Civil War News November 2019

Our Annual Book Issue

Notable Books of a Nautical Nature

By: Roger Semplak and Marc Ramsey

material, but with the passage of time and the publication of so much new material, they become relegated to either being referenced through a snippet

of reading is reduced to a blinking cursor. Given the present situation, we are going to look at a category of American Civil War literature that you might want to explore while the works are still available in book form.

This article focuses on books

newspaper coverage associated with so many huge and bloody land engagements.

We begin our voyage into the nautical realm with the three volumes that compose the Diary of Gideon Welles; Secretary of the Navy under Lincoln and Johnson, edited by Edgar T. Welles. Most readers look to Welles’ work for insight into the operation and

designed vessels for both harbor and river use with many being armor plated and some with turrets. This force was not only capable of enforcing the blockade but also controlling interior rivers, thereby successfully limiting both Confederate internal movements and its ability to receive outside foreign support. A note of caution should be applied when using earlier additions of the diaries because the editing precluded derogatory comments about

When presented with the opportunity to write about books, one quickly realizes that new books are being published weekly dealing with the American Civil War, our favorite subject. Many books are reviewed in various publications, notably the Civil War News, but what is sometimes forgotten is that with each new publication some earlier works fall deeper into obscurity. Many early works are primary source

footnoted quote, or combined with multiple footnotes pulled together to support the new author’s theorem or perspective. Additionally, with the massive digitalization effort underway, today’s researchers can glean an immense amount of informative data without ever having to deal with a single work in its entirety. This ability to rack and stack data, to synthesize and impersonally analyze these points, sometimes results in the loss of the meaning and full intent expressed by the original author without fully appreciating the times and societal norms impacting that writer.

There is currently a popular series of books that contain no form of recognizable citation. This lack of proper notation may potentially lead future generations into believing that these works contain original thought or experiences making them appear as the equivalent of the original primary information provided by actual participants. With each passing year more and more worthy books are produced and the primary originals continue to fade farther from existence either into special collections retained by colleges and libraries or in a digitalized format where the joy

associated with naval events during the Civil War, beginning with what is referred to as the blue water navy. Please note that the order and arrangement do not denote preferences by the authors but rather how these titles come into mind. Additionally, this listing should not be considered a definitive recommended reading list but rather some suggestions that we hope the reader will find rewarding, informative, and worth the time expended to read them. There are far fewer books on naval actions because fewer individuals were actually involved in naval activities. There were also far fewer major engagements to report, and when major naval engagements did occur they generally were limited to a small number of vessels. While overall naval operations played a major role in the conduct of the war, the navies rarely got the

thinking of the Lincoln cabinet during the war. The diaries record a vast amount of insider information on the inner workings, discussions, and political rivalries that took place within the cabinet, but are often overlooked for insightful information related to building the Federal Navy.

Gideon Wells started his career as Secretary of the Navy with a relatively small force consisting of a limited number of steam-driven, ocean-going vessels along with some left over older, sail powered ships. By the middle of the conflict, he had modernized and expanded the Union fleet into the largest naval force in the world. This modernization effort included development of unequally

still living individuals. An excellent companion to the Well’s offering is the Confidential Correspondence of Gustavas Vasa Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy edited by Robert Thompson and Richard Wainwright. This volume provides an abundant source of information related to the Union Navy’s strategic and administrative operations while providing insights into the principal naval commanders. If these two offerings have not satisfied your craving for high level naval history then try Charles B. Boynton’s

Civil War News

Published by Historical Publications LLC

520 Folly Road, Suite 25 PMB 379, Charleston, SC 29412

800-777-1862 • Facebook.com/CivilWarNews mail@civilwarnews.com • www.civilwarnews.com

Advertising: 800-777-1862 • ads@civilwarnews.com

Jack W. Melton Jr. C. Peter & Kathryn Jorgensen

Publisher Founding Publishers

Editor: Lawrence E. Babits, Ph.D.

Advertising, Marketing & Assistant Editor: Peggy Melton

Columnists: John Banks, Craig Barry, Joseph Bilby, Matthew Borowick, Stephen Davis, Stephanie Hagiwara, Gould Hagler, Tim Prince, Salvatore Cilella, John Sexton, Michael K. Shaffer

Editorial & Photography Staff: Greg Biggs, Joseph Bordonaro, Sandy Goss, Gordon L. Jones, Michael Kent, Gregory L. Wade, Joan Wenner, J.D.

Book Review Editor: Stephen Davis, Ph.D., Cumming, Ga.

Civil War News (ISSN: 1053-1181) Copyright © 2019 by Historical

Publications LLC is published 12 times per year by Historical

Publications LLC, 520 Folly Road, Suite 25 PMB 379, Charleston, SC 29412. Monthly. Business and Editorial Offices: 520 Folly Road, Suite 25 PMB 379, Charleston, SC 29412, Accounting and Circulation

Offices: Historical Publications LLC, 520 Folly Road, Suite 25 PMB 379, Charleston, SC 29412. Call 800-777-1862 to subscribe.

Periodicals postage paid at U.S.P.S. 131 W. High St., Jefferson City, MO 65101.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Historical Publications LLC 520 Folly Road Suite 25 PMB 379 Charleston, SC 29412

Display advertising rates and media kit on request. The Civil War News is for your reading enjoyment. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of its authors, readers and advertisers and they do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Historical Publications, LLC, its owners and/or employees.

P UBLISHERS :

Please send your book(s) for review to:

CWN Book Review Editor, Stephen Davis

3670 Falling Leaf Lane, Cumming, GA 30041-2087

Email cover image to bookreviews@civilwarnews.com

Civil War News cannot assure that unsolicited books will be assigned for review. We donate unsolicited, unreviewed books to libraries, historical societies and other suitable repositories. Email Dr. Davis for eligibility before mailing.

ADVERTISING INFO:

Email us at ads@civilwarnews.com

Call 800-777-1862

MOVING?

Contact us to change your address so you don’t miss a single issue. mail@civilwarnews.com • 800-777-1862

SUBSCRIPTION RATES

U.S. Subscription rates are $38.50/year, $66/2 years, digital only $29.95, add digital to paper subscription for only $10/year more. Subscribe at www.CivilWarNews.com

two volume The History of the Navy During the Rebellion. While providing something of a pro-union interpretation, the author can somewhat be excused in his bias when one remembers that he was Chaplin of the United States House of Representatives and an Assistant Professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. If the reader takes these facts into consideration, they should find this a worthwhile and informative read.

Along the same lines is Craig L. Symonds’ study, Lincoln and his Admirals. This book covers the entire sphere of naval operations, both blue water and inland river activity, and the author provides interesting insight into how President Lincoln dealt with the various senior naval officers over the course of the war. While the turnover and internal controversies within the Navy nowhere reached the levels experienced by the Army, this does not mean all was harmonious and peaceful within the sea service. The reader will enjoy reading of some rather interesting senior commanders and the unique controversies that occurred both within the service itself and the president’s administration.

Moving on to a more operational level, we first look at Loyall Farragut’s study The Life of David Glasgow Farragut, First Admiral of the United States Navy: Embodying his Journal and Letters. This work has often been quoted in other publications and while not a critical analysis of the admiral it provides fascinating observations related to his dealing with operational and administrative elements of naval operations. Another book along these lines is H.A. DuPont’s, RearAdmiral Samuel Francis Du Pont United States Navy, a Biography. Similar to the Farragut book, this offering allows readers to experience a lot of DuPont’s correspondence and his opinions of certain innovations occurring within the navy. Of particular interest is his feeling about orders from Welles to take Fort Sumter as a strictly naval operation using iron clad monitors. While DuPont sees the future value of these vessels, he is also aware of their operational shortfalls which he clearly expresses up the chain of command to no avail. The reader is provided with an understanding of some of the political forces being exerted upon the field commanders that resulted in less than satisfactory military outcomes and the associated professional fall-out, in his case being relieved of command. One final offering in this arena is Robert J. Schneller, Jr.’s work, Under the Blue Pennant which deals with the unpublished

manuscript of Acting Ensign John W. Grattan and his service on the staffs of Rear Admirals Samuel Phillips Lee and David Dixon Porter. It also provides one of the few eye-witness accounts of Lincoln’s visit to Richmond the day after the Confederate capital fell.

On the Confederate Navy side, we find that they were starting basically with nothing and as a result there is a lack of the high-level strategic writing and details found on the Federal side. We begin with a rather interesting book by Tom H. Wells, The Confederate Navy; A study in Organization, which covers the many challenges experienced by the South in its efforts to both establish a viable naval force and all necessary operational elements needed to field a viable response to Federal efforts to limit Confederate access to the sea. The Confederacy developed a three-prong approach to address their problems through the use of coastal and harbor defenses, the deployment of commerce raiders to disrupt the Union’s shipping, and the use of blockade runners to bring needed goods and materials into the Confederacy.

Raimondo Luraghi’s 1996, A History of the Confederate Navy is an excellent, comprehensive accounting of the various efforts by which the Confederate government attempted to establish itself at sea. The author provides detailed analyses of the Southern strengths and weakness in conjunction with its overall strategic objectives and leadership in a very rewarding and worthwhile read.

Of the three-pronged Confederate naval strategy, that of commerce raiding, blockade running, and coast and inland water defense, the first two are considered blue water naval operations; they will be the primary areas on which we will concentrate. Beginning with the blockade runners, Frank E. Vandiver’s, Confederate Blockade Running through Bermuda 1861–1865; Letters and Cargo Manifests provides a rewarding look at how a neutral island was used

in a partnership between the Confederacy and Great Britain to provide material to the south. You also get a wonderful understanding of the nature of the items being transferred through the island depot and how the many speculators were willing to attempt to run the blockade for sizable profits. The stakes were very high indeed. A counterpoint to the Confederate experience is the book edited by Glen N. Wiche, Dispatches from Bermuda; The Civil War Letters of Charles Maxell Allen, United States Consul to Bermuda 1861–1888. Consul Allen was definitely not a person viewed very highly by both the locals and the blockade running speculators because his efforts focused on trying to enforce British neutrality laws while keeping the United States Government informed of the various activities taking place on the island which, if successful, would negatively impact the local economy.

Having established a base of operations, let us now look at a few of the blockade runners themselves, beginning with Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden’s, Sketches from My Life by the late Admiral Hobart Pasha

Starting as a British naval officer on half pay due to downsizing the Royal Navy, Hobart decided to try his hand in running the Federal blockade, and after some research, selected a rather interesting cargo about which even he questioned its profitability. After making a first successful run, and quickly selling all his inventory, he realized a profit that not only covered all his costs but allowed for paying off all debts associated with the vessel’s acquisition and still left enough funds to purchase a second cargo. After six successful voyages, he was ready to retire and sold the vessel to his first mate, who was captured on his first attempt. While this book does not solely focus on the American Civil War, the lessons Hobart learned allowed him to continue a very exciting naval career and life.

The next recommendation is H Books

see page 4

William Watson’s The Adventures of a Blockade Runner or Trade in Time of War, a book about blockade running from Cuba to Texas. Unlike Hobart who used steam propulsion, Watson used sailing vessels subject to the forces of nature to accomplish his mission. Thomas E. Taylor’s book, Running the Blockade, a Personal Narrative of Adventures, Risks and Escapes during the American Civil War is a delightful read that provides insight into the operations and motivations of the blockade runners. Taylor travels as a supercargo to the various vessels on which he sailed. The supercargo’s job was to manage the business aspects of the voyage, and as such Taylor’s account provides an insider’s glimpse of a blockade runner’s actual business management. Notably, after running aground off Fort Fisher and making it to shore, it was Taylor who discovered the lifeless body of Confederate agent Rose O’Neal Greenhow on the beach; her ship had also been chased ashore by a Yankee warship. Another successful blockade runner is J. Wilkinson. His The Narrative of a Blockade-Runner provides wonderful detail into his successful career and the various adventures witnessed. In his case

however, unlike the other authors, he was actually a Captain in the Confederate States Navy and therefore doing this, not for profit, but to help the Confederate Cause. While most early war blockade runners were successful, as the war progressed and the blockade become better organized, failures and wrecks occurred at an increasing rate and Dave Horner’s book, published in 1968, The Blockade-Runners; True Tales of Running the Yankee Blockade of the Confederate Coast provides some fascinating insight into diving on the wrecks and narratives of what artifacts have been found at some wreck sites.

The next series of books deals

with Confederate attempts to establish a Naval Academy for the training of future officers. Capt. William Harwar Parker’s, Recollection of a Naval Officer, 1841–1865, while dealing with his naval career in total, its importance to Confederate naval history is his term as superintendent of the Confederate Naval Academy that provides valuable insight into the challenges and operations of establishing and operating this institution during war time conditions. R. Thomas Campbell’s, Academy on the James; The Confederate Naval School, written over one hundred years after the war, expands on the academy’s operations

and provides a detailed look at those who attended the school. James Lee Conrad’s, Rebel Reefers, The Organization and Midshipmen of the Confederate States Naval Academy is about both the students who attended and their instructors and covers their active services in defense of the Confederacy even while in school. The last notable nautical narrative we recommend for this section is the excellent book by James Morris Morgan, Recollections of a Rebel Reefer. This firsthand account covers his career starting with the United States Naval Academy in 1860 through his resignation in 1861. He then became an acting midshipman on the CSS McRae 1861–62 and served on other vessels with the Charleston Squadron. His career included serving on the cruiser CSS Georgia 1863–64, then running the blockade on the Lilian in 1864, and finally that year getting into the Confederate Naval Academy aboard the CSS Patrick Henry The book ends with his parole in Washington, Ga., in May 1865.

Join Chambersburg Civil War Seminars & Tours for the largest and most comprehensive study of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga campaigns yet attempted! Five expert historians will cover diverse topics along with four full days of intensive battlefield touring led by David Powell with program coordinator Eric Wittenberg. We’ll visit Bridgeport and Stevenson, AL; LaFayette, GA, Davis’s Crossroads, Chickamauga, Reed’s Bridge, Jay’s Mill, Brock Field, Kelly Field, Brotherton Field, Horseshoe Ridge, Lookout Mountain, National Cemetery, Orchard Knob, Ringgold & more!

Upcoming Conference

1777 Philadelphia Campaign

April 30-May 3, 2020 Limited seating!

GATEWAY TO THE DEEP SOUTH:

Chickamauga & Chattanooga

July 22-26, 2020

Based in Ringgold, GA

www.CivilWarSeminars.org

Confederate Girl’s Diary.

Moving on to Confederate commerce raiders, one of the most dashing of all subjects in Civil War lore, where these colorful rascals had remarkable success and spine-chilling adventure, with few official assets backing them up. Beginning with Admiral Raphael Semmes’ Memoirs of Service Afloat During the War Between the States, the reader is provided a first-hand account of this officer’s command of both the CSS Sumter and then the CSS Alabama. This story sadly ends with the sinking of the Alabama off the French coast by the USS Kearsarge and the Admiral’s rescue by the British private yacht Deerhound. The exploits of the Alabama will be addressed again later in this article. Edward Boykin’s 1967 Ghost Ship of the Confederacy focuses only on Admiral Semmes’ time on the Alabama, and while quoting from the Admiral’s own work, also skillfully incorporates other sources to provide a compelling picture of this ship’s operations and adventures.

Morgan’s insights and adventures make for an exciting and informative read for anyone wanting to get a better understanding of the Confederate Naval officer training program, and to experience some hair-raising high seas adventure. Morgan’s sister, Sarah Morgan Dawson, also penned a wonderful memoir entitled A

One last book on the Alabama is Arthur Sinclair’s Two Years on the Alabama, which is considered to be a reliable accounting of the ship’s activities. Also, you might enjoy Edward Boykin’s Sea Devil of the Confederacy which deals with the first Confederate commerce raider, Captain John Maffitt and his career with the

CSS Florida and the blockade runners Owl, Lillian, and Tacony. A second book to consider if you are interested in the sailing career of the CSS Florida is Frank Owsley’s, C.S.S. Florida from construction through her career during which she destroyed 50 plus vessels. The last Confederate to fly the flag was the CSS Shenandoah, whose voyage is covered in Cornelius Hunt’s The Shenandoah: or the Last Confederate Cruiser, and James Horan’s C.S.S Shenandoah: The Memoirs of Lieutenant Commanding James I. Waddell.

Prior to using commerce raiders, the Confederacy issued Letters of Marque that basically allowed private vessels to act as warring agents for the Confederate government. Their exploits are admirably covered in William M. Robinson’s, The Confederate Privateers. Since the Lincoln Administration refused to recognize the Confederacy as a belligerent, these activities generated some very unique legal and diplomatic questions that continued throughout the war. Initially Southern vessels using Letters of Marque were viewed by Northern courts as committing acts of piracy; their captured crews were tried in a United States Circuit Court. One trial is reported by A.P. Warburton, Trial of the Officers and Crew of the Privateer Savannah published. While this case resulted in the jury being unable to come to a verdict, detention of these individuals was eventually resolved when the Confederacy threatened to view captured Union prisoners in a similar legal status.

Imposition of the Federal blockade was questioned as to its legality under international law because a warring nation can only blockade a belligerent. Since the Lincoln Administration refused to acknowledge the legality of the Confederacy’s existence, the blockade therefore became questionable; the issue was resolved by the administration’s reasoning that the action of the blockade was to collect legitimate trade duties

owed the Federal Government. The battle of legal rights between the United States, Great Britain, and the Confederacy surfaced during the Trent Affair where the Confederate envoys to Europe, James Mason and John Slidell, were removed from a British steamer by a Federal ship and returned to the United States.

