Charles H. Wildish was born in England, January 2, 1840. When three years of age he came with his parents to Wisconsin, and lived on a farm in the town of Lisbon, Waukesha Co., Wisconsin until nearly out of his teens. He was attending the state university at Madison, Wis., when he caught the war fever. He enlisted Aug. 15, 1862, in Co. A, 28th Regiment, Wis. Vol. Inft. He went into Camp Washburn, at Milwaukee, with his regiment in the month of September. The regiment remained in Camp Washburn until the 20th day of December, when they were called south.

The entries in his diary were made daily, and the different moods and feelings in his life are exhibited in his daily entries. He dropped his pen on the 28th day of July, 1863, and the pages thereafter are blank. He died of malarial fever on the 21st day of August, 1863, and his body is buried on the bluffs back of Helena, Arkansas. His diary was sent home by his comrades, and the original diary is now in the posession of his brother, Joseph E. Wildish, of Milwaukee, Wis., who prizes it as a treasure of great value.

Charles H. Wildish had a host of friends in and out of the army. His genial manner and winning ways endeared him to all who knew him. The entries in his diary show something of his thought and character, and on and between the lines can be read the joys and sorrows of a soldier's life.