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Rebel Correspondent

A True Story of a Young Man Who Went to War Days After He Turned 18.

Wounded twice, Arba Shaw emerged a changed person. But he wasn’t just a returning veteran, he was also a writer.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Arba F. Shaw was a 57-year-old farmer. On a chilly December day in 1901, he put pen to paper to record his memories as a Rebel private in the 4th Georgia Cavalry (Avery), C.S.A. He completed his account in February 1902. Much like Sam Watkins’ famous Company Aytch, Shaw’s recollections were serialized in more than fifty installments in the Walker County Messenger of LaFayette, Georgia, between 1902 and 1903.

Then it was all but forgotten. Until now.

Rebel Correspondent began with the rediscovery of those long-lost newspaper articles. Shaw’s firsthand accounts provide a rare soldier’s-eye view of military campaigns, prison camps, cavalry raids, and daily life in the Confederate cavalry. Through extensive research, the series was paired with historical records, photographs, maps, and annotations to place Shaw’s experiences within the broader story of the Civil War and preserve a remarkable firsthand account for a new generation of readers.