Norman Ferris’s, The Trent Affair; A Diplomatic Crisis, covers the events and resulting diplomatic fall-out from the incident, which was probably the closest Great Britain came to becoming directly involved in the American Civil War.

The commerce raiders added an additional element to questions circling the definitions and applications of international rules pertaining to neutrality that resulted in a rather fascinating and drawn out series of damage claims. The arguments revolved around the actions of Great Britain allowing construction, outfitting, and support of Confederate vessels, while proclaiming to the world the steadfast neutrality of Great Britain. Stuart Bernath’s 1968 Squall Across the Atlantic: American Civil War Prize Cases and Diplomacy captures the many facets of the arguments both sides tried to use in making their claims and how they used experiences in other areas of the world to support their stance. Adrian Cook’s book, The Alabama Claims; American Politics and AngloAmerican Relations 1865–1872, gives one the feeling of not only the length of time this series of claims took to litigate but also the changes in both United States and British politics and positions that continually evolved during the duration of the claims.

The last two books might be a little harder to find but are well worth the effort: Charles Summersell’s publication, The Journal of George Townley Fullam; Boarding Officer of the Confederate Sea Raider Alabama is more easily located. George Fullam, a British citizen, was one of the primary boarding officers on the Alabama, and he recorded

every capture. From his records we learn that Admiral Semmes removed and retained every ship’s chronometer from the vessels seized. Fullam’s journal was originally partially published in South Africa and became one of the key documents available to the United States prosecutors as they made their case against Great Britain for aiding and abetting the Confederacy. Lastly, if you are really into the details of the case, there are the public records published by Richard Bentley and Son, London, titled, The Case of the United States to be Laid Before the Tribunal of Arbitration to be Convened at Geneva under the Provision of the Treaty between the United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, concluded at Washington, May 8 1871. While a rather legalistic document, the information provided specifically on the internal laws pertaining to neutrality are both fascinating and intriguing especially when you realize that Great Britain had actually placed herself in a very poor position for a nation so dependent upon sea power.

At the beginning of the Civil War, the United States merchant fleet was the second largest in

the world; by 1865 it had been reduced by more than two-thirds of its pre-war size. Shortly after President Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of the Southern ports, the British government warned its subjects against violating either British or international laws on neutrality, an admonition that was greeted with a wink and a nod by many in the speculating class of merchants and entrepreneurs.

The books annotated in this article show how the United States attempted to enforce its rights under these laws and how the Confederacy, with active external support, attempted, often successfully, to circumvent the same laws. They also represent some of the thumping best naval adventure stories available in print. Time to take a break from the dreary land campaigns, and head to sea, for at least one or two books.

Hopefully your reading appetite has been whetted to a category of history that doesn’t always get a lot of exposure. If you find any of these books interesting or are looking for some other American Civil War naval topics please visit us at a show, on the website, or at our shop. We love navy books, and you can never know what will be lurking on

our shelves, just waiting for you to drop by, and for your nautical naval reading adventure to commence!

Roger Semplak lives in south central Pennsylvania with his wife and three very patient and pampered Bichon Frise who tolerate his reading habits. He occasionally provides insight and critiques to Owens and Ramsey on new Civil War book releases and has provided logistical support to the Owens and Ramsey tables at some major Civil War shows north of Richmond.

Marc Ramsey is co-owner of Owens & Ramsey Booksellers, along with his lovely wife Jill. For the past 24 plus years they have specialized in the buying, selling, and trading of rare, collectible, and new books on military history, as well as artifacts and paper items. They provide appraisals for estate planning, charitable deductions, or insurance purposes. The Ramsey’s have an open shop at 2728 Tinsley Drive in Richmond, Va., 23235, send out monthly catalogs, and can be seen at many Civil War shows and conferences. throughout the year. Call Marc at 804-272-8888 or visit their website at www.owensandramsey.com.

CW N

Recognizes the Following

Ted Alexander USMC, Sergeant I Corps, Helicopter Support Vietnam (1969-1971)

David Armstrong US Army, E-4 Airborne Medic Cold War (1955-1958)

Barry J. Arnold US Army, Spec. 5 1/21 Artillery – 1st Cav. Division Vietnam (1969-1970)

Lawrence E. Babits US Army, Sergeant E-5 Co B, 1st Bn, 21st Inf Cold War (1963–1966)

Leon Basile USMC, E-1, Officer Candidate (1979-1980)

Jack Bell USMC, Captain (O-3) (1964-1967) Reconnaissance Vietnam (1965-1966)

Franklin C. Bergquist (Ret.) US Army, E-7 All over the world (1958-1978)

John Biemick (Ret.) US Army, Colonel Ordnance Corps

Subscribers for their Military Service

101st Airborne Vietnam, (1967-69)

Joseph G. Bilby US Army, 1st Lieutenant Military Police Corps Vietnam (1966-1968)

Richard J. Blumberg US Army, Colonel 22 years reserves, 4 active duty Logistics training for Combat Arm, Combat Support, and Combat Service Support units during Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom

Charles H. Bogart US Navy, E-3 Radarman, USS Dennis J Buckley DDR-808 Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1958-1961)

Joseph Bordonaro USAF, E-4, Inventory Management (1973-1977)

Edmond A. Chapdelaine US Army, Lt Col. Ohio National Guard, Primary S1 Personnel Officer Vietnam War Era (1967-1989)

Bruce H. Dodd Australian Army Corps of

Transport, Major (Ret.) Australian Army Reserve (1968-1998)

Thomas M. Dunne USMC, Sergeant (E-5) Infantryman Vietnam (1967–1971)

Michael Fisher US Army, D Co, 87th Infantry Vietnam (1971-1972)

John A. Gall US Army, E-4 Artillery Surveyor, 194th Armored Brigade Vietnam (1965-1967)

Douglas C. Gill US Navy, DCFN Damage Control Vietnam War Era (1969-1971)

Brian M. Green US Army, Captain Europe, Central America Vietnam War Era (1962-1968)

Frank Raymond Hilliard US Army, P.F.C. Cook, 605th AAA Lynn, Mass. Korean War (1953-1955)

Catesby ap c. Jones US Army, PFC Engineer Combat Battalion 1280th World War II (1944-46) Great grandson of Catesby ap Roger Jones.

David J. Klinepeter US Navy, Seaman First Class, Postal Mail Clerk Naval Operating Base, Norfolk World War II (1944-1946) Naval Reserves (1945-1955)

Richard Knoepfler US Coast Guard, E-5 Quartermaster Second Class Vietnam (1966-1969)

Lewis Leigh, Jr. US Army, 1st Lieutenant 793d Military Police Bn. Vietnam War Era (1964-1965)

Bill Locey US Army, E-5, cook A Battery, 4th Missile Bn, 517th Artillery 20 months in Panama Vietnam War Era (1966-1968)

John V. Mitzak USMC, E-4 Amtrac Repairman Vietnam (1966-1972)

Tom Morton USMC

Vietnam 0311 “GRUNT” (1969) 5 years Marines, 2 years USMCR, 3 years USAR, 1 year National Guard, Coast Guard Reserve 22 years, 7 months. Coast Guard active duty called up for 9-11-01

George Newton USAF, E-5 Security Police Vietnam War Era (1967-1971)

Thomas H. Pearman US Army, Lieutenant Colonel Field Artillery Officer Cold War Vet Reserve & National Guard

Patrick D. Peters US Navy, E-4 Machinist Mate Vietnam (1971-1974)

Richard Reilly 69th New York National Guard Captain, Commanding Officer Delta Company

Michael A. Schwartz US Army (Reserves), E-5 Vietnam War Era (1968-1974)

J.W. Jim Shurling US Army, SP 4 358th ASA Co., Radio EW Special Ops, 82nd Airborne Cold War (1972-1975)

Paul T. Scott US Army 1st Lt. Medical Platoon 27th Inf. Reg. 25th Inf. Div. Vietnam (1965-1967)

William Sweeney US Army, E-4 B Battery, 2nd Bn, 11th Artillery Vietnam (1966-1967)

Joseph V. Trahan, III US Army, Lieutenant Colonel Armor & Public Affairs Officer Cold War (1978-1998)

Patrick D. Wheatley US Army, E-6 Vulcan Squad Leader Vietnam War Era (1968-1972) Vermont Army National Guard (VTARNG), CW4, (1972-2008)

John Zinn US Army, 1st Lieutenant Quartermaster Corps Vietnam (1971-1972)

New Gun Digest & Veteran Arms

Gun Digest

Although I would classify myself as an historian, I admit to

by Joe Bilby

often falling into the pit of nostalgia. One example of that nostalgia stimulation is Gun Digest, the annual firearms publication continuously in print since 1946. Each issue covered not only the new firearms and firearms related products for a given year, but also included in depth articles on firearm’s use and history. I got my first copy of Gun Digest as a grammar school kid a decade after the initial edition but managed to acquire previous issues over the years and today have a complete collection on my bookshelf.

Each year I look forward to the publication of Gun Digest, and just received the 2020 edition. The editors must have had people like me in mind this year because the current Digest is steeped in nostalgia. In addition to the usual new product announcements and reviews, there are articles

on all aspects of firearms, hunting, and shooting, then and now. One I enjoyed in this issue was “America’s Twelve Greatest Shotguns,” which included my own beloved L. C. Smith double gun and the classic Remington Model 1100.

Black powder related articles include a story on lever action rifles and six guns that share the same caliber ammunition, a post-Civil War innovation that has seen revivals over the years, and a black powder “Report From the Field” covering recently introduced muzzle loaders, including Pedersoli’s Whitworth and Lorenz reproductions, Pietta’s shortened “Sheriff’s Model” percussion revolvers, and Eras Gone bullet molds, producing historically accurate projectiles to use in your original or reproduction firearms.

One piece that caught my attention immediately was on the Enfield P53, which provides the basics of the gun’s development and use, as well as an account of a first-time black powder shooter trying one out. Although I love Gun Digest, I give the piece mixed reviews.

The author starts out with an anecdote about the Confederate surrender in 1865 that does not have anything to do with the Enfield, save for the fact that the subject is surrendering one. His assessment that the rifle musket was a potential revolutionary arm in its day due to its accuracy is correct, but the assumption that it revolutionized warfare because of that quality, a theory often espoused by past historians, is not. The idea that the rifle musket changed tactics because it gave the average soldier a gun that was accurate well beyond the range of the smoothbore musket is largely incorrect. While European armies realized the potential early on, and established extensive marksmanship training programs, the United States Army did not embrace accurate long-range shooting until after the Civil War.

While astute commanders like Confederate General Patrick Cleburne, a British Army

veteran, realized the advantages of the rifle musket, and sharpshooter units in both armies, perhaps most notably the Army of Northern Virginia later in the war, did indeed take advantage of the rifle musket’s attributes as a tactical tool, the overall tactics of the bulk of both armies did not change dramatically, as evidenced by Pickett’s Charge and the Union attacks at Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor. Marksmanship training for most Civil War soldiers was minimal to nonexistent. In some cases, as with the Thirteenth New Jersey Infantry at Antietam, the battle was the first time soldiers ever loaded their weapons.

The P53 Enfield’s worldwide use made it the AK47 of its day, and to be fair, the historical and technical information in the article is largely correct, and save for a few minor errors; the Springfield and Enfield did not fire the same diameter bullet until the Union reduced the diameter of its Minié Ball, and prior to that change, the men of the Twentieth Maine had a problem with Springfield ammunition jamming in their Enfields at Gettysburg. The idea posited that Confederate cavalrymen preferred the Enfield Model 1861 musketoon seems unlikely, should a Rebel horseman get a chance to acquire a Sharps carbine.

The author admits to having no experience with black powder arms, but he did acquire the assistance of a friend with considerable experience for his shooting test. He used a Pedersoli musketoon loaded with a Minié ball from Dixie Gun Works and fifty grains of Hodgdon Triple Se7en powder (a black powder substitute) and fired the gun at fifty and seventy-five-yard ranges, not the three hundred yard distance he cited as a typical range for Civil War soldiers.

I must say, however, despite my nit-picking on the Enfield article, my nostalgia button was pressed by the 2020 Gun Digest and I can heartily recommend it to all readers interested in firearms.

Veteran Arms

If you are interested in some unusual reproduction black powder firearms and gear, you might want to check out Veteran Arms, a company that not only sells to historical reenactors and traditional shooters, but also provides props for film and television projects. The Veteran Arms online catalog lists, not only the standard flintlock and percussion guns, but exotic weapons like matchlock muskets and “hand mortars.” If you want to rent a cannon for a special occasion, Veteran Arms seems to be the place to go. For more information and details, see their website at: http://veteranarms.com/eproductionMuzzleloadersandFlintlocks/VeteranArms-LLC.html.

Joseph G. Bilby received his BA and MA degrees in history from Seton Hall University and served as a lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Division in 1966–1967. He is Assistant Curator of the New Jersey National Guard and Militia Museum, a freelance writer and historical consultant and author or editor of 21 books and over 400 articles on N.J. and military history and firearms. He is also publications editor for the N.J. Civil War 150 Committee and edited the award winning New Jersey Goes to War. His latest book, New Jersey: A Military History, was published by Westholme Publishing in 2017. He has received an award for contributions to Monmouth County (N.J.) history and an Award of Merit from the N.J. Historical Commission for contributions to the state’s military history. He can be contacted by email at jgbilby44@aol.com.

Gun Digest 2020 edition. (Bilby)

My own original Enfield, which is a pretty good shooter. (Bilby)

Descendants Steal Spotlight at Civil War Talk

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va.—

Ben Trittipoe and Marti Hall Sell stole the show at a recent Civil War program about historic houses and Civil War activity along the Blue Ridge Mountains at Snickers Gap in Loudoun County Va. The event was held at B Chord Brewery within sight of Snickers Gap where U.S. Route 7 crosses the Blue Ridge Mountains. Ben told of his great-great grandfather, Lieutenant Jacob Engle of the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry and Marti questioned him about the well being of her great uncles, the Hall boys, who were privates and served in the Twelfth.

The exchange came as part of a discussion about Major General Jeb Stuart's numerous forays through Snickers Gap, after Sharpsburg in 1862 and Gettysburg in 1863. Ben, the adjutant of the Clinton Hatcher Sons of Confederate Veterans camp in Leesburg, was able to update Marti about her relatives. She also has a great grandfather who apparently rode with John Singleton Mosby's Forty-Third Battalion in the same general area.

After the war, Ben's greatgreat grandfather inherited approximately 400 acres about two miles from Harper's Ferry, WV. In January 1867, Jacob Engle

purchased 50,000 bricks at $3 per thousand ($150) that were part of the U.S. Arsenal and Armory at Harper's Ferry, paid $50 to have the bricks cleaned, then used them to build his home “Alta Vista.” The house was completed in 1869 at a cost of $3,094.37 according to family records. The

two-story, seven room house has an attached kitchen. Ben's cousin, Kenna Banks and her husband Neill live in the house as part of a working cattle farm. Daughter Tiffany, and son Tim, both of whom have their own houses nearby, help with the family business.

Ben Trittipoe and Marti Hall Sell. (Susan Kasper)

English Cartridge Box

A number of the first imported English “accoutrement kits” to arrive in Savannah, Ga., in 1861 were from A. Ross & Co. The equipment was purchased by Caleb Huse, brokered through the well known Commission House of S. Isaac, Campbell & Co. of London. A bit of background on the English cartridge box is in order. First of all, cartridge boxes of domestic (US/CS) manufacture were the most commonly issued accoutrements on both sides, even in the Confederacy. Also, the notion that most imported P53 (long) and P56/58/60 Enfield (short) rifles came with full sets of English accoutrements is simply not supported by any of the existing documentary evidence. As a rule, imported accoutrements

were only purchased as immediacy dictated; the imported leathers were much more common in the South where raw materials were in shorter supply. As supplies of domestically made accoutrements became available, these were issued to troops.

This is not to say that all imported English accoutrement sets went to the individual Southern states or the Confederate government. For example, in several Union militias there is documented use of full English accoutrement sets issued very early in the War, specifically in Massachusetts and New York. A few regiments of (nine month) recruits from the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia received London Armoury Co P53 rifle-muskets along with full sets of English accoutrements, including bayonets, frogs, scabbards, buckle slings, and snake

buckled waist belts, some of which came from captured blockade runners. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts sent buyers who reached England in May 1861 just ahead of US and CS government purchasing agents. The buyers, Francis Crowinshield and Charles McFarland, immediately entered into a contract with Archibald Hamilton, the agent for Sinclair, Hamilton & Co, to buy London Armoury P53s. They also purchased 10,000 full sets of English accoutrements at the same time. The accoutrements were purchased for the same reason as the P53 rifle-muskets, the lack of Federal equipment in mid-1861 made them unavailable to individual state militia.

Confederate purchasing agent Caleb Huse was right behind the two Massachusetts buyers. In fact, Huse was waiting in the lobby to see LACo Superintendent Archibald Hamilton when the Massachusetts buyers left. The men ran into Caleb Huse on their way out, which must have been

awkward. In his May 21, 1861, letter to Josiah Gorgas, Caleb Huse reported: “I propose to take from the London Armoury Company 10,000 Enfield rifles of the latest pattern, with bayonet, scabbard, extra nipple, snap cap, and stopper complete for £ 3, 16s, 6d.” There is no mention of accoutrement sets. While apparently not part of the initial Confederate government contract with Sinclair, Hamilton & Co, there were substantial numbers of Volunteer type accoutrement kits issued to Southern regiments throughout the Civil War. An accurate statement is that the vast majority of English type accoutrement sets were imported to and used by the Confederacy.

