All Quiet On The Yamhill: The Civil War In Oregon, by Royal A. Bensell, edited by Gunter Barth

Having chosen to read this book as part of my background reading on the Civil War in Oregon as part of my commitment to verisimilitude in reenacting, I managed to find in this book a particularly fascinating diary. There are a lot of qualities that make this diary fascinating, including the fact that it was written by someone who became famous in Oregon as a politician and a force for the development of Newport, but which remained unpublished and obscure for many years, and was not written for any particular literary fame, even though it shines a light on a little-known aspect of Civil War history, namely the utter tedium of occupation duty and the complete failure of Oregon citizens to raise up regiments in defense of the Union, an area of considerable local shame, considering that after Oregon raised a few companies, they apparently required help from California to keep down restive tribes and local secessionists, when California had raised up several regiments. The interest in this book starts from the very beginning, from the first comment included in the first volume of the journal, which reads: “I propose in these writings to give a correct detail of all incidents and accidents as they occur in Volunteer life. As a Book for future refference, Truthfulness is indispensible, and Honesty of purpose, without pedjudice, shall be my Guide, trusting to give the “Devil his Due.” I am an unconditional Union Man, acting in accorance (1).

As far as the contents are concerned, this book contains the three handwritten volumes of the diary from March 1862 to October 16, 1864 when the author was honorably discharged as a corporal, along with other material including letters and historical details and extensive notes. The total material is about 220 pages. In stark contrast to the writings of many involved with the fortresses of the Willamette Valley, including Fort Yamhill, where Bensell spent most of his time, the author mostly lives up to his pledge to write honestly, demonstrating his own character as a somewhat prim person, a teetotaler who enjoyed looking at attractive young women despite being somewhat shy and awkward in his personal dealings, possessed of a fierce sense of social justice, and a sense of fairness and equity that made him a trusted diplomat in disputes among the local population of native tribes. Over and over again the author expresses his boredom with drilling under incompetent officers with no action, his frustration with poor pay often months in arrears, the drunkenness and teasing of his fellow soldiers, and the lack of public spirit of many neighbors. And precisely because the book is not written with an eye towards future publication or publicity, it makes for a valuable document of what it was like to serve in the Union army in Oregon: “November 5, 1863. Rains. On Guard. Ed Stanbourrough, formerly of Cal, pays us a visit. Miss Waldy (Agnes) & Stevens here from DAyton, displaying clean undercloths & “graceful continuations” (109).” One is both curious to ask more while being somewhat afraid to ask.

As someone who has read more about the history of Oregon than many people are aware even exists [1], which is not very hard since many people do not think that anything exists, I found this book to represent the best of primary documentation, something that is detailed, generally accurate, and filled with a humane and definitely congenial spirit to my own. The fact that the author was a man not unlike myself in driving ambition, a focus on self-education, and a fondness for the fairer sex makes this book useful in seeking to pattern my own self-presentation after someone not unlike myself. It is striking, and highly odd, that a rare example of a Civil War diary from a soldier in Oregon would happen to be someone like myself, but it would likely require someone who reads as often as myself to find such a coincidence myself. At any rate, this book more than fulfilled my wildest hopes and expectations about suitable background material for wishing to better understand life in Civil War Oregon. For those readers who enjoy reading my own blog entries, and wish for a much less prolific writer, this book offers a worthwhile perspective of a soldier overcoming boredom and the temptation to strike back at his tormentors.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/10/31/book-review-hidden-history-of-civil-war-oregon/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/book-review-lincoln-and-oregon-country-politics-in-the-civil-war-era/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/its-not-a-teepee-its-a-sibley-tent/