Example Journal Entry

*Below you will find a sample journal entry based on the Civil War. This is an A+ example. Please notice that there are several paragraphs, it is written in the first person, and that there are many adjectives within the account. The entry is also historically accurate, includes various leaders, and describes the emotions and feelings found on the battlefield. Background and additional information was also included in the journal entry to add to the quality!

Diary of Private Edward Gale, Army of Northern Virginia, CSA

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

July 4, 1863

I am so proud to be serving in this grand army of Northern Virginia under General Lee. I have taken part in our recent victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. General Lee is a superb commander and his victory at Chancellorsville was a stroke of military genius. Although I am energized by the prospect of winning independence for the Confederacy, I am deeply saddened by the recent death of General Stonewall Jackson. He will be sorely missed and I weep for his memory. I now find myself fighting here in Pennsylvania near a small town the Yankees call Gettysburg. Rumor has it, that this battle could be the decisive victory the Confederacy needs to win the War Between the States and free ourselves of all those Yankees up north who seek to destroy our way of life. General Lee told us that he wanted to take this evil conflict up north where the Yankees live, so that they too could taste the scourge of war like my kin in old Virginia have for so long.

Four days ago we met up with the Union army here near Gettysburg. Some of our soldiers wondered into the town looking for some proper shoes. Although neither army intended to fight there, both armies converged on the tiny borough of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863. I watched the Union troops turned tail and ran after the first day of fighting. I shouted out with an unbridled rebel yell, as yanks were force out of the town and into a defensive position.

My joy was stifled although on the second day, July 2, 1863, when our forces failed to break the Union lines. The fighting was so intense I had to cover my ears, so I would not hear the screams and the horror of the battlefield. The battle in the wheat field went back and forth like a seesaw until finally I saw the Union army under General Sickles, get cut down in the bloody wheat. Once more, as I watched the battle unfold, the fighting intensified near a hill called Little Big Horn. Our brave boys tried to take this hill several times, but the yanks commanded by Colonel Chamberlain, defended the hill with unbelievable bravery and courage. As the second day of fighting came to an end, a hazy death lingered over the battlefield. The smell of gunpowder and blood filled my nose and the cries of the wounded tortured my ears. I feared that thousands of men on both sides have been killed.

I was told yesterday July 3, 1863, that I too would get my chance to fight the yanks on the third day of the battle. I was to be a part of an advance on the Union positions under the command of General Pickett. General Lee ordered us to make a full frontal attack on the Union lines across an open field. I feared that this was a mistake; after all I saw the yanks try the same kind of attack on Fredericksburg, only to be slaughtered. I applauded their bravery as waves of Union soldiers meet our fire with fearlessness and without reservation. Although I feared the worst, I am a soldier, and I did my duty much like those brave Union boys back at Fredericksburg. Pickett ordered us to advance toward the Union lines. My fear and anxiety was overcome by my adrenalin and courage. Our division charged bravely across the open field and the Union guns unleashed a hail fire. Although I have been in several battles, for the first time in my life, I feared that I might not escape with my life. Cannon and rifle fire exploded from the Union lines and my friends on every side of me fell at my feet. “Charge!” Pickett yelled out as we ran ever closer to the Union trenches. With each passing step death rained down up us as the Union soldiers cried out “Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!” Finally we were forced to retreat back across the field. I have failed. We have failed. The Yankee fire has killed most of my division. General Lee has ordered us to retreat back to Virginia. I fear the cause has suffered a major setback. How could Lee have made such a mistake? How could the South have lost such the Battle of Gettysburg? I only hope that the South can recover from such a defeat.