After leaving London Armoury, Caleb Huse quickly located the commission house of S. Isaac, Campbell & Company of 71 Jermyn Street, London. The Isaacs had been brokering leather accoutrement sets to local Volunteer units since the late 1850s when the firm lost their lucrative contract with the British War Department over some questionable bookkeeping practices. The 2nd Volunteer movement in England began in 1859 to create an autonomous citizen army for the sole purpose of homeland defense. Many S. Isaac, Campbell & Co marked “Volunteer” boxes have been found with known CS provenance. It is necessary to make a distinction between War Department marked cartridge boxes and the “Volunteer kits” from S. Isaac, Campbell & Company.

While purportedly made from the same sealed patterns, there is a wide degree of variation between them. S. Isaac, Campbell & Co was well known for selling previously condemned leather goods that were not able to pass the strict British government inspection. The British Army could afford to be selective and reject sub-standard workmanship since they were not involved in a major war during the early 1860s, but the Confederacy was fighting for its existence and therefore more concerned with functionality than aesthetics.

Another important distinction is that most domestically (US/ CS) made military cartridge boxes, except the US pattern 1839, allowed the box to be carried either with a shoulder strap or on the waist belt through two vertical loops on the back. The English cartridge box had no such provision for being worn on the waist belt and could only be carried by a shoulder strap.

One reason for this was that the English accoutrements used the shoulder strap to attach the cap pouch, however the practice apparently dates back to the Colonial-era in America. On August 3, 1775, General Howe, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in America, ordered: “…all soldiers to wear their cartridge boxes over their shoulders, and not around their waists.” His exact reasoning for the order is not documented, but henceforth all British Ordnance Department accoutrement sets featured shoulder slings (belts)

Five soldiers in Union uniforms of the 6th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia outfitted with Enfield rifle muskets and English accoutrements. Note the “expense pouch” apparently being utilized as a cap box worn on the front of the belt. (Library of Congress)

Front and bottom view of an imported English cartridge box. for the cartridge box.

Another feature of the English accoutrements was that the cap pouch was not worn on the waistbelt. The British accoutrement set was issued with a second leather bag known as a ball bag or “expense pouch.” This piece was worn on the waist belt where the cap pouch would normally be found in the American system. To the British, a cartridge box and a cartridge pouch were two different things, a distinction not made with US/ CS accoutrements. The English cartridge box was designed to hold and transport a supply of unopened cartridge packs. The rank and file soldier took a pack of ten cartridges from his cartridge box tin, opened it up and placed the ten loose rounds in the “expense pouch.” When that was empty, the soldier would remove another ten round arsenal packet from the cartridge box, open it, and re-fill the expense pouch. As a result the British

soldier taking the field with a full cartridge box and expense pouch would have 60 rounds available before needing to be re-supplied. The cap pouch on the shoulder strap had an angled back loop and was either made with white buff leather or black.

In contrast, the American (US and CS) cartridge boxes were designed for twenty loose rounds to be packed in the top compartment of the tins while two extra arsenal

packs of ten each were carried unopened in the bottom compartment(s). Some CS boxes had a single tin rather than two individual tins like the US patterns. Another interesting thing about the English “system” is that the .58 cal US and CS pattern boxes would not hold the taller English .577 Enfield rounds made in England, but they would fit in the older pattern US 1839 (.69) box. Augusta Arsenal “re-manufactured” hundreds of thousands of imported Enfield rounds to the American system so they could be carried in the “standard” US/ CS designed .58 cartridge boxes.

Craig L. Barry was born in Charlottesville, Va. He holds his BA and Masters degrees from the University of North Carolina (Charlotte). Craig served The Watchdog Civil War Quarterly as Associate Editor and Editor from 2003–2017. The Watchdog published books and columns on 19th-century material and donated all funds from publications to battlefield preservation. He is the author of several books including The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy (2006, 2011), The Unfinished Fight: Essays on Confederate Material Culture Vol. I and II (2012, 2013) and three books (soon to be four) in the Suppliers to the Confederacy series on English Arms & Accoutrements, Quartermaster stores and other European imports.

Pete & Julia Brown

Receive the American Battlefield Trust’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Former Marine and wife pioneered battlefield visitation with HistoryAmerica Tours

There was a time when Pete Brown imagined that he might be a history professor, but the modern realm of public history owes a great deal to the fact that he took a different, less conventional path. Instead, through a circuitous route, he founded HistoryAmerica Tours with his wife, Julia, and brought thousands of people to walk the ground of important places across the country and around the world.

In recognition of their tremendous contributions to the field of history and preservation by introducing their guests to the power of a place to open windows to the past, Pete and Julia Brown are the most recent recipients of

the American Battlefield Trust’s Edwin C. Bearss Lifetime Achievement Award.

“The goals [for HistoryAmerica] were pretty simple,” said Pete. “Making the experience so poignant that the participants … fall in love with history by being on the site of great events in the company of a well-respected historian.”

Raised in Los Angeles, Pete discovered a love of history as early as the third grade. He enlisted in the Marines at age 17 and spent two years as a private during the era between the Korean and Vietnam Wars. After attending the University of New Mexico on a track scholarship, he took a job as a teaching assistant in the history department.

Despite loving the subject matter, he “became convinced I would not be good material for a college professor. I liked to be outside and moving around too much.” Instead, he started a landscape contracting company on a shoestring budget, and history took a back seat. The company

grew fast, building parks, and undertaking highway beautification projects across the state. During this time, Pete met and married his second wife, Julia May Brown.

In 1982, the Browns sold the business and moved to Chicago.

A few years later, inspired by Ken Burns’s “The Civil War,” Pete drove to the Shiloh Battlefield to see it for himself. The experience was so profound that, during the return trip, he formulated a plan to create a history tour company, re-creating those revelations for others. With Julia at his side, HistoryAmerica Tours was born.

“Our first tour, Grant’s Early Victories, showed we were real rookies. In fact, we were fortunate

in our first two years to fill up two vans per event.”

That changed when influential early preservationist Jerry Russell introduced the Browns to Ed Bearss, who was then poised to retire from the Park Service. Bearss organized a tour of Nathan Bedford Forrest sites that filled an entire bus and set a new precedent. The Browns continued to seek out renowned historians who could lead groups through their specialties. They also created a relationship with the Delta Queen Steamboat Company that they parlayed into expertise that served them well in other theaters, too.

“We eventually discovered that small ships had repositioning cruises, and we could turn their routes into history cruises. For example, a ship going from Malta to Spain could be coaxed into doing the Italian Campaign of WWII from Sicily to Rome if we could bring the people, which we did.”

Whether it was a small ship serving as a floating hotel or multiple lodgings along a bus route, the Browns’ tours were synonymous with well-planned logistics. That was no small feat and required extensive scouting. In hosting 300 events over almost 20 years, the Browns walked

thousands of historic sites from numerous eras—virtually all the American conflicts from the Revolutionary War through WWII, and even unexpected events like the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. Their favorite stops?

“Some of them that jump out to me are obvious places like Gettysburg, Antietam, and Little Big Horn. Others, further off the beaten track, are Saratoga, Trophy Point at the U.S. Military Academy, St. Clair’s Defeat in Ohio, and the Nez Perce Trail in Idaho. In Mexico, we found Buena Vista and Cerro Gordo to be critical turning points. The Bridge Too Far at Arnhem in the Netherlands was outstanding, as was the Kall Gorge Trail in the Hurtgen Forest of Germany.” With a business model based on the importance of physical places, Pete reports, “Saving battlefields became of great importance if we wanted to stay in business,” leading to a close working relationship with the Trust. “Preserve, educate, and inspire gradually became the watch words. Looking at the big picture now, the umbrella organization is a dream come true. HistoryAmerica helped people fall in love with history, and we take great pride in that.”

Pete and Julia Brown (Early).

These People Are All My Neighbors

“[The Militia] dread the jeers and sneers which they must encounter from the Army more than they do the bullets of the Yankees.” C.S. Gen. Howell Cobb

On November 15, 1864, Gen. William T. Sherman departed Atlanta, Ga. on his famed “March to the Sea.” His army crossed the state in four parallel columns to confuse the enemy on his goals. The right wing threatened Augusta, Ga. The left wing, commanded by Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, and aided by Gen. Judson Kilpatrick’s cavalry, was tasked with demonstrating against Macon, Ga.

The temperature dropped; snow fell. From the direction of Macon came the boom of cannon fire. In repeated clashes, Confederate Gen. Joseph Wheeler’s cavalry was able to repulse Kilpatrick. However, Kilpatrick had been selected for his propensity to fight. As Sherman declared, “I know that Kilpatrick is a hell of a damned fool, but I want just that sort of man to command my cavalry on this expedition.”

On Nov. 20, Kilpatrick turned toward Griswoldville, located

approximately 10 miles east of Macon. He ordered 100 men of Capt. Fredrick S. Ladd’, 9th Mich. Volunteer Cavalry to burn public buildings and destroy the railroad. During the War, a cotton gin manufacturing plant had been converted to a pistol factory, producing 3,500 guns. The other approximately 40 buildings consisted of soap, brick, and candle factories, mills, shops, and worker’s homes. Ladd’s men torched buildings, a locomotive and 13 railroad cars.

On Nov. 22, to protect his rear, Howard ordered a demonstration which turned into the Battle of Griswoldville, the only infantry battle during the campaign. It began with Wheeler’s cavalry attacking three Federal cavalry units at 7 a.m. but Gen. Charles C. Walcutt’s 46th Ohio infantry repelled Wheeler. Wheeler knew his cavalry could not withstand a battle with Walcutt’s infantry and artillery and left the area by 10 a.m.

Walcutt’s 1,513 men took a defensive position on a hilltop overlooking an open field, a belt of scrubby trees, and behind a creek/swamp 1.5 miles east of Griswoldville to protect the nearby roads. The men immediately entrenched their position, tearing up the split rail fences and log structures of Duncan Farm to create barricades.

Georgia Governor Joseph “Joe”

E. Brown had reserved the services of Georgia’s militia for defending the State. Consequently, Georgia’s militia a.k.a. “Joe Brown’s Pets,” had limited battle experience. By the morning of Nov. 22, it had been determined that Macon was not Sherman’s target. Therefore, C.S. Gen. Gustavus Smith decided to send the militia where they were needed. Smith would stay behind to work on logistics. He ordered inexperienced commander C.S. Gen. Pleasant Jackson Phillips to “halt before Griswoldville and wait for further orders.” Phillips was a former banker and plantation owner who had kept warm through the night by drinking liquor.

As the militia approached Griswoldville, smoke could be seen billowing in the distance. The men, who were from local counties, rode by the smoldering remains of the destroyed village, witnessing how the Federals left a town. Smith sent word to “avoid a fight with a superior force,” but Phillips had between 2,300 to 2,400 men and four 12-pdr. Napoleons. For reasons never fully explained, Phillips decided to attack.

Around 3 p.m., the Federals were surprised to see the Confederates running across the 200-yard open field with bayonets fixed, flags aloft, as C.S. Capt. Ruel Anderson’s 14th Light Artillery shelled the Yankees. The Federals returned fire. The oncoming rebels “fell one after another. I ran some 30 or 40 yards and lay down by a stump and while lying there, I was struck on the arm, which caused me to lose the use of it. The bullets struck the stump and cut the ground on either side,” wrote Pvt. A. J. Jackson, 2nd Regiment, Georgia State Line.

U.S. Capt. Albert Arndt, Battery B, 1st Mich. Artillery, returned fire with his two 3-inch ordnance rifles. Shot, Arndt came to and discovered that a “bullet had passed through my overcoat, blouse and vest.” Arndt lay awaiting the end as, “the shells exploding in all directions around me. At the same time their infantry came charging and re-charging across the field, determined to capture our commands, which they would have done if it had not been for

one regiment of infantry behind the works with their 16-shooters [Spencer repeating rifles], and the pluck and determination of General Walcutt to hold his ground.”

Walcutt was shot in the thigh and removed from the field. Col. Robert F. Catterson took command and immediately called for reinforcements. Realizing he was not dead; Arndt pulled his shirt apart and found his saber belt plate had “saved my life.” During the fight, three of his men lost limbs and six horses were killed. Determined not to lose the cannon, men took the place of horses to draw the guns from the field.

The battle ended at dusk. As the Federals advanced across the abandoned field they found, “old grey haired and weakly looking men and little boys, not over 15 years old, lay dead or writhing in pain. I hope we will never have to shoot at such men again. They knew nothing at all about fighting, and I think their officers knew as much,” wrote U.S. Capt. Charles Wills, 103rd Ill. Infantry. Perhaps as an explanation for their persistence, one mortally wounded rebel, “making a feeble gesture with his hand, said: ‘my neighborhood is ruined, these people are all my neighbors.’”

Afterwards some would blame

Philips for the unnecessary battle. Others would point out that the Confederates left the field without surrendering. However, one militiaman protested a Macon newspaper crediting Wheeler’s cavalry as the Confederate force at the Battle. “Wheeler’s cavalry had nothing to do with it,” the writer protested. It was the militia that “had the honor of the fight.” That force, he added, contained “good fighting stock, though much ridiculed.”

Sources:

Trudeau, Noah Andre. Southern Storm: Sherman’s March to the Sea: HarperCollins Books, 2008

• Bragg, William Harris. Griswoldville: Mercer University Press, 2000 Jones, Robert C. The Battle of Griswoldville: An Infantry Battle On Sherman’s March To The Sea: rcjbooks.com, 2013

• Scaife, William Robert and Bragg, William Harris. Joe Brown’s Pets: The Georgia Militia, 1861–1865: Mercer University Press, 2004

Stephanie Hagiwara is the editor for Civil War in Color.com and Civil War in 3D.com. She also writes a column for History in Full Color. com that covers stories of photographs of historical interest from the 1850’s to the present. Her articles can be found on Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest.

Gen. Charles C. Walcutt. Colorization © 2019 civilwarincolor. com. Courtesy civilwarincolor.com/cwn. (Library of Congress)

Texas brigadier To The fall of aTlanTa john bell hood

by Stephen Davis

In this work, the first of two volumes, John Bell Hood’s rise in rank is chronicled. In three years, 1861–1864, Hood rose from lieutenant to full general in the Confederate army. Davis emphasizes Hood’s fatal flaw: ambition. Hood constantly sought promotion, even after he had found his highest level of competence as division commander in Robert E. Lee’s army. As corps commander in the Army of Tennessee, his performance was good, but no better. Promoted to succeed Johnston, Hood did his utmost to defend Atlanta against Sherman. In this latter effort he failed. Dec 2019 • $35, hardcover

an everlasTing CirCle leTTers of The haskell family of abbeville, souTh Carolina, 1861–1865

edited by Karen Stokes

This outstanding collection of eloquent, compelling letters is unusual in that it includes the correspondence of seven brothers in arms. The Haskell brothers were literate, well-educated men, most of whom became officers highly regarded for their ability, courage, and character. Their letters are particularly strong in documenting the beginning days of the war in Charleston, as well as many significant battles in Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Oct 2019 • $35, hardcover

Camp ogleThorpe

maCon’s unknown Civil war prisoner of war Camp, 1862–1864

by Stephen Hoy and William Smith

The history of Camp Oglethorpe is largely overshadowed by that of nearby Camp Sumter in Andersonville, Georgia. It exists primarily as a footnote in the telling of Civil War prison narratives. A comprehensive reckoning reveals a saga that brings to light Camp Oglethorpe’s decades-long role as a military training ground for Georgia’s volunteer regiments and as a venue for national agricultural fairs which drew thousands of visitors to Macon. Its proud heritage, however, attracted the attention of leaders of the Confederate government. To the chagrin of Macon’s citizens, the acreage at the foot of Seventh Street was surreptitiously repurposed for brief periods in 1862 and 1864. March 2019 • $35, hardcover

Use coupon code MUPNEWS to receive a 20% discount on website or phone orders. Free USPS Media Mail shipping applies to Continental US addresses only. 866-895-1472

www.mupress.org

$30, paperback

$35, hardback $35, hardback $35, hardback

$40, hardback $35, hardback

$35, hardback $35, hardback $35, hardback $35, hardback $30, paperback $19, paperback

Ohio in the War: Her Statesman, Generals, and Soldiers

and Western Theaters and established close connections with the Republican Party in Washington City. Postwar, Reid traveled throughout the South and published a book, After the War a Southern Tour. While living in Alabama, Reid wrote a compelling narrative of his native state's involvement in the war. Entitled Ohio in the War: Her Statesman, Generals, and Soldiers, this two-volume set remains a valuable resource when studying the Buckeye State.

Agate: 1: a hard stone, sometimes referred to as a bloodstone; 2: pseudonym under which Whitelaw Reid wrote of various battles during the American Civil War. Serving as a war correspondent for the Cincinnati Gazette, Reid indeed witnessed his share of bloody stones during the two days of fighting at Shiloh in April 1862. During the war, he covered military action in the Eastern

Covering the politicians and officers from the state, Reid offers mini-bios on most of the officers, and illustrations depicting many of them populate the 1,050 pages in volume one. Researchers might expect to find longer accounts of Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, and the like, and one does, but not at the expense of shortchanging others. Both volumes contain woodcuts and illustrations, but the first also includes several maps and a detailed account of 'The Morgan Raid Through Ohio.'

