History of the Irish Brigades in the Service of France by J. C. O'Callaghan.
Chronicles of An Old Campaigner by M. de la Colonie
Many of the novels by G. A. Henty
Most of the books I quote from can be found on the Internet Archive (www.Archive.org). In fact, if you are interested in history at all, look through the Internet Archive for time periods that capture your imagination.
The second answer, or perhaps a subset of the first, is that any journal, letter, or diary of the time is a fount of interesting anecdotes and quotes. Because the writer was an eyewitness, he recorded the big events he saw (the Battle of Carillon, perhaps) and also the little things (for example, http://defendingthelegacy.blogspot.com/2012/08/generosity-at-carillon.html).
Look at journals of time periods you are interested in and prepare to discover hidden stories within their pages!
Note: If you are reading this and saying "I don't have any books written by participants in this event", then you should look at the bibliography of a book on the subject. Many times, they will sort their sources by "Primary" (written by someone who was there) , "Secondary" (written by someone who was not there), and "Journals/Articles" (self-explanatory).
