The Truth About Mark Twain's Military Service

May 2024 · 2 minute read

Twain did not last long. He spent about two weeks performing drills as a second lieutenant when a rumor arose that Union troops under Gen. Ulysses Grant were coming. It was enough to cause the rangers, who had few supplies, to disband. "The desertion may have been prompted by fear of hanging or confiscation of family property," according to Newswise.

His account of that brief period, "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed," offers a fictionalized version of Twain's time as a soldier and the reasons why one would leave the militia. As Civil War Saga stated, Twain "defended his actions throughout the years by describing his confusion while enrolling and explained he was ignorant of the politics behind the war." 

Twain ended up traveling west with his older brother, Orion, who became the territorial secretary of Nevada while he tried prospecting. When Twain failed to become rich, he tried reporting for a local newspaper. He would meet up with Grant eventually, however, as History.com relates. The two formed a friendship, and Twain published Grant's memoir in 1885. The book sold well enough that it helped propel the ex-president's widow out of poverty — her husband's bad luck with prior investments had lost much of their wealth. Twain fell into the same dilemma, going bankrupt in 1894. It would take years on the lecture circuit before he paid off his own debts.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB%2Fj3BobG1fqbWmedOrrK2gXZavsMHTZqSaqptiwbityKeqZqWZoba1rdGyZKydoqu2pLGO