[
193]
By Robert E. Park, Late Captain Company E, 12th Alabama.
[This compilation toward a sketch of the history of this gallant regiment, its organization, associations, engagements, casualties, etc., consists of extracts from the
War Diary of
Robert Emory Park, late
Captain of Company ‘F,’ with other materials contributed and collected by him.
A portion of the
War and
Prison Diary covering the period January 27, 1864, June 15, 1865, appeared as a serial in the
Southern Historical Society Papers, Vols.
I, II, III, (1876-7), at the request of the former
Secretary of the Society,
Rev. J. William Jones, D. D., who in prefatory note commends ‘its value in that it records the daily experience of the men who followed our distinguished leaders, and gives the impressions made upon the mind of an intelligent young soldier as he discharged his daily duty.’
An earlier portion of the Diary, January, 1863, January 27, 1864, with account of the battles of
Chancellorsville,
Gettysburg,
Warrenton, Bristow Station,
Mine Run, the march into
Maryland and
Pennsylvania, and reminiscences of the battle of
Seven Pines, etc., appeared in Vol.
XXVI. Its preservation was fortuitous, having been lost on the field of battle.
It was returned in a somewhat mutilated condition in 1888 by
Mrs Vine Smith, of
Lebanon, N. H., to
Capt. Park.
The prime value of contemporaneous record is indisputable, but the ingenuous Diary of this devoted and conscientious young soldier is in its convincing verity as the instantaneous photograph of passing events.
Capt. Park has proven himself in maturer years as progressive, public-spirited and successful as a citizen as he was gallant and faithful as a soldier.
He was called to the responsible trust of
Treasurer of the
State of Georgia in October, 1900, and will doubtless retain it by general acclaim whilst he lives.
The reverential spirit abides with him.
He is an active participant in the Reunions of Confederate Veterans,