Anyone researching Ohio during the war may benefit most from volume two, as Reid turned his pen toward the fighting men. Throughout the 949 pages, researchers can glean essential details on the various infantry,

cavalry, and artillery regiments Ohio contributed to the war. Reid also covered irregular units in his account. For example, the 21st Ohio Infantry section begins (like for all other regiments listed) showing a roster of the various officers serving in the 21st during the war.

Following each roster listing, one will find a regimental history. These accounts vary from six to eight pages, but with the small type font used in the book, quite a bit of information exists. Reid closed the introduction to his work with a degree of apprehension. "Here are many pages and many efforts to do some justice to features in the war history of our noble state….and yet – who can write worthily of what Ohio has done?” Mr. Reid, you did just fine, sir!

Researchers can view both volumes online at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006252377, or perhaps purchase an original (1868) or a reprint set at various online bookstores. Remember to check https://www.worldcat.

Officer illustrations.

Whitelaw Reid. (Library of Congress)

Map of Sherman’s Carolinas Campaign in volume one.

Book cover.

org for a local library, which may have this work. One note of caution when searching for the volumes online. Many reprints exist, but they do not contain Reid's complete work. If one finds the book at a 'too good to be true' price–then, you probably have not located the full-version. Again, volume one contains 1,050 pages; volume two, 949. Conduct your search using the book’s title, and 'Whitelaw Reid.’

Next month, we will explore additional primary sources. Until then, good luck in researching the Civil War!

Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, instructor, and a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, the Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, the Georgia Association of Historians, and the Georgia Writers Association. Readers may contact him at mkscdr11@gmail.com, or to request speaking engagements, via his website www.civilwarhistorian.net. Follow Michael on Facebook www.facebook.com/ michael.k.shaffer and Twitter @ michaelkshaffer.

Officer roster from 21st Ohio Infantry Regiment.

2nd North Carolina Cavalry KIA Identified Cavalry Sword

By Shannon Pritchard

The cavalry sword shown here is the classic Confederate cavalry sword. There has long been a controversy as to the maker of this sword. Some say Kenansville because it is usually found in the same scabbard as the Kenansville cavalry sword; however, nothing else about the sword resembles a Kenansville product. It has also been suggested that this is a Boyle and Gamble because of the similarity of the grip and pommel to the Boyle and Gamble cavalry officer’s sabre, though the basket is totally different.

I own two of this pattern and have seen many more in early Boyle and Gamble scabbards that were unquestionably original to the swords. This presents several possibilities, one, that someone was making scabbards and

selling them to both Boyle and Gamble and Kenansville. This is very likely as it required a different skill set to make a scabbard than those needed to make a sword. It is also known that Boyle and Gamble out sourced their officer’s sword scabbards to the Bosher Carriage Company. There are also several other sword makers, most notably, William McElroy and E.J. Johnston, who shared common foundry men and other craftsmen. Finally, there are several North Carolina guns that share common component parts. In short, there can be no doubt that out sourcing was common throughout the Confederacy. Another possibility is that this sword is a third Kenansville pattern, but this seems unlikely because Kenansville already had two models similar to each

other, both of which usually utilize Roman numeral bench numbers. Bench numbers are never found on the sword type shown here. It is my personal firm belief that this is a Boyle & Gamble’s enlisted man’s cavalry sword. This sword was carried by Corporal Grier R. Black, Company B, 2nd North Carolina Cavalry, until he was killed while wielding it in battle.

Black enlisted as Corporal of Company B on June 18, 1861, at Statesville, N.C. Surprisingly even at this early date he enlisted “for the war,” when most usually enlisted for a year. He was present with his company continually until July 28, 1862, when he was killed on Monday, July 28, 1862 at “French’s,” 13 miles from Newbern, N.C.

Corporal Black’s sword has an important label affixed to its scabbard that reads:

“Captured by David Honeywell from Lieut. Black of Co. D. 2nd North Carolina Confederate Army, who was killed in a skirmish at French’s Plantation, Newburgh Pa Sept 12, 1862”.

There are several mistakes in this label. Black was a Corporal, not a Lieutenant; he was in Company B, not Company D, and it should have read Newbern,

N.C., July 28, 1862, instead of Newburg, Penn., Sept 12, 1862. It is quite clear how this misinformation came to pass. The label is old, but there was once an older label or tag with the sword, and it had so faded that whoever put the second label on could not read it properly. However, the recorded events related to “Lieut. Black” and David Honeywell, leave no doubt as to its real history.

The 2nd NC Cavalry had been picketing in the vicinity of Newbern throughout the spring of 1862 and had fought several engagements. At the time the regiment was poorly equipped. The North Carolina legislature had sent a request to North Carolina’s governor, that he send an envoy to determine the “deficiencies of said regiment in horses, arms

and equipments” in February. As a result, on March 11, 1862, Governor Henry Clark wrote the Confederate Secretary of War that “We tried in vain to get swords or carbines. This regiment was received by you but partly armed (from necessity). They are without sabers, although we spared neither effort nor money. We did engage from the Eastvan & Froelich sword factory at Wilmington, and paid high prices, but three fourths of the swords proved worthless.” …. “If you can let them have sabers they will be useful.” The appeal had the desired result; the regiment was issued Boyle and Gamble enlisted cavalry swords, as witnessed by the new condition of Corporal Black’s saber.

The Official Records have the

Richmond, Virginia’s Boyle & Gamble manufactory produced this enlisted cavalry sword in early 1862. (All photos OldSouthAntiques.com)

Label on the scabbard.

July & August muster roll for Co. B, 2nd NC Cav., which gives an account of Corporal Black’s death: “On the 28 July, 1862, a portion of the company thirty in number was engaged in a skirmish with a combined force of cavalry & infantry of the enemy in which one sergeant, one corporal & eight men with twenty horses were taken prisoners. Corporal R G Black died a few hours afterwards of wounds received in the action.”

Amazingly the Official Records also contains a Yankee account of the engagement written by Charles D. Sanford, 27th Massachusetts: “Ascertaining from the residents that French’s, a notorious rebel nest, was only a mile and a half farther on, I immediately moved forward and came on the house very suddenly, it being almost entirely concealed by trees. Sending Company D to the right and the cavalry forward, we nearly surrounded the house. We expected to meet the entire rebel force in that section there, and I therefore ordered charge and a fire while charging, considering it the shortest manner of ending the affair. The whole was well executed and promptly by the men. They fired a volley through the windows and yard, the volley being the first intimation the rebels had of our presence. They ran quickly, but only 4 escaped, 1 of them being wounded in the leg. The prisoners were brought in from the swamp and placed under guard and the house searched. Nothing was found of any value but a few sabers, the rifles and pistols being mostly worthless and condemned. Some 20 good horses were captured, only 4

Comments from Our Readers

“I have read your new Barnard book with great interest and pleasure. It should be in the library of every student of the Atlanta Campaign.”

David Evans

Author of Sherman’s Horsemen: Union Cavalry Operations in the Atlanta Campaign

“I applaud Steve Davis’ selection and use of George Barnard’s photographs, which are seen on the printed page all too rarely. Davis takes readers on a visual journey from the earliest days of the Atlanta Campaign to Union capture of the city while zooming into the many details hidden in the depths of Barnard’s glass plate negatives. With introductory information and professionally curated and described photographs, Steve Davis presents a book from which casual Civil War buffs and serious Civil War photography students will benefit.”

Garry Adelman

Vice President, Center for Civil War Photography

“I’m thrilled with your very crisp, readable, easily grasped-yet-informative book. AND—it has the image quality and detail people love.”

Gordon L. Jones

Senior Military Historian and Curator, Atlanta History Center

“The first thing I look for and see in any volume of Civil War photos is the quality of reproduction, and Stephen Davis’ 100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Atlanta Campaign easily passes that test, with rich and appealing reproductions, many from the original glass negatives. Davis also distinguishes his work by showing many of the fascinating details that emerge only with a closer examination of the images. The study and presentation of Civil War photography has become increasingly specialized and detailed in the past 50 years, and Davis’ book exemplifies that and represents another significant addition to the field.”

Bob Zeller

escaping. The wounded of the enemy were placed in a wagon and sent under charge of the cavalry to the railroad. … we took 10 prisoners, 1 dead man being unintentionally left behind unburied, and 1 dying (Corp. Grier Black, of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina) on the return home…The prisoners…had been at French’s some three weeks.”

After his death, the 21-year-old Corporal Black`s body was interred in Iredell County’s Coddle Creek Church Cemetery. David Honeywell sent his captured sword to his own home in New York. Honeywell survived the War and afterwards he displayed it in the Union Veterans Union Hall, Washington, D.C., where he served as an officer.

The sword’s brass guard has a leather covered grip, and is wound with a copper wire wrap, both of which are virtually intact. The grip and guard remain as tight as they were when new. The blade is in virtually new condition. The scabbard is crudely lapped and has a brass throat and ring mounts. The rings and drag are iron. The scabbard is also in nearly new condition and, with the exception of a few paint chips, the original paint is intact.

Shannon Pritchard has authored numerous articles relating to the authentication, care and conservation of Confederate antiques, including several cover articles and is the author of the definitive work on Confederate collectibles, the widely acclaimed Collecting the Confederacy, Artifacts and Antiques from the War Between the States, and is co-author of Confederate Faces in Color.

President, Center for Civil War Photography

“I have a small roller-type book cart next to my desk, where I keep only special reference books, which I frequently consult in my research and writing. This title now has a place on the cart! I congratulate you on an engaging narrative to accompany the photographs you and I treasure. A job well done!”

Michael K. Shaffer, Instructor

Kennesaw State University and Emory University, Kennesaw, Ga.

George McClellan –November 1, 1861

The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and most importantly, the print maker or artist’s goals.

Aside from Grant and Lee, General George Brinton McClellan was the runner up favorite subject of artists, print makers and sellers during and after the war.

He is well known to Civil War scholars and not held in the highest regard. He came to Lincoln’s attention after early, minor victories in West Virginia and a brief command post in Ohio. After the debacle at First Manassas, Lincoln named McClellan commander of the newly forming Army of the Potomac. The recently minted “hero” made a grand entrance into Washington and soon began building a sizable

army, much larger than his imagined foes lurking in the Virginia countryside. His training and drill of new recruits molded them into a fighting force that boosted morale and hope in the North. In his new role, he wrestled with his mentor Winfield Scott, who officially “retired” for health reasons; unofficially, because he and McClellan were oil and water. With Scott removed, Lincoln named McClellan General-inChief of all Federal armies. His appointment on November 1, 1861, marked the high point in his meteoric rise to the top. When Lincoln expressed concern over the larger responsibilities of commander and general in chief, McClellan responded as only he could: “I can do it all.”1

Printmakers jumped on the McClellan bandwagon; the first was John H. Bufford, who we

have portrayed in earlier columns. McClellan had only just taken command when Bufford managed to bridge the “gap between image and accomplishment,” that historian Harold Holzer calls an illusion. McClellan soon realized that his new position caused him to remain in the rear and direct the action from a safe place, not as Bufford depicted him in the thick of battle, “his hand resting on an artillery piece aimed at the enemy.”2

The obscure lithographic and publishing firm of D. J. Byrnes of Boston rushed out a print of McClellan by artist G. W. Simons, (an unknown artist) that it deposited in the Library of Congress one month after McClellan’s promotion, December 7, 1861. Byrnes captured the Napoleonic image of the commander on horseback, wearing an elaborate uniform, plumed headgear, and surrounded by several comrades, many of them Revolutionary War Continentals.3 Unfortunately, both Byrnes and Simons have slipped from the historical record. Not to be outdone by the large eastern lithographic companies and partnerships, Cincinnati became a major player in establishing a national market for its prints. As early as 1850, the George Gibson Company advertised in the Daily Cincinnati Commercial, “lithographic printing in gold and colors.” Gibson, like so many printers/lithographers of the period, was an immigrant. By the end of the decade, the firm had customers in Canada and Nova Scotia.4 After the war, the firm specialized in greeting cards until 2000, when it was bought by the American Greeting Card Company.5 Their print of little Mac on a horse brings the image closer to the American ideal. McClellan is now waving a kepi rather than the plumed formal headgear of earlier portraits. He is on an energetic steed galloping over a dead or dying, Confederate soldier as his wellfed, disciplined, and loyal men

in the background march under the stars and stripes. His staff and subordinates are dutifully behind him, stage right.

McClellan would resurrect this image later in the war, not as a leading military man, but as

the nominee of the Democratic Party in opposition to his old boss, Abraham Lincoln. The lithographic companies galvanized their presses and turned to images of McClellan the candidate, in countless cartoons both

Major Genl. McClellan on horseback. Gibson & Co., Cincinnati.

Bufford lithograph of Mac., 1862. (All prints Library of Congress)

supporting and in opposition to the nominee. They are ample material for a stand-alone article.

Endnotes:

1. Stephen W. Sears, George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon, New York: Ticknor

& Fields, 1988, 125. Hereafter, Sears, McClellan.

2. Harold Holzer, Mark E. Neely, Jr. The Union Image: Popular Prints of the Civil War North.

Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2000, 37.

Hereafter, Holzer, Union Image.

3. Holzer, Union Image, 37.

4. Peter Marzio. Chromolithography, 1840–1900: The Democratic Art, Pictures for a 19th Century America. Boston: David R. Godine, Publisher. 1979, 13132, 134.

5. Jay T. Last. The Color Explosion: Nineteenth-Century American Lithography. Santa Ana: Hillcrest Press, 2005, 84

D. J. Byrnes signed on stone, G. W. Simons, c. 1861-Mac on Horseback.

After 43 years in the museum field, Salvatore Cilella now spends his time writing and is the author of several articles and books. His last professional position was President and CEO of the Atlanta History Center. His most recent books are Upton’s Regulars: A History of the 121st New York Volunteers in the Civil War (U. Press Kansas, 2009) and The Correspondence of General Emory Upton, 1856–1881 (U. Tennessee Press, 2017) edited. His two-volume Correspondence of Major General Emory Upton, is the recipient of the 2017–2018 American Civil War Museum’s Founders Award for outstanding editing of primary source materi als. He is currently editing a man uscript of Upton’s letters to his wife 1868–70, which the Oklahoma University Press will publish early 2020.

100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Atlanta Campaign collection of George Barnard’s camera work. Most of the photographs are from Barnard’s time in Atlanta, mid-September to mid-November 1864, during the Federal occupation of the city. With this volume, Stephen Davis advances the scholarly literature of Barnardiana.

$19.95 + $3.50 shipping 128 pages, photographs, maps, bibliography. $19.95 + $3.50 shipping. Softbound. ISBN: 978-1-61850-151-6. www.HistoricalPubs.com.

Order online at www.HistoricalPubs.com or call 800-777-1862

“Sweep the field with the

Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson at Gaines’ Mill

The Atlanta Campaign

City of Philadelphia Home Guard M1816

Percussion Conversion Musket

With the April 12, 1861, firing on Fort Sumter and the subsequent outbreak of hostilities that was the American Civil War, a concerted effort was made in cities, counties, and states on both sides to organize and arm the militia. Such activities had been going on since the late 1850s, particularly in the South, where the coming conflict was certainly no surprise. However, after April 12, 1861, attempts to organize military forces were redoubled. In northern states bordering states that had seceded, that effort often focused on establishing a significant force of “Home Guard” to protect the state, counties, and cities in the case of a Confederate invasion.

According to the 1860 Census, Philadelphia was the second largest city in the United States, with a population of more than 500,000 people; some 180,000 more people than in the ten largest southern cities combined! The Pennsylvania border with Virginia (later to be West Virginia), the strong southern sympathies in bordering Maryland, and the fact that slave holding Delaware was just across the river, combined to place Philadelphia in a potentially precarious position. Additionally, its manufacturing and economic power made Philadelphia an attractive target for a southern attack. These fears led to the City Council to propose a measure on April 18, 1861, to spend some $10,000 to arm and equip a local militia for the city’s defense.

George Moller notes that the

bill also authorized creating a special committee to oversee the expenditures and create the organization that would become the city’s Home Guard. The next day, the council officially voted to approve the measure, appropriating five times as much money, some $50,000, “for the use of a Home Guard or any other company hereafter to be formed for defense of the city.” Very quickly thereafter, on April 20, Augustus Pleasanton was appointed colonel of the Home Guard by Mayor Alexander Henry and less than thirty days later, on May 16, 1861, the Pennsylvania state legislature codified the Philadelphia Home Guard. This act formally authorized creation of five regular infantry regiments, one light infantry regiment, one cavalry regiment, and two artillery regiments.

The next step was to arm the new Home Guard. The city soon received authorization to obtain up to 5,000 percussion muskets on loan from the Frankford Arsenal, with the understanding that the arms were subject to recall as needed by the Federal Government. Some 3,800 arms were temporarily issued from the arsenal for the Philadelphia Home Guard, but by October 1861, the Ordnance Department was already recalling the guns for the newly raised Union volunteer regiments, and by January 1862, they had all been returned.

These were not the only small arms that had been obtained by the Philadelphia Home Guard. As soon as the force had been officially authorized, established, and was funded, agents started to purchase arms. The buyers looked to long time Philadelphia based arms retailer Joseph C. Grubb & Company, as well as international arms dealer Herman Boker & Company. From sources such as Grubb and Boker, the city managed to purchase some 3,400 long arms. These included 600 Prussian muskets (mostly M1809 and M1839 “Potsdams,” some rifled), 500 Prussian M1849 German Federation

naval muskets, 1,000 Enfield rifles with saber bayonets, and 1,300 “chambered breech muskets with Maynard primers.” It is generally believed that these last 1,300 guns were sold to the Home Guard by Grubb, likely along with other arms as well. All the purchases were inspected by longtime Philadelphia based gunmaker and retailer Andrew Wurfflein, who stamped his name near the breech of the guns that he inspected. The guns were also marked with a three-line ownership stamp: CITY / OF / PHILADA, with the lower line in an upward arc.

