Sam Chamberlain was in the Mexican War and painted some interesting small glimpses of life & death. Reading his book is almost like listening to a veteran who seems to have been everywhere and done everything (especially with women). Sam Chamberlain relates deaths of soldiers to Mexican guerrillas and duty in the occupation but more often than not, Sam Chamberlain proclaims preposterous pick-ups with a host of women. The reader almost senses the author is bragging to fellow high schoolers in a locker room or to anyone who will listen in a bar, hence the title of the book is fitting "My Confessions: Recollections of a Rogue". This book would probably be disregarded as pure fantasy if it were not or the fact that sometimes he does detail military and daily life senarios which are proved by others.

Sam Camberlain was a 16 year old private from Boston who served in the elite 1st US Dragoons in Mexico and gives vivid descriptions and paintings of Saltillo, Monterrey, and Northern Mexico. For those interested the Mexican War, this is a "must read" book and has been used by historians as a primary source for years, but his paintings are also a treat for the scholar as photography was in its infancy during this period and lithographs were often made using the artist's imagination. Camberlain captures many scenes which have escaped photographers and those who made lithographs, including the massacre of Mexican civilians by Arkansas troops in a cave in Northern Mexico. Although he was not at the savage fighting during the capture of Monterrey, his flavorful paintings of aspects of the fighting were based on accounts he said he heard from those who were there.

Truth or Tall Tale? Read this book and you be the judge.

Read 'My Confession' for a first hand account of the War with Mexico, as well as an eyewitness report on the notorious Glanton party. This is one of the most controverisal stories in American and Mexican history, and the discovery of these papers in the 1950s brought out an event that was otherwise best 'swept under the rug' of history. Cormac McCarthy pointed a spotlight on this whole affair when he wrote Blood Meridian, and fans of McCarthy may want to read this to confirm that he wasn't making everything up in Blood Meridian:The Evening Redness in the West. The basic storyline of The Kid, Glanton and the Judge's scalp hunt as set forth in 'Blood Meridian' is related here by the man who lived thru it all, General Samuel Chamberlin. I for one was disturbed to find the Judge among the cast of real characters, I couldn't imagine that such a horrible figure actually existed. Read the book to find out what really happened to Glanton, the kid, as well as 'the judge'. And keep your powder very dry.