Incidents of the War: Humorous, Pathetic, and Descriptive — Context and Discussion

Voice and Performance on the Page

Burnett's text carries the marks of a stage career. The sketch of the author by Enos B. Reed calls him "a fellow of infinite jest," and the excerpts bear this out: dialogue is central, with characters speaking in distinct cadences. In "Drilling," the poem's banter between Amy and Charles uses military commands as flirtatious cues, ending with Amy's soft "As you were!"—a punchline that depends on timing. The tribute to the Tenth Ohio includes a speech by Colonel Lytle, rendered in direct address: "When I go back and tell my men how, for their sakes, you have received me to-night, they will feel very proud." Burnett does not summarize; he stages. This preference for scene over summary gives the collection a theatrical immediacy, but it also means the reader must infer context from brief exchanges.

Shifts in Register and Subject

The collection's three advertised modes—humorous, pathetic, descriptive—are not neatly separated. The excerpt "A Black Nightingale's Song" begins with a lyrical description of music from a tent near a Virginia dwelling, then cuts off before resolving. The poem "Drilling" is light and comic, yet it appears alongside accounts of wounds and evacuations. Burnett's transitions can be jarring: a tribute to a dead color-bearer sits near a flirtatious poem. This juxtaposition is deliberate, reflecting the war's own alternation between tragedy and absurdity. The catalog subject "Anecdotes" is apt; Burnett collects moments rather than building a continuous argument. Readers should expect whiplash, not smooth progression.

The Performer's Eye for Detail

Burnett's descriptive passages are economical but precise. In the tribute, Lytle's speech includes specific names—John Fitzgibbons, Kavanagh—and the phrase "God and the Union" as the Tenth Ohio's motto. The poem "Drilling" visualizes posture: "We hold our arms out, just like this, / In drill without the rifle." These details ground the humor in recognizable military life. The biographical sketch notes Burnett's early skill as a declaimer, and his writing reflects a sensitivity to gesture and pause. Even in comic verse, he notes how Amy "smoothed her ruffled hair" and "pouted, frowned, and blushed" before speaking. This attention to physical comedy suggests a writer who performed his own material, knowing that a raised eyebrow or a pause could land a joke.

Burnett's collection rewards a reader willing to move quickly between modes. The poems and anecdotes are best approached as individual turns, each with its own timing and payoff. Because the excerpts are incomplete, the full range of Burnett's descriptive writing—especially in longer prose passages—remains partly unknown. But the pattern is clear: this is a book built for recitation, where voice and pace matter more than plot. Reading aloud may reveal rhythms that silent reading misses.

I often shelved Incidents of the War beside a quieter volume, Alfred Burnett’s comic patter giving way to something solemn. Years later, I find the two whisper to each other—one laughs to keep from weeping, the other weeps without hiding. Both remember the same mud and moonlight. Reminiscences of a Rebel — Key Ideas to Explore holds that other voice, and I hear them as old comrades.