Among the 1,300 “chambered breech muskets with Maynard primers” were some interesting variants of the standard Remington-Maynard altered U.S. Model 1816 muskets. As the guns were apparently sourced from Grubb, it is not clear exactly how the company obtained them, or in what configuration they were originally obtained. A description of the standard RemingtonMaynard altered guns and the unique Philadelphia guns is necessary to proceed with the story and then to analyze them.

The Philadelphia guns were later production U.S. Model 1816 muskets (mostly Type II and Type III guns; really officially designated as U.S. M1822 and M1828 muskets) altered to percussion using the chambered breech pieces and Maynard automatic priming locks supplied to Frankford Arsenal by E. Remington & Sons of Ilion, NY. The standard Frankford Arsenal RemingtonMaynard alteration of the guns, cut approximately 1 inch off the rear of the barrel, threaded on the Remington made chambered breech, rifled the bore, added a long range U.S. M1855 pattern rear sight, a new, taller iron front sight blade, and installed the Remington manufactured Maynard automatic priming lock with a U.S. arsenal produced M1855 style hammer. The locks were marked by Remington at their tails, along with their date of manufacture, and the tangs of the breeches were dated as well.

The Philadelphia guns were dramatically different. Typically, the locks were unmarked, the Maynard magazine door was welded and/or pinned shut, a civilian sporting style percussion hammer was installed, and the top of the Maynard primer’s lock “hump” was ground down to allow the civilian hammer to clear the area and hit the percussion cone. Since the hammers used on the Frankford conversions were U.S. Arsenal and not contractor produced hammers, these were not likely available as

surplus, thus the necessity to use readily available civilian pattern hammers. The guns were not rifled, received no long-range rear sights, and no new front sights either.

In most cases, the internal feed parts of the Maynard lock were never installed, and while the unique Maynard tumbler was used for many locks, the tumbler was never fitted with the feed arm or any other Maynard priming system parts. The work is clearly not up to arsenal specifications or quality, suggesting that the alterations were performed by Grubb or a contractor for Grubb. Although the section on these muskets in George Moller’s American Military Shoulder Arms Volume III is quite good, Moller makes no attempt to investigate or hypothesize about actual origin of these guns, beyond the fact that they were purchased from Grubb.

Analyzing a couple of known examples, as well as the example offered here, it is clear that these are not modified U.S. Remington-Maynard altered muskets, but rather U.S. M1816 pattern muskets that have been altered using some surplus parts from the Remington project, parts that were likely obtained from Frankford Arsenal and possibly directly from Remington.

The chambered breech pieces appear to be standard delivery Remington breeches that are dated on the tang. These parts bear numeric mating marks that mate them to their barrels that are separate and different from any other mating marks that may appear on the muskets. The locks appear to use what may have been unfinished or possibly condemned Remington-Maynard locks that were then adapted for use in the Philadelphia guns. The lack of external markings, the lack of internal tape priming parts in most examples, as well as the lack of facility to attach these parts to the tumbler, suggests that many locks were assembled from available components on hand, which were in various stages of finish.

The guns typically bear assembly or production numbers that appear to be in addition to any original assembly marks, often with a number stamped on the barrel and a matching one written in pencil in the barrel channel of the stock. Buttplates are often devoid of “US” markings, and the stocks are often void of cartouches or percussion alteration rating marks. This suggests that Grubb may have obtained some (or all) of these guns from state inventories of flintlock muskets, where the guns had originally been purchased by a state and not

the U.S. government. The guns were subsequently altered to percussion using a combination of surplus parts from Frankford Arsenal and Remington, then reassembled, inspected by Wurfflein, marked, and issued to the Philadelphia Home Guard.

The pictures accompanying this article show a very good complete example of a City of Philadelphia Home Guard M1816 percussion conversion musket. It is all original with the exception of an old, replaced ramrod and a replaced sling swivel. The gun has the expected CITY / OF / PHILADA mark on top of the chambered breech and is also marked with the A. WURFFLEIN inspection below on the left breech quadrant. As is typical of these guns, the lock is unmarked. The tang of the breech is dated 1856, a normal date for the Remington produced chambered breech. The gun is marked with the assembly number 8 on nearly every part, with the exception of the rear lock screw, marked 3, and the lock which has no assembly mark. The lack of an assembly mark on the lock suggests that the 8 is an original assembly mark from the gun’s flintlock manufacturer.

The top of the barrel is stamped with the number 143 behind the rear barrel band and the matching number is written in the stock’s barrel channel in pencil. This number is likely from the alteration process, serving as both a reassembly number and a way of tracking the number of guns converted. There are no visible cartouches on the stock, nor any indication that there ever were; there is no US on the buttplate and the usual plethora of small U.S. Ordnance Department sub-inspection marks are not present either, all indicative of a gun originally produced on contract for a state, not the Federal Government. The only other markings are a small F on the triggerguard and the number 4 stamped over another mark on the socket bayonet stud, clearly a mating mark for the bayonet that had been fit to the gun.

Tim Prince is a full-time dealer in fine & collectible military arms from the Colonial Period through WWII. He operates College Hill Arsenal, a web-based antique arms retail site. A long time collector & researcher, Tim has been a contributing author to two major book projects about Civil War era arms including The English Connection and a new book on southern retailer marked and Confederate used shotguns. Tim is also a featured Arms & Militaria appraiser on the PBS Series Antiques Roadshow.

Overall obverse and reverse views of the City of Philadelphia Home Guard musket.

Altered lock of the City of Philadelphia musket, showing the pinned and welded tape primer door with ground down “hump” and lack of markings. (All photos by Tim Prince)

Counterpane of the City of Philadelphia musket showing the lack of US inspection marks and the assembly numbers.

Breech view of the City of Philadelphia musket showing the ownership and inspection marks, Remington breech date, original assembly number “8” and alteration assembly number “143.”

Bayonet mating mark on lug near muzzle.

Buttplate with no “US” markings, only the assembly number “8.”

“I think that one defect in Gen. Jackson’s character as a soldier was his religious belief.”—E.

Porter Alexander

Last month I recounted the story of E. Porter Alexander’s Fighting for the Confederacy and how the book came to be. In addition, I related an anecdote about audacity. In the spring of 1862, Alexander, and the entire Confederacy, knew relatively little about Robert E. Lee, the new commander blocking McClellan’s path to Richmond. A fellow officer predicted to Alexander that the new chief was “audacity personified.” The forecast proved right. Lee displayed boldness in great abundance, greater sometimes than Alexander thought prudent.

The editor of this long lost work, Gary Gallagher, wrote that one characteristic making the memoir an interesting read and a valuable resource for historians is the writer’s candor. The work contains numerous blunt assessments of the army’s record and the performance of its officers. One example of this candor is Alexander’s account of the Seven Days Battles.

Looked at one way, this 1862 series of battles in late June and

the first of July was an astonishing success. Lee’s counter-offensive drove McClellan from Richmond, knocked the Federals off balance, and opened the way for a war of maneuver in which Lee and his army held the initiative for a full year.

Viewed another way, the battles were a keen disappointment, as Lee was aiming for more: the destruction of McClellan’s army and a morale-killing setback— and possibly a knockout blow— to the Federal war effort.

Why did the offensive succeed? And why did it fail?

Let’s answer the first question briefly: Lee’s audacity, McClellan’s caution, and Hood’s Texas Brigade at Gaines’ Mill.

For the second question, let’s see what General Alexander had to say.

One defect that he stressed was the poor organization of the Army of Northern Virginia. Except for the three divisions under Stonewall Jackson, “all… divisions received orders direct from Gen. Lee….” There were “too many independent commands to be efficiently handled by the commanding officer.” This flaw led to problems throughout the fighting. Again and again Alexander lamented the uncoordinated, piecemeal attacks in which the Confederates failed to

GEORGIA’S CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS

In Honor of a Fallen Nation

Gould B. Hagler, Jr.

This unique work contains a complete photographic record of Georgia’s memorials to the Confederacy, a full transcription of the words engraved upon them, and carefully-researched information about the monuments and the organizations which built them. These works of art and their eloquent inscriptions express a nation’s profound grief, praise the soldiers’ bravery and patriotism, and pay homage to the cause for which they fought.

www.mupress.org

866-895-1472 toll-free

ever to mass our guns in effective numbers.” There were a few batteries in reserve “under old Gen. Pendleton.” More about Pendleton later, when the assessments get more personal.

We must keep in mind that no one North or South had experienced war on this scale or led armies as large as the ones facing each other east of Richmond.

Alexander put it this way: “As yet we were green & had to learn by experience.”

his staff officers, constantly, day & night, so that if the machine balks at any point he may be most promptly informed & may most promptly start to work.” During the Seven Days Lee was frustrated that his orders were not being obeyed. Alexander pointed out that Lee should have been, but was not, “receiving reports every half hour or oftener, & giving fresh orders as needed.”

use all their available manpower. Of the June 30 fight at Glendale, Alexander wrote, Longstreet and A.P. Hill “fought for all they were worth….” However, they fought alone, as “five other divisions, close up to the enemy, stretching off to our left, heard [the sounds of battle] & listened, & went into bivouac for the night without pulling a trigger.”

Alexander wrote that the artillery “was even in worse need of reorganization.” Each infantry brigade had one battery attached to it, and this “scattering of commands made it impossible

This inexperience applied to the generals and to privates as well. On June 26, When two green regiments of A.P. Hill’s division advanced into the valley of Beaver Dam Creek, “with its swamp & felled trees & creek & race—all within 200 yards of Fitz John Porter’s entrenched 20,000— they knew too little of war to turn back, but plunged on down & into the entanglement. There is no wonder, as the Federal officer wrote, their dead laid ‘like flies in a bowl of sugar.’”

One aspect of this inexperience was poor staff work. Of the Confederate experience in general Alexander wrote that “Scarcely any of our generals had half of what they needed to keep a constant & close supervision on the execution of important orders.” This inadequacy plagued the Confederacy throughout the Seven Days and throughout the war.

The buck stops with the boss, of course, and as much as he admired Robert E. Lee, Alexander would not exempt the general from criticism for his lax oversight of his plan.

“No commander of any army does his whole duty who simply gives orders, however well considered. He should supervise their execution, in person or by

The candid Alexander wrote that “the truth of history…ought to be told in justice to Gen. Lee.” Porter Alexander reserved his severest criticism for Stonewall Jackson. He recounted “how upon several occasions in the progress of the fighting…, Gen. Lee’s best hopes & plans were upset and miscarried…& he was prevented from completely destroying & capturing McClellan’s whole army & all its stores & artillery by the incredible slackness, & delay & hanging back, which characterized Gen. Jackson’s performance of his part of the work.”

Stonewall was late to the party because he observed the Sabbath on June 22. “Gen. Jackson started down to Richmond for a personal conference with Gen. Lee on the approaching event [i.e., the planned attack on McClellan], by rail, on Saturday, June 21. The train was due to arrive in Richmond about daylight Sunday morning & the conference might easily have been held on Sunday. But Gen. Jackson was unwilling to travel on Sunday, at least when such momentous events were in hand. So he left the train at Louisa C.H., spent the rest of the day and night with a friend, attended church, two or three times the next day, Sunday, & then, after 12 o’clock Sunday night, mounted his horse & rode the balance of the way to Richmond, about 60

Porter Alexander’s Critique of the Seven Days

General William Nelson Pendleton. (Library of Congress)

Battle at White Oak Swamp Bridge, by Alfred R. Waud. (Library of Congress)

November 2019

miles….”

Jackson met with Lee and other generals on Monday, then returned by horseback to his command. Alexander figured that “the time of the conference & the time of his return to his command, all were from 24 to 48 hours later than they need have been.”

Moreover, Stonewall exhausted himself. This long, two-way ride, the first leg of which was begun at 1:00 o’clock on Monday morning, after the conclusion of the Sabbath, was the beginning of the intense bout of fatigue that plagued Jackson during the Seven Days. Concerning Jackson’s religious fervor Alexander offered this remarkable commentary:

“For myself I think that the one defect in Gen. Jackson’s

character as a soldier was his religious belief. He believed, with absolute faith, in a personal God, watching all human events with a jealous eye to His own glory—ready to reward those people who made it their chief care, & to punish those who forgot about it. And he specially believed that a particular day had been set aside every week for the praise of this God, & that a personal account was strictly kept with every man as to how he kept this day & that those who disregarded it need expect no favors…. And I see in Gen. Jackson’s whole conduct during the Seven Days a sort of faith that he had God on his side & and could trust to Him for victory without overexerting himself & his men.”

Civil War News

Alexander also blamed the Sabbath observance for Jackson’s inaction on Sunday, June 29, the fifth day of battle. Jackson prayed, Alexander asserted, while General Magruder fought at Savage’s Station. Fatigue immobilized Jackson when he was not engaged in prayer. Alexander’s most vivid example of this is the episode at White Oak Swamp on June 30. Gen. Wade Hampton found a way to bridge the swamp and to get troops into the fight on the other side. Alexander described Jackson in a near stupor, too beat to respond or to give orders. He was unable even to say “go ahead” when Hampton asked permission to lead his own brigade across the swamp and into

battle. Jackson nodded and mumbled but gave no meaningful reply. “Gen. Hampton waited for further remarks, until the situation seem awkward, & then went back to his brigade.”

Alexander relayed a scandalous rumor about Jackson’s inactivity that circulated in the army, quoting an article written by Gen. D.H. Hill, Jackson’s brother-inlaw, who obviously gave some credence to this rumor. Hill wrote: “I think that an important factor in this inaction was Jackson’s pity for his own corps, worn out by long & exhausting marches, & reduced in numbers by many sanguinary battles. He thought that the garrison of Richmond ought to bear the brunt of the fighting.”

Regarding this statement by Hill, Alexander commented: “This seems…a most remarkable excuse to be tendered by a friend.”

Alexander blamed the religiosity more than the fatigue: “I

don’t think [the] excuse that his inaction was due to physical exhaustion will at all bear analysis. For three successive nights & two entire days, since the battle of Gaines’s Mill, he had been in camp near that battlefield. He had especially done nothing all day Sunday—although every hour then was precious. My own solution of the matter is that he thought that God could & would easily make up for any little shortcomings of his own & give us the victory anyhow.”

(Alexander did not reconcile this assessment with his description of the episode at White Oak Swamp, one which gives an impression of a general past exhaustion and nearing a state of catalepsy.)

Some Confederate officers who are often criticized for their performance at the Seven Days— Magruder, Holmes, and Huger, for example—get little attention in Alexander’s analysis.

Civil War Catalog

Featuring a large assortment of Civil War and Indian War autographs, accoutrements, memorabilia, medals, insignia, buttons, GAR, documents, photos, & books.

After Gaines Mill Sunday June 29th 1862, by Alfred R. Waud. (Library of Congress)

The Battle of Malvern Hill, Va. July 1st 1862, Currier and Ives. (Library of Congress)

But let’s return to “old General Pendleton,” who did merit some biting commentary.

The Confederates’ artillery was spread, battery by battery, among the army’s individual brigades. This system limited the army’s ability to concentrate artillery fire, a shortcoming that was especially harmful at Malvern

Hill. Gen. William Pendleton commanded the artillery reserve, several battalions comprising 20 or so batteries. What did Pendleton do with this force on July 1, when Lee’s infantryman charged against a murderous fire from Federal infantry and powerful artillery? Nothing, according to Alexander. “He reports that he

could neither find Gen. Lee nor any place on the field where he could get in with his guns. His report will convict him of having practically hidden himself out all day where nobody saw him, & no orders could find him.”

Alexander’s words of criticism were not reserved for these actors on the historical stage. He also

had something to say about the writers of history. On one page, after explaining his intention to describe Jackson’s failings, he added:

“But little has been said about this in the press. As compared with Longstreet’s alleged shortcomings at Gettysburg, nothing at all. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, in his life of Gen. Lee, devotes pages to the latter, & does not remotely refer to the former.”

This imbalance was so striking to Alexander that several pages later he raised this issue again. “But there is one thing about the accounts of Gettysburg which any one who has read some recent ones will note, & about which…I would like to say a word. Great blame is attached by some writers to Longstreet about Gettysburg. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee is a typical instance…. But little or nothing is ever said in print of this failure of Gen. Jackson just detailed. Fitz Lee’s book has not one single work about it.”

Alexander’s intent was not to denigrate Jackson, and neither was it to absolve Longstreet of all faults. His aim, he said, was historical accuracy. The suppression of Jackson’s failings at Seven Days “robs Gen. Lee of

the credit of what seems to me perhaps his greatest achievement.

As it was, within a month of taking command he scattered all the tremendous forces concentrated for his destruction & practically deposed McClellan, the ‘Young Napoleon,’ of the Federals.”

Afterwards, the Jackson of the Valley returned, and “upon every other battlefield afterward—Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, Harpers Ferry, Sharpsburg, & Fredericksburg, to his lamented death at Chancellorsville in May ’63— made a reputation unequalled in military annals. And just to think—it was practically all done within less than 12 months.”

