Rebel at Large

<p> This diary is one of the most unusual produced during the Civil War because it contains very little about military life. Early in the war Van Buskirk abandoned his regiment working as a schoolmaster farmhand and casual laborer. He wrote of the suffering civilians endured at the hands of contending armies. But he also found time to chronicle his fascination with handsome young lads he encountered during his life as a deserter--unwittingly providing modern readers an illuminating glimpse of class differences and sexual mores. Naval social and sexual historians in particular will find much valuable source material.</p>