war effort. Goddard himself, by his own admission, was no abolitionist, but he recognized the justice of black freedom during the war and later augued for protecting the civil rights of freedmen.
....After the war, Goddard returned to newspaper work and traveled troughout the South, filing stories on the freedmen and on the treatment of "carpet-baggers" and their allies. Goddard retired from journalism in 1882 and entered the insurance business, but occasionally wrote feature essays almost to the end of his life, especially on the military reunions and on the efforts of white veterans, North and South, to find common ground and reconcile their shared pasts. For Goddard, as an officer, it was perhaps the most significant commonality to recognize in the former Confederate officers the qualities of true gentlemen. Even while serving, social class had clearly meant a lot to him--he admired fellow officers who exhibited gentlemanly character and scorned those who did not. Goddard's writings are interesting and entertaining.... It is the stories about daily life in camp, the relationships among the soldiers, and their fears, hopes and petty annoyances that made this a valuable read."
"Every great battle is the amalgamation of individual stories. Calvin G. Zon effectively tells the Civil War story of Captain Henry Perkins Goddard, his great-grandfather, with Goddard’s own words. Through Goddard’s eyes we see the horror of battle, the tedium between battles, and the continued post-war struggle to piece the Union back together. This is a wonderful insight into the men who won the Civil War and then delivered the promise for which they fought."
"In a remarkable era, when men sacrificed everything they had for their principles, Henry Perkins Goddard stood head and shoulders above the crowd. Goddard rose through the ranks to witness the Civil War as few others ever had the chance. He served in every branch of the Union army, alternating between the cavalry, infantry, artillery, and even performing a stint as a staff officer. Each assignment gave him keen insight into the leaders and accomplishments of the day. Goddard is a gifted writer who knows a compelling story when he saw it—and he writes with all the vim and verve, humor and humanity, that makes the age of great men come back to life."