Gould Hagler is a retired lobbyist living in Dunwoody, Ga. He is a past president of the Atlanta Civil War Round Table and the author of Georgia’s Confederate Monuments: In Honor of a Fallen Nation, published by Mercer University Press in 2014. Hagler speaks frequently on this topic and others related to different aspects of the Civil War and has been a regular contributor to CWN since 2016. He can be reached at gould.hagler@gmail.com.

Prayer in "Stonewall" Jackson's camp. (Library of Congress)

From the Editor

I’ve been doing some extra reading lately about Ambrose Burnside. Like the man who proceeded him and the man who succeeded him as commander of the Army of the Potomac, Burnside has become just one in a parade of readily mocked and easily dismissed characters. McClellan was a pompous, overcautious asshat. Hooker was an overconfident, hard-partying blowhard. Burnside was an idiot.

I’ve known Burnside for two decades now, and my view of him has evolved as I’ve gained a more nuanced understanding of his career and circumstances. I know him best from Fredericksburg and the Overland Campaign, and I’ll get to walk in his footsteps in Knoxville in October. While I don’t think he’s any underappreciated genius, there is more to the guy than meets the eye.

I recently wrapped up work

on a new edition of Grant’s Last Battle: The Story Behind the Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant.

Jared Harris, the wonderful actor who played Grant in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, wrote a foreword for the new edition. “It is an axiom of acting that one should never ‘judge’ the character you are playing, as it prevents you from making an empathetic connection,” he wrote of his experience learning about Grant.

This holds true for everyone we study in the Civil War. If we can avoid judging and instead look with empathy, then we can begin to come to a greater understanding of those people we’re learning about.

I was reminded of this over the summer as I read Ralph Peters’ new novel, Darkness at Chancellorsville. Peters told the story from multiple perspectives presenting each of his main characters in a way that made them relatable. I don’t know if I sympathized with Joe Hooker, but I could certainly empathize with him. Yes, Peters has an artistic license available to him as a novelist that a historian doesn’t have, but that doesn’t make the value of empathy any less important when it comes to history.

Consider what you know, or think you know, about Burnside or Hooker or McClellan, or Braxton Bragg or any of the other readily lampoonable people from the war. How might you benefit from knowing them a little better than you think you do?

— Chris Mackowski Editor-in-Chief

The Seventh Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge

We’re currently working on the line-up for our 2020 Symposium, which will be held August 7-9 at Stevenson Ridge on the Spotsylvania Battlefield. Our theme is “Fallen Leaders.” Our keynote speaker is Gordon Rhea, who’ll speak about Jeb Stuart’s loss at Yellow Tavern. Our tour: Greg Mertz will trace Longstreet’s wounding in the Wilderness.

Early-bird tickets now through December 31 at $155. Regular price tickets will be $175. Find out more, and order your tickets, on our website: https://emergingcivilwar.com/2020-symposium/.

10 Questions ... with Meg Groeling

Meg Groeling is ECW’s resident Elmer Ellsworth groupie and the inaugural member of our West Coast Bureau. She’s also the author of the ECWS book The Aftermath of Battle: The Burial of the Civil War Dead. We first profiled her in the September 2016 newsletter (https://conta. cc/2cWYRnP). You can read her full bio here: https://emergingcivilwar.com/author-biographies/ authors/meg-groeling/.

You’ve been writing a lot of book reviews for different places lately. That must mean your nose is in a book much of the time, doesn’t it?

I certainly have. I started reviewing books for ECW once in a while, and from there was asked to review for the newspaper Civil War News. I love reading that paper; it is a great addition to what I call Civil War Buffdom. As reenactors age out and the hobby changes, it is very gratifying to have a publication of that kind that is so well put together. It elevates us all, and I am proud to be a small part of that effort.

Additionally, I review for Louisiana State University’s online publication. I do two kinds of reviews; one is for current books and one is for older publications. My first review for what is called “Civil War Obscura” was Albion Tourgee’s A Fool’s Errand. I also did a big review of the several editions of Mary Chestnut’s Civil War or A Diary from Dixie. I compared the editions in publication, from the earliest to Pulitzer prize-winning C. Vann Woodward’s version. If it is out there, I reviewed it. It is fun to look at older books. They are mentioned often in what we read now and often do not seem dated at all.

As a reviewer, what trends are you seeing in Civil War publishing these days?

I am so glad you asked this question. I am a big Walt Whitman fan. He famously wrote that the “real story” of the war would never get into the books. I beg to differ, Mr. Whitman!

maybe vice versa?

Oh my goodness! Babies! No matter how awful and discouraging it is to deal with 2019, just the thought that there are little ones who need a wonderful world in which to live makes me even more determined to do my best.

We support the educational wing of the American Battlefield Trust and Colonial Williamsburg. I try to include something for younger listeners when I speak and in my giveaways. Holiday gifts come from gift shops at national parks, and we started a Little Free Library here at home. We can hardly wait to walk battlefields with our Cajun grandson and take our sweet baby granddaughter to a vintage Base Ball game—and vice-versa! Robert and I sit on the porch of our 1928 bungalow, hold hands, and hope for the future. We promise to do all we can to give those babies the past.

What’s next on tap for you?

I have been working with Mike Maxwell, an ECW reader and a great researcher, on a series of posts for the blog on Abraham, the slave who was “blown to freedom” at Vicksburg. I have been working with Damien Shiels on the 11th New York soldiers, and Chris Mackowski and I are knocking around ideas for a book or some sort of project concerning Walt Whitman.

How’s your buddy, Elmer Ellsworth, these days? (He’s still dead, but how’s your bio on him coming along?)

My buddy Colonel Ellsworth is doing just fine these days. We both fought the good fight and changed publishers, so Savas Beatie has the biography in hand. I agree that it should go to a general readership, and SB is a nice boss, as it were. I look forward to the book tour in—maybe—2020-2021.

The bio has led me to many other areas of interest, including Civil War baseball and the WideAwake movement. ECW has always been kind enough to let me write as much about baseball as possible, so this is great for me. Along with baseball, other areas of Victorian New York have caught my interest: Tammany Hall, Irish immigration, perhaps working with Irish archeologist and military historian Damien Shiels on finding out more about the men of the 11th New York. So there is plenty of stuff to pique my interest lately.

Historians are looking deeply into the soldier’s soul. Peter Carmichael just published The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies. Carmichael joins authors like George Rable, James Mendez, Jarret Ruminski, Ben Wynne, Joanne Freeman, Diane Somerville—the list goes on and on—who use primary sources from all arenas to examine just what made 19th century Americans tick. Nothing is off the table: fear, desertion, drink, drugs, night terrors, anxiety, and depression, even having to face losing the war is being examined.

As author Gertrude Stein said, “There never will be anything more interesting than that American Civil War.” Reviewing is intellectually exciting, in my opinion.

You became a grandmother since we last profiled you. How has having a grandchild influenced your view of history? Or

After doing an intense biography (Ellsworth!), I have become obsessed with finding out more about the men and women who make up the historical “B” list. I was proud of the photo essay of the nurse Susie that ECW ran. Putting that together introduced me to several terrific historians who collect photographs, manuscripts, etc. So I want to do more of that kind of work—making these folks come alive, sort of. Oh—and I will have a book tour coming up when First Fallen is published. That is going to be a nice way to thank all the folks who have helped me in so many ways.

Lightning Round (short answers):

Favorite primary source? –Right now it is the pension records of the men of the 11th New York. Those and the strange short articles Walt Whitman wrote for New York newspapers from 1855-ish to 1860, when he left to go to Washington. Did anyone realize he was a sports reporter??

Favorite Civil War-related monument? – I have two: one is the chair in Sherman’s office in Monterey, Calif. Just sitting there is bliss. The other is Elmer

Chris Mackowski

Ambrose Burnside made a name for himself during the campaign for the North Carolina Coast in early 1862.

Meg Groeling

Ellsworth’s grave at the Hudson View cemetery in the Malta/ Mechanicville area of New York. It is a beautiful obelisk. It centers the rest of the private plot that contains, among others, his brother Charley, and his parents. An iron fence surrounds the area, and it is quiet. You can hear the river flowing past, and the cicadas buzz in the heat. In the spring and early summer there are lightening bugs/fire flies. It is beautiful, calm, and elegant in an unpretentious way. I always cry and smile at the same time.

Favorite unsung hero of the Civil War era? – Well, I sing Ellsworth and the armies of those I love (sorry, Walt). He will always be the image of promise unfulfilled, the quintessential “Boy of ’61.” Would he have been successful? Would the Zouave drill, which differs in several ways from the regulation infantry drill, have become the seed of special forces, along with Berdan’s men? I don’t know, but I think about it all quite a bit.

What’s a bucket-list Civil War site you’ve not yet visited? – I want to see the Hunley! If I get to do a book tour in that area, it is definitely on my list. The forensics just fascinate me.

Favorite ECWS book that’s not one of your own? – I love them all and have read many of them more than once. I ordered Sarah Bierle’s book on New Market and look forward to reading it. I look forward to the day years from now when the entire ECW series is as famous as the Time-Life silver books. I know it will happen!

ECW News and Notes

Our congratulations to ECW Chief Historian Chris Kolakowski, who got married September 21! Please join us in sending warm wishes and to Chris and his bride.

Edward Alexander is working

out the logistics for multi-day Petersburg tours for a couple different groups next year. He has also teamed up with Kevin Pawlak and Rob Orrison, fellow ECWers, to finish up twelve maps to go on new wayside exhibits at Bristoe Station.

James Brooks has a piece in the September 2019 issue of the journal Civil War History. “The Last and Most Precious Memento:”

Photographic Portraiture and the Union Citizen-Soldier is “is the first extended examination of photographic portraiture’s relationship with the Union citizen-soldier of the American Civil War.” You can see more here: http://www.kentstateuniversitypress.com/2019/ sep-2019-volume-65-no-3/.

In the wake publishing his book 100 Significant Civil War Photographs: The Atlanta Campaign, Stephen Davis published an article in Civil War News that compared George Barnard’s photographic sketch book of “the Sherman Campaign” with Alexander Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War.

Kevin Pawlak has an article in the current issue of Civil War Times. “General Discord: Were Union Commanders Mad at Each Other During the 1862 Maryland Campaign” examines the conspiracy theory that a vengeful Fitz John Porter and George B. McClellan purposefully undermined Ambrose Burnside’s performance at the Battle of Antietam.

Following the retirement of long-time coordinator Ted Alexander, Chambersburg Civil War Seminars announced that Eric Wittenberg will be taking over in that capacity. “It’s the fulfillment of a life-long dream,” Eric admitted.

Civil War Monitor recently reviewed a bunch of books by ECW contributors:

• Jonathan Noyalas reviewed Sarah Kay Bierle’s ECWS book Call Out the Cadets: The Battle of New Market. Noyalas said, “Bierle’s book, like all those in the Emerging Civil War Series, is concise, profusely illustrated, cogently written, and engaging. Anyone interested in the Civil War era in the Shenandoah Valley will find this volume quite valuable.”

• Alexandre F. Caillot reviewed Dan Davis’s ECWS book

The Most Desperate Acts of Gallantry: George C. Custer in the Civil War. Caillot said the book “presents Custer’s Civil War accomplishments in clear and engaging prose, while its ample images and

Civil War News

battle maps place unfamiliar readers in the action.”

John Daley reviewed Greg Mertz’s ECWS book Attack at Daylight and Whip Them: The Battle of Shiloh. Daley’s glowing review concluded by saying “Mertz and the Emerging Civil War Series have given us excellent history in guidebook format.”

Jonathan M. Berkey reviewed Dave Powell’s Union Command Failure in the Shenandoah: Major General Franz Sigel and the War in the Valley of Virginia, May 1864. Berkey said the book provides a fresh perspective on the May 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaign. By shifting attention away from the VMI cadets to the Union military’s strategic goals and command structure, Powell adds nuance and depth to a well-studied campaign.

The Emerging Civil War Podcast

Our first Emerging Civil War podcast of September looked at Braxton Bragg amidst the “rock star egos” of the Confederate Army of Tennessee in the spring of 1862.

In our second podcast, Chief Historian Chris Kolakowski offered his thoughts about the Forgotten Battles featured at the Sixth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge. Listen along for only $1.99 each by subscribing at ECW’s Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/emergingcivilwar. Proceeds go to support podcast production.

Revolutionary War News

Revolutionary War and the city of Alexandria on September 28. Information and how to purchase tickets are available at: https:// emergingrevolutionarywar.org/ symposium/.

The schedule and times of speakers have been updated now as well.

Also, keep an eye (and ear out) for ERW historian Eric Sterner, who will be on Dispatches, the Podcast for the Journal of the American Revolution, sometime in October. We’ll be talking about the war on the Pennsylvania frontier. The Podcast link is here: http://www.jardispatches.podbean.com.

Speakers Bureau Spotlight

Sarah Kay Bierle serves as ECW’s managing editor, loves to research and write, and finds innovative ways to share or explore history.

Presentations:

• The New Market Campaign

• From Virginia to California: VMI, the Battle of New Market, and the Post-War Lives of 8 Cadets

• Awakened Hearts: The Power & Patriotism of Civilians (1861)

• Then Christmas Came: The Justification & Condemnation of War (1862)

• A City at War: Richmond, Virginia (1863)

• Fighting To Survive: Medical Care in the Shenandoah Valley (1864)

• Gettysburg Civilians: A New

Perspective on One of the Civil War’s Most Famous Battles

• To Save Lives: Civil War Medicine

• Dr. Hunter McGuire: Medical Director, Surgeon, Confidant

• Searching For The McGuires

• From California to Gettysburg: The Hancock Family

Descriptions about her talks and a full bio are available as part of the 2019-2020 ECW Speakers Bureau Brochure, available here: https://emergingcivilwar. com/upcoming-presentations/ speakers-bureau/.

September is marked in American history by many momentous and terrible events and tragedies. September 11th will always be marked as “the day the world stopped turning,” borrowing a phrase from country singer Alan Jackson. Prior to the events of September 11, 2001, the day was marked in American Revolutionary War history as the biggest—in terms of troops engaged and length of battle time— of any fight during that war, when the Americans and British met at Brandywine in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Before the troops fired muskets at each other, the colonies had to complete the rupture from Great Britain. How did that movement come about? Come learn about that in a day-long symposium held jointly by Emerging

Kevin Pawlak’s article in Civil War Times.

Sarah Kay Bierle

Our Contributors – Books on Their Cart

This idea spawned from CWN columnist Michael Shaffer, who wrote that Stephen Davis’ new book on the Atlanta Campaign was one that he would keep on his cart by his desk. I asked our CWN contributors to send in their lists of “books on their cart.” Here are their replies. – Jack W. Melton Jr., Publisher

Michael K. Shaffer

Some time back, I purchased Steve Davis’s recent work, 100 Significant Civil War Photographs – Atlanta Campaign. While talking with Steve, I mentioned this title now occupied a space ‘on my cart;’ a rolling-cart, which I keep beside my desk for ready access to frequently consulted works. Editor Jack Melton jumped on this idea and asked several columnists for CWN to submit a ‘Top 10’ listing of books on their own carts. Initially, the task seemed simple enough until I sat staring at the 95 books filling the shelves of my cart! Where to start? Not a simple decision, but after much thought, I managed to select my top 10 list, which appears below in the order I most frequently consult these resources.

Eicher, John H, and David J Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2001. Seldom does a day pass without my reaching for this helpful resource. As readers of CWN certainly know, various officers rose through the ranks during the American Civil War. Perhaps one served as a colonel at First Manassas/Bull Run, but later achieved the rank of a military general. In my writing, I use great caution to ensure references to officers contain the appropriate position for the time under study. The work of Eicher and Eicher provides a one-stop source for this information.

Irvine, Dallas. Military Operations of The Civil War: A Guide-Index to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861–1865. 9 vols. Washington, District of Columbia: National Archives & Records Administration, 1968–1980.

Irvine’s work simplifies the task of locating information found within the 128-volume The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.

Researchers can identify information from all three theaters of the war, and the nine volumes vary in content, from place names to chronological activity for each state. References to the O.R. Atlas included!

Davis, George B, Leslie J Perry, Joseph W Kirkley, and Calvin D Cowles. The Official Military Atlas of The Civil War. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2003. When studying a battle or campaign, maps prove a necessity, and the Atlas accompanying the Official Records serves as a great source to better understand the action on the field.

Faust, Patricia L. Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of The Civil War. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991.

A ready reference to locate bios of various individuals or find definitions of terms.

Boatner, Mark Mayo. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: Vintage Civil War Library, 1991. An excellent companion to Faust’s work!

Owens, Richard A. An Index to The Illustrations of Harper’s Weekly During the Civil War Years: 1861–1865. Fairfax, VA: Richard A. Owens, 2000. Harper’s Weekly, one of the few illustrated newspapers published during the year, can prove somewhat tricky to navigate when attempting to locate a specific illustration. This index really facilitates the search!

Quigley, Robert D. Civil War Spoken Here. Collingswood, N.J.: C.W. Historicals, 1993. Unsure of the proper pronunciation of a word, this source can help! When studying the military career of, for example, Brigadier General Arthur Manigault, Quigley reminds readers of the pronunciation (MAN-i-GOH). P.S. I verified Manigault’s rank courtesy of the Eichers.

Long, Everette B, Bruce Catton, and Barbara Long. The Civil War Day by Day. New York, NY: Da Capo Press, 1985.

