Rebel at Large: The Diary of Confederate Deserter Philip Van Buskirk - Paperbackby Philip Van Buskirk (Author), B. R. Burg (Author) 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