Understanding how events transpired during the war, not in a vacuum, but amid activities occurring throughout the nation, remains essential when researching the war. Long’s resource offers an excellent guide to help one accomplish this goal.

Castel, Albert E. Decision in

The West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1995. Living in Georgia as I do, and frequently teaching, writing about, or lecturing on the Atlanta Campaign, Castel’s seminal work remains a trusted reference.

Candler, Allen Daniel. The Confederate Records of The State of Georgia. 3 vols. Atlanta: C.P. Byrd, State Printer, 1909. I frequently conduct research on many wartime activities here in Georgia, and this set serves an excellent source on events leading to secession, the papers of Governor Joe Brown, along with the governor’s correspondence.

Stephanie Hagiwara

Here are just some of the books I am reading. Some I have used as sources for my columns and I intend to enjoy the entire book.

Davis, Stephen. 100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Atlanta Campaign: Historical Publications, 2019.

I am getting a kick out of Davis’s comments on the pictures. I will be relating the story Ulysses S. Grant wrote about pre-war Braxton Bragg for years to come.

Roberts, Cokie. Capital

Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848–1868: Harper; Reprint edition, April 14, 2015.

Washington’s population exploded during the War. This is a captivating look at the War’s impact on its highly connected women residents.

DeRose, Chris. The Presidents’ War: Six American Presidents and the Civil War That Divided Them: Lyons Press, June 6, 2014

Five of his predecessors were alive when Lincoln was sworn in as President. Dealing with the previous Presidents and their various degrees of support or lack of, was part of Lincoln’s juggling act.

Hessler, James A., Sickles at Gettysburg: The Controversial Civil War General Who Committed Murder, Abandoned Little Round Top, and Declared Himself the Hero of Gettysburg: Savas Beatie, June 25, 2009. Well researched book on a guy who behaves like a fictional character in a nighttime soap opera.

Dickey, Christopher. Our Man in Charleston: Britain’s Secret Agent in the Civil War South: Broadway Books, Reprint edition July 26, 2016.

British consul Robert Bunch’s balancing act between the British need for cotton for its textile mills and ending slavery around the world.

Guelzo, Allen C. Fateful Lightning: A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Before he died, my father took up shopping. In acknowledgment of my interest in the Civil War, he purchased this book for me. I keep telling tales from it.

Gottfried, Bradley M. Brigades of Gettysburg: The Union and Confederate Brigades at the Battle of Gettysburg: Skyhorse Publishing; January 12, 2012. My go to book on what the men with their feet on the ground were thinking during this Battle.

Goodhart, Adam. 1861: The Civil War Awakening: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011

Illuminating read on the early days of the War.

Harold Holzer

James M. Banner, Jr., ed. Presidential Misconduct: From George Washington to Today, New York: New Press, 2019.

Sidney Blumenthal, The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln (Vol. 3): All the Powers of Earth, 1856–1860, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2019.

Brian Dirck. The Black Heavens: Abraham Lincoln and Death, Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2019.

Eric Foner, The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution, New York: W. W. Norton, 2019.

Anna Gibson Holloway and Jonathan W. White, “Our Little Monitor”: The Greatest Invention of the Civil War, Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2018.

W. Caleb McDaniel, Sweet Taste of Liberty: The True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America, New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.

John Marszalek, ed. The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses

S. Grant, annotated edition, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2017.

Donald R. Miller, Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign that Broke the Confederacy, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2019 (reading this in galleys).

Neely, Mark E., Jr. The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982 (always on my desk).

Temple, Wayne C., ed. by Douglas L. Wilson, Lincoln’s Confidant: The Life of Noah Brooks, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2019.

Salvatore Cilella

Books on my “to be read” table.

In the Garden of Beasts. Eric Larson. New York: Crown, 2011.

In 1933 Berlin, American ambassador to Germany, William E. Dodd took his position at a critical time in world history. He and his daughter quickly fit into the social scene and just as quickly learned of Hitler’s and the Nazi’s evil intentions as the intensity of German life becomes unbearable.

Good compelling read by Larson who has done other historical, real life narratives beginning with the Devil in the White City, 2003.

The Library Book. Susan Orlean. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018.

On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. The fire was disastrous: it reached 2,000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who?

Love a good mystery and who doesn’t love a library if you are a reader?

Most Blessed of the Patriarchs: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination. Annette Gordon-Reed, Peter S. Onuf. New York: Liveright Publishing, 2016.

The authors present a character study that dispels the many clichés about Jefferson. They

challenge the widely held belief that Jefferson remains so opaque as to be unknowable. Through their careful analysis, painstaking research, and vivid prose they create a portrait of Jefferson, as he might have painted himself, one “comprised of equal parts sun and shadow” (Jane Kamensky).

I read Gordon-Reeds prize winning The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, and thought I would tackle her latest effort.

Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism. Eric Burns. New York: Public Affairs, 2006.

The author shows that American journalists and politicians have never gotten along but all agree on needing a free and open press for democracy to work. The title comes from George Washington who wrote that he was “buffeted in the public prints by a set of infamous scribblers.”

Nothing new under the sun. Sound familiar? Fake News?

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton Co., 2012.

Details the discovery of a manuscript 600 years ago entitled On the Nature of Things. Written by Roman philosopher, Lucretius, it contained heretical ideas such as that the world functioned very well without gods. The manuscript fueled the renaissance and ultimately informed and influenced Thomas Jefferson.

Published in 2012, still important to understanding our current world.

The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War. Joanne B. Freeman. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2018.

Freeman details the story of physical violence on the floor of the U.S. Congress. Drawing on a wide range of sources, she shows that the Capitol was rife with conflict in the decades before the Civil War.

Another important read of events leading up to the Civil War.

Heirs of the Founders. H. W. Brands. New York: Doubleday, 2018.

As the Founding Fathers retired, three new personalities in the U. S. Senate began making their mark on American History. Brands details the relations of Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, Henry Clay of Kentucky, and John C. Calhoun from South Carolina. He recounts their duels,

fierce debates, scandals, and political betrayal. For nearly four decades they struggled with the incompatibility of republicanism and slavery and the location of power and authority in the states or the nation.

Sounds like a great read leading up to the Compromise of 1850.

Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. David Blight. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018.

Blight’s new biography of Douglass.

Will usually read anything by David Blight. Winner of the Pulitzer in History, plus every award known to mankind.

The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality. Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein. New York: Viking, 2019.

The title says it all. The Adams’ believed that political participation required moral courage.

This piqued my interest given modern day events. Does this all sound familiar? Is history a recurring cycle? Or a straight line.

The Oxford Inheritance: A Novel. Ann A. McDonald. New York: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2016.

Good solid, British mystery featuring suspense, money, black magic, murder, intrigue, secrets—it has it all.

Every stack of books should have at least one novel to balance the non-fiction of history. I especially enjoy British mysteries. Looking forward to this one. Just finishing up Anthony Horowitz’ The House of Silk. Page turner!

Chris Mackowski

On my book cart, really a shelf on my desk, I keep working copies of the O.R.s for Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run, and the Overland Campaign. I have the American Heritage dictionary given to me by my high school English teacher (although I more often use an online dictionary) as well as the New American Bible, Saint Joseph Medium Size Edition, that I got as a seventh-grader in Catholic school. Finally, I keep a full set of the Emerging Civil War Series close at hand for reference purposes.

Aside from those “standards,” here’s what else I keep on my cart:

Ulysses S. Grant, The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant/ Selected Letters 1839–1865, Library of America, 1990.

There are two recent annotated

editions of Grant’s memoirs, each of which has its charms and both of which deserve a look for anyone interested in knowing more about Grant. But this is the edition I first bought, and I’m sticking with the girl I brought to the dance. I write about Grant a lot, and even when I’m not, I often like to see what he had to say on a particular topic. He writes a great narrative, but sprinkled throughout are great observations and insights, all captured in clear, forceful prose.

Frank O’Reilly, The Fredericksburg Campaign: Winter War Along the Rappahannock, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2003.

For the same reasons I frequently refer to Gordon Rhea’s work on the Overland Campaign, I rely on Frank O’Reilly’s work on the Battle of Fredericksburg. Frank is the one who broke open a century and a quarter of misinterpretation about the battle by discovering that Ambrose Burnside and William B. Franklin, the Union commander at the south end of the field responsible for the day’s main attack, worked from different maps. Thus, Burnside’s plan unraveled and went misunderstood by historians. The subsequent purchase of the Slaughter Pen Farm by preservationists helped cement this new understanding of the battle. No one knows the military history of Fredericksburg like Frank!

Frank O’Reilly et al.,

• “The Battle of Fredericksburg troop movement maps,” Eastern National, 2001

• “The Battle of Chancellorsville troop movement maps,” Eastern National, 1998

• “The Battle of the Wilderness troop movement maps,” Eastern National, 2003

• “The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House troop movement maps,” Eastern National, 2000

Years ago, Eastern National, the NPS partner that runs so many bookstores, published four series of maps related to the battles in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania. Created by Frank O’Reilly with the assistance of a number of other staff historians, each series shows a regimental level timelapse sequence of where units were positioned during each phase of battle. These are especially useful for finding out exactly where specific troops were at any given time. That is, in turn,

helpful when a battlefield visitor wants to walk in the footsteps of an ancestor.

When I break out the maps and really dive in, I feel like I am in Civil War nerd heaven!

While the maps don’t sit on my shelf, they sit right next to it.

Gordon Rhea,

• The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994.

• The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, May 7-12, 1864, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1997.

• To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 1325, 1864, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2000.

• Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26-June 3, 1864, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2002.

• On to Petersburg: Grant and Lee, June 4-15, 1864, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2017.

A majority of my writing is grounded in the 1864 Overland Campaign. I also do a lot of work for the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, a preservation group dedicated to protecting the battlefields in the Wilderness and Spotsylvania areas. Finally, the majority of guests who stay at Stevenson Ridge as part of their Civil War adventures request tours of Spotsylvania (Stevenson Ridge is an historic property my wife’s family owns on the Spotsylvania battlefield and where I serve as chief historian). Gordon’s in-depth research provides quick reference for confirming facts and checking sources. Because the turnover among regimental, brigade, and division commanders during the campaign can prove challenging, the orders of battle during the campaign are particularly handy.

Chicago Manual of Style (14th ed.), John Grossman, ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

I know this seems like an odd one, but considering all the publication-related projects I work on, having a handy-dandy “ChiMan” is invaluable. I’ve memorized all the style rules for the routine stuff I normally deal with, but esoteric things come up all the time, like, in an index entry, should there be a comma between the entry and the first page number? How do you cite a set of maps? (see above!)

While such things are beyond the needs of most Civil War

buff‘s, anyone serious about writing should be familiar with standard style conventions. It shows your professionalism as well as your commitment to the craft. With our many writing projects, the ChiMan is the bread and butter of what we do at ECW.

I cling to my 14th edition just because it’s page-worn and familiar, but the ChiMan is in its 17th edition now. I’m sure I’ll have to bite the $75 bullet and buy one sooner rather than later.

Joe Bordonaro

Frederick C. Wagner III, The Strategy of Defeat at the Little Big Horn, Jefferson, NC, McFarland & Co., 2014.

This is one of my two favorite books about the Battle of the Little Big Horn, which I have long had an interest in. The author used time analysis to make what I believe is the most accurate time line of the battle, from which the author made very reasoned deductions.

Michael N. Donahue, Where the Rivers Ran Red, Montrose, CA, San Juan Publishing, 2018.

This is my other favorite book about the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The author uses the latest research to tell the story of the battle and presents a very balanced look at what happened there.

Bradley M. Gottfired, The Maps of Antietam, El Dorado Hills, CA, Savas Beatie LLC.

For anyone who has suffered through reading a book that, while otherwise very fine, was sadly lacking in maps, or that had inferior maps, this book is a real treat. Antietam is a difficult battle to follow, especially in any detail, but this book is a tremendous way to follow the action.

Benjamin E. Myers, American Citizen, Mechanicsburg, PA, Sunbury Press, 2019. This book tells the story of the captain of the 46th Pennsylvania, George A. Brooks.

I’ve never read a book in which the main character was developed as fully as is that of Captain Brooks. The author takes several chapters at the beginning of the book to share letters that Brooks wrote to his future wife which are very revealing and bring him to life. There is plenty of action in the main part of the book, but when you get there you will care about Captain Brooks’ fate.

Ezra A. Carman, The Maryland Campaign of Sept. 1862, Vol II: Antietam.

Ezra Carman led the 13th NJ at Antietam, and having reenacted with the 13th NJ, I naturally was interested in reading this book. I was rewarded by finding that Bvt. Brigadier General Carman literally wrote the book about the battle of Antietam, having spent many years after the war writing letters to participants. He also served as the historical expert for the board that created Antietam National Battlefield.

Joseph G. Bilby and William C. Goble, “Remember You are Jerseymen!”, Hightstown, NJ, Longstreet House, 1998.

Being a Jerseyman, and being interested in the Civil War, I had to get this book. It is the prime source of information on all the units raised in New Jersey during the Civil War.

Joseph E. Crowell, The Young Volunteer, Falls Church, VA, NOVA Publications, 1997.

Again, my interest in the 13th NJ Volunteer Infantry led me to this book. Joseph Crowell served in the ranks with the 13th NJ through much of the war, and his humorous first person accounts are well worth reading.

Bruce Catton, The Army of the Potomac Trilogy, NY, Doubleday & Co., 1951–53.

My first book about the Civil War was the American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War, which was also written by Bruce Catton. I still have it, and probably always will, but my love for

the book led me to Mr. Catton’s magnificent trilogy, which still holds up as an excellent overview of the war. Other authors have exceeded him in some ways, but his command of the language, as brought to bear in his writings, will probably never be matched.

R.S. Rosenquist, Martin J. Sexton, Robert Buerlein, Our Kind of War, Richmond, VA, Hailer Publishing, 2009.

My father served with the Marine Raiders during WWII and I inherited this book about the outfit after he passed away. It is a great look at a real “Gung Ho” fighting outfit.

Wilbur F. Hinman, Corporal Si Klegg and His Pard, Ashburn, VA, J.W. Henry Publishing, 1997. A very humorous book that has the ring of truth throughout. Mr. Hinman takes us from enlistment to discharge with every way station in between. A classic.

Wayne Wolf

John R. Scales, The Battles and Campaigns of Nathan Bedford Forrest. 1861–1865. Savas-Beatie, 2017. This well researched text not only chronicles Forrest’s exploits but illuminates the maneuvers in the Western Theatre that are often neglected.

Gary W. Gallagher and Elizabeth Varon (eds). New Perspectives on the Union War. Fordham University Press, 2019, 260 pp. A wonderful collection of

essays that reevaluate the causes of the Civil War, its ramifications, and the legacy that we endure today.

Walter Brian Cisco. War Crimes Against Southern Civilians. Pelican Publishing Co., 2016. This book portrays the extent to which the Civil War was waged with brutality, persecution, terror, destruction and murder against a civilian population, both white and black.

Robert Icenhauer-Ramirez, Treason on Trial, The United States v. Jefferson Davis. Louisiana State University Press, 2019. A thoroughly researched account, from a lawyer’s perspective, for the legal maneuvering that kept Jefferson Davis from being brought to trial. Each character is exposed for his personal loyalties, political ambitions, and legal competence. University Press of Kentucky, 2019, 244 pp. A succinct account of how two adversaries grew into friends while conducting foreign policy with an eye toward public opinion at home.

Joseph A. Fry. Lincoln, Seward, and U.S. Foreign Relations in the Civil War. University Press of Kentucky, 2019. A succinct account of how two adversaries grew into friends while conducting foreign policy with an eye to the public opinion at home.

Janet Elizabeth Coon (ed.) The War Outside My Window: The

Civil War Diary of Leroy Wiley Gresham, 1861–1865. SavasBeatie, 2018. A day-to-day account of a crippled boy’s view of the war from his perspective in Macon, Georgia, complete with rumors, societal changes, lost neighbors, and the collapse of the world as he knew it.

Steve Davis. 100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Atlanta Campaign. Historical Publications LLC. Charleston, 2019. Invaluable photographs by George Barnard, who was hired by Gen. Sherman’s Chief Engineer Orlando Poe to photograph the fortifications around Atlanta. These incredible views allow the reader to see Atlanta as Sherman saw it in 1864.

Jack W. Melton, Jr. Civil War Artillery Projectiles – The Half-Shell Book. Historical Publications LLC, Charleston, 2018. The bible for understanding artillery in the Civil War, from its manufacture to its use, design, and effectiveness.

Alan Levine, Thomas W. Merrill and James P. Stone Jr. The Political Thought of the Civil War (eds.) This series of essays explores why the Civil War still speaks to us. Many of the forces that led to war—slavery, race, moralism, and constitutional interpretation in a multicultural society are examined.

Edward H. Bonekemper III. The Myth of the Lost Cause. Regnery Historical Publications.

2015. As soon as the Civil War ended Southern writers concocted a new narrative that would shape our understanding of the war for a century. Bonekemper challenges this Southern interpretation.

Joan Wenner

Christian B. Keller, The Great Partnership: Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and the Fate of the Confederacy, Pegasus Books, New York, 2019. The author is a U.S. Army War College professor in the Department of National Security and Strategy. He examines the joint strategic decision-making and value of personal relationships “among senior leaders for organizational survival,” amid the complicated and “complex historical context that served as the backdrop for their partnership and that so strongly influenced how and when they thought and acted;” and of course Lee wore many hats including advisor to Jefferson Davis.

Marianne Monson, Women of the Blue & Gray: True Civil War Stories of Mothers, Medics, Soldiers and Spies, Shadow Mountain Publishers, Salt Lake City, 2018. This is a follow-up book to this author’s “Frontier Grit,” and includes well known individuals, but also some less recognized figures which makes for added interest in examining these unlikely ‘heroes’ during wartime; some of incredible daring. Photographs add to these mini-biographies.

Titles By Stephen Davis

100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Atlanta Campaign

The Atlanta Campaign

George N. Barnard’s photographs of the Atlanta Campaign

While Mathew Brady, Timothy O’Sullivan and a few others won fame as photographers of the American Civil War’s eastern theater, George N. Barnard earned a reputation as the key cameraman of the war’s western area. Evidence of this is Barnard’s hundreds of photographs taken of Atlanta Campaign scenes. Some were published in 1866, but many more have appeared in the countless pictorial histories of the Civil War.

Paperback, 128 pages. $19.95 + $3.50 shipping

A Long and Bloody Task

The Atlanta Campaign from Dalton through Kennesaw Mountain to the Chattahoochee River

May 5–July 18, 1864

Davis’ narrative history of the Atlanta Campaign is divided into two paperbacks from Savas Beatie’s Emerging Civil War Series. Volume One, A Long and Bloody Task, carries Sherman’s forces from Dalton in northwest Georgia to the Chattahoochee River. There the Confederate government was forced to relieve its army commander, Joseph E. Johnston, and replace him with Gen. John B. Hood.

Paperback, 192 pages. $14.95 + $3.55 shipping

All the Fighting They Want

The Atlanta Campaign from Peachtree Creek to the City’s Surrender July 18–September 2, 1864

With the Yankee army five miles outside of Atlanta, Hood promised not to give up with city without a fight— which is all President Jefferson Davis asked. Davis’ companion volume, All the Fighting They Want, describes Hood’s efforts to defend Atlanta. Its fall in early September 1864 was a mortal blow to Confederate hopes for independence and a big boost to Lincoln’s hopes for presidential reelection.

Paperback, 192 pages. $14.95 + $3.55 shipping

To order a signed copy from author Stephen Davis email: SteveATL1861@yahoo.com

Contact Stephen Davis, Civil War News Book Review Editor. Email: BookReviews@CivilWarNews.com.

North Carolina’s War in “Present Tense” Compelling

The Last Battleground: The Civil War Comes to North Carolina. By Philip Gerard. Selected sources, bibliographical references, illustrations, photographs, index, 327 pp., 2019. University of North Carolina Press. www.uncpress.org $28 cloth.

Reviewed by Joan Wenner, J.D.

Saving the American Experiment

New Perspectives on the Civil War. Edited by Gary Gallagher and Elizabeth Varon. Illustrations, notes, index, bibliography, 260 pp., 2019. Fordham University Press, www.fordhampress.com. $35 paperback.

Reviewed by Wayne L. Wolf

This book is billed as “the story of the Civil War in North Carolina, through the eyes of those who lived it”—meaning, through their letters and diaries, along with communications of commanders on both sides. And that it is. War is personal on many levels, and it is not an easy task to write as if events were happening at the present moment,

as accomplished by this North Carolina author.

The Last Battleground is composed in 43 clear and concise vignettes as the long journey from secession to surrender. For those of us who have visited battlefields in Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and elsewhere, where Tar Heel regiments fought, it can’t help but leave an indelible impression.

This overview of Civil War North Carolina is told by inhabitants, soldiers, military commanders, blockaders and blockade runners, politicians, deserters and the deserted, bummers and the bummed out, planters and farmers, and “contraband” (General Butler’s word), fort defenders and attackers, news reporters and editors, medical and religious people, tradesmen and railroaders. It also involves the Old North State’s band of Unionists that the author calls “Jefferson Davis’s worst nightmare come true”—the enemy from within.

There is sufficient depth to make for an ideal read, particularly for North Carolinians in these 327 captivating pages.

Joan Wenner, J.D. is a longtime contributor to Civil War News. She has a special interest in Civil War naval operations and is presently based in eastern North Carolina. joan_writer@yahoo.com.

Gary W. Gallagher’s excellent book The Union War clearly defined the importance and meaning of Union to Civil War participants. He now unites with Elizabeth Varon to present eight essays by noted historians that explain how the fight for the Union and the destruction of the domestic aristocracy of the South, along with the institution of slavery, took on a myriad of opinions among individuals. While seeking to preserve the Union, they exhibited widely diverse political, economic, religious and cultural differences.

Two of these essays stand out for their treatment of

individuals beset by internal conflicts over the meaning of Union, the support for democracy, and the means used to achieve victory. In the first, “Edward Bates and the Disunionist Dangers of Radical Rhetoric,” Jesse GeorgeNichol cogently details how Bates, the conservative icon of Lincoln’s cabinet, tried to moderate Lincoln’s use of inflammatory phrases which he felt only fueled the fears of Southern secessionists and made compromise more difficult. He was continuously trying to keep Lincoln out of the radical abolitionist camp and pushing toward a compromise that was the hallmark of antebellum political strategy. He desired to preserve the Union the Founding Fathers designed and avert a fratricidal war. While he was ultimately unsuccessful, his quest illustrated the division in the Republican Party and the nation as a whole on what a united Union should look like. Should Bates have been the Republican nominee in 1860 would Civil War been averted and another compromise fashioned to preserve the Union?

Michael T. Caires’ essay on Salmon P. Chase sheds new light on Chase’s vision for the creation of a national banking system to bind the states together into a stronger, more interdependent Union. National banking became a step toward not only centralizing political and economic control in Washington, but also fostering a sense of nationalism that would be stronger than prewar states’ rights allowed. Thus the drive to preserve the Union set the rhythm and pulse of political,

economic and cultural thought in the United States until the present.

The remaining essays illustrate a wide continuum of perspectives that vividly point out that not all Americans shared in the Lincoln administration’s view on how or why the Civil War was necessary. Political parties were divided on the reasons, methods and values the country should stand for. These differences are manifest today in the states’ rights vs. federalism concept of the Constitution’s meaning, the definition of citizenship, and the judicial battles over civil rights. Each essay contributes to a better understanding of the wide differences of opinion during the Civil War and in the decades that followed.

Each essay included is thought-provoking, well written, and comprehensively annotated. New perspectives from the common soldier, the press, religious leaders, social reformers and politicians add to the understanding of the role each played in saving the Union and forging a lasting reconciliation. Thus it is easy to recommend this volume to the intellectual historian seeking a fresh look at patriotism and sentiment during the Civil War.

Wayne L. Wolf is Professor Emeritus at South Suburban College in Illinois and past president of the Lincoln-Davis Civil War Roundtable. He has written numerous books and articles on the Civil War and is currently seeking diaries and letters of common soldiers for a better understanding of the ordeal they faced during the conflict.

Feel the Passion in Their Stories

Lone Star Valor: Texans of the Blue & Gray at Gettysburg. By Joe Owen. Bibliography, index, 155 pp., 2019. Gettysburg Publishing. www.Gettysburgpublishing.com. $21.95 softcover.

Reviewed by Mike Shovlin

It is strange to start a review by recalling a running skit done by the late great Steve Allen, but it dawned on me about a third into this book how appropriately it fits. Steve would grab a copy of the newspaper and read the letters to the editor with the passion and anger in which they were written. He would pound the desk and get the audience involved.

Once I recalled this running skit, I then started reading the first third again. It seemed to me a whole new experience. I was now visualizing the veterans as they told or wrote these stories. The words jumped out at me with their pain, confusion and feeling of disrespect for their time in uniform.

The key in this book is that Mr.

Owen includes men who fought for the North or South in numerous regiments. What ties these men together is that they all settled in Texas after the war. Owen also allows the reader to decide on the validity of the stories on their own, with only a few exceptions. One example is the story told by Howard Diven; the author found no record of his service. Readers will find amazing recollections of the pain of prisoner of war camps, the loss of comrades, and Confederates’ need to figure out why their actions failed at Gettysburg.

One can read in their own words the confusion they felt about why they lost the battle. Many “lost cause” items are

H

see page 45

The Northern Homefront Reexamined

A Great Sacrifice: Northern Black Soldiers, Their Families, and the Experience of Civil War.

By James G. Mendez. Notes, index, appendix, 304 pp., 2019. Fordham University Press, www.fordhampress.com. $35 softbound.

Reviewed by Meg Groeling

Forgotten Voices Now Heard

was the primary breadwinner, and the loss of his earning power often sent his family into crisis. The options available to white families—money saved, other wage earners, available family members to help provide care and support—were rarely available to black families. Dependence on charities, often begun within the black community itself, and state agencies which served all Union soldier families were often the only buffers between a decent existence and starvation. Black families attempted to have access to the rightful wages of their men, but this was difficult. The frustration and humiliation felt in the letters are evident in the pleading and apologizing of the letter-writers.

As the topic of the American Civil War opens up to a wider variety of scholarship, more books like James Mendez’s A Great Sacrifice are becoming available. This book is part of the Fordham University Press series “The North’s Civil War.” This collection encompasses the antebellum development and postbellum effects of the war as it affected the homefront and the armies of the North. A Great Sacrifice examines how black soldiers and their families viewed participation in the Civil War. As his sources, Mendez has used letters written primarily by or for northern black women and addressed to both Union military and political officials, including President Lincoln. These women were the mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, and family friends of black men serving in the Union army. This collective voice of those left behind gives readers a look at the issues faced by black families. Most families were small, including a mother, father, and two children. The male parent

Service as a Union soldier was hard on everyone, but black families left behind faced an almost impossible situation. Their soldiers had little or no pay to send home, battlefield conditions were more lethal for black soldiers due to Confederate policies, camp conditions were particularly onerous as white officers routinely assigned the worst camp chores to black soldiers, and there was no chance of any significant promotion opportunity. Most of the letters sent to the army and the government from those left behind asked the same question: “where is my soldier?”

There was a variety of answers. The constant movement of armies made finding any specific soldier challenging, even though USCT units were often the subjects of newspaper articles. Another common issue was illness and hospitalization. When a soldier was injured and sent to the army hospital, he often became lost in the red tape of the medical system. His fellow soldiers might not know what had happened to their comrade, the soldier might be listed under an incorrect name—a common occurrence when the man had formerly been enslaved and did not care to be found by his owner, or the soldier’s unit might leave

the area permanently without information concerning those left behind. The Union army had difficulty finding “missing” men. Incorrect information often delayed bonuses due, money owed, or pensions for a widow or child, regardless of the soldier’s race. Another issue affecting black families more than white ones was the enlistment periods of many men. Since black soldiers did not enlist until 1863, their tour of duty often did not end when the war itself ended. Many black soldiers were kept in the army to serve as occupation troops in the South. Others were sent west to deal with the implementation of policies concerning Native Americans. Many ended up in Texas doing a little bit of both. It was remarkably difficult for black families to see white soldiers returning home in significant numbers while their men still served. By the end of 1865, however, all twenty-six northern black regiments were mustered out of service and could return home.

This period of sacrifice by black families deserves inclusion when the story of the Union war effort is told. The soldiers’ story is only one part of the narrative. The efforts of those left behind, often to fend for themselves and their families, is very much a part of the history of the Civil War. Author James G. Mendez, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Education at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, has allowed his readers an enlightening ear to the voices of black families left at home during the Civil War. They are an essential part of the northern homefront and deserve this attention. A Great Sacrifice goes a long way toward this effort.

Meg Groeling received her Master’s Degree in Military History, with a Civil War emphasis, in 2016 from American Public University. Savas Beatie published her first book, The Aftermath of Battle: The Burial of the Civil War Dead, in the fall of 2015. She has been working on the manuscript for First Fallen: The Life of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, since 2011. She is a regular contributor to the blog Emerging Civil War.

An We Ob Jubilee: The First South Carolina Volunteers. By John Saucer. Images, notes, bibliography, 320 pp., 2019. Arcadia Publishing, www.arcadiapublishing.com. $22.95 paperback.

Reviewed

by

Patrick McCawley

Rogers, and the numerous firsthand accounts of soldiers and civilians stationed in the Port Royal area, Saucer has done an outstanding job of assembling a variety of sources to tell this story. He ably includes accounts from the Official Records and Confederate soldiers who fought against the unit—no small feat given the minor raids described. The reader does get a full account of the unit through training and its early combat campaigns.

The 180,000 African Americans who served in the Union Army in the Civil War played an important role in the war effort and a more crucial role in the struggle for freedom and citizenship for black Americans. The first of those many soldiers were the men of the First South Carolina Volunteers. Organized in the spring and summer of 1862 from the freed slaves concentrating around the recently established Union stronghold of Port Royal Sound, S.C., their story serves to illustrate the early political struggle to arm African Americans and the larger fight to prove their worth as fighting men. Despite published firsthand accounts of the regiment, its lack of combat service in major campaigns has limited the unit’s exposure to the general Civil War public—a problem this book seeks to correct.

John Saucer recounts in detail the first year of the regiment; its early recruitment, its organization and training around Beaufort and its initial combat during raids along the Georgia and Florida coast. An early component of Saucer’s story is the struggle of abolitionist General David Hunter to get official recognition of the unit amidst Lincoln’s resistance to black participation in the war in order to keep the loyalty of border slave states. Saucer credibly provides the context for the creation of the unit in his early chapters.

The story of the First South Carolina is vividly told through Saucer’s use of first-hand accounts. From Army Life in a Black Regiment, the memoir of the unit commander, Thomas W. Higginson, to the unpublished letters of the unit surgeon, Seth

What is missing is a real sense of the enlisted men who made up the unit, except as presented through the eyes of the white officers and civilians who interacted with the unit around Beaufort. Susie King Taylor’s (the unit’s laundress) Reminiscences of My Life in Camp is listed only five times as a specific source. A lack of letters and postwar writings from freed slaves would be expected, but he does cite two pension applications connected to the unit. Is it possible there might be more to be uncovered?

The significance of the regiment cannot be denied, but its limited combat role raises the question of why the complete history of this regiment could not be told in one volume. One of the roles of a historian is to make choices. Saucer includes plenty of details and lots of quotes from his sources, but a more thoughtful use of the material would have improved the narrative. While he could be commended for his effort to discuss the strategic and tactical problems of the Battle of the Hundred Pine, the eleven pages devoted to what amounted to a couple of quick volleys in the dark seems overdone even to one who enjoys the mundane. Most readers would also trade the chapter-by-chapter alphabetical list of sources and the thirty pages of explanatory end notes for specific source citations (especially with the quoted material), some nice maps and a good index. This book would have benefited from a good and judicious editor, but I still applaud the author for bringing the regiment back to the attention of the Civil War community.

Patrick McCawley, Supervisor of Record Services for the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, oversees the agency’s archival collection and records management functions. He has more recently coordinated the department’s present exhibit on Reconstruction in South Carolina and is currently working on a new exhibit focused on South Carolina’s Revolution of 1719.

Resistance, Resources & Race

Alabamians in Blue: Freedmen, Unionists, and the Civil War in the Cotton State. By Christopher

M. Rein.

Appendix,

notes,

bibliography, index, 298 pp., 2019. Louisiana State University Press, www.lsupress.org. $47.50 cloth.

Reviewed by Katelyn Brown

in blue uniforms participated, and the “tangible service” that these men provided to the Union in defeating well-known Confederate commanders, particularly Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Bell Hood. The book concludes with an analysis of Unionists’ lives following the war’s end throughout Reconstruction.

The ongoing discussion over Southern Unionists is wellknown, due to books such as Victoria Bynum’s The Free State of Jones. Yet many of these works tell only a small piece of the story, leaving space for scholars like Christopher Rein to expand beyond single communities of dissenters to encompass entire Confederate states. In Alabamians in Blue, Rein adopts a unique perspective to tell the story of the many Alabamians, both black and white, who demonstrated their undying support for the Union by joining the Federal army.

Rein’s argument is complex and multi-faceted, asserting first that the contributions of anti-Confederate Alabamians within the Federal army were important but largely overlooked. Second, he demonstrates that those men who joined the Union army did so largely in response to practical concerns (rather than ideological ones), motivated by the competition over resources that has shaped all of Alabama’s history. And third, Rein shows that Alabama Unionists’ efforts present a unique example of racial cooperation. In support of these assertions, the book begins with a description of Alabama’s settlement, using an environmental history framework to demonstrate the ways in which the state’s antebellum history was shaped by an ongoing battle over resources. It then moves into the Civil War, beginning with the presence of Unionist sentiment in the state and how those dissenters resisted Confederate policy. The second half of the book focuses on the military engagements and campaigns in which Alabamians

With so many goals and points of focus, it is easy for the reader to lose the thread within the book; however, it becomes easier to follow once placed alongside Margaret Storey’s Loyalty and Loss: Alabama’s Unionists in the Civil War and Reconstruction, which explores the guerrilla warfare that Unionist Alabamians experienced on the homefront. Rein’s book appears to be an answer to Storey’s title, building off her argument for Alabama’s significance and uniqueness while addressing gaps he perceived in her work. Rein’s work seeks in part to address the “false dichotomy” between the conventional and unconventional methods of warfare that he believes scholars like Storey have created, asserting the importance of military campaigns as well as guerrilla warfare. Storey’s work also offers a map that is useful for readers of Alabamians in Blue, as Rein references counties, cities, and regions both within Alabama and in the surrounding states that can be hard to follow if the reader does not know the geography of the area.

With his unique use of environmental history, Rein’s use of resources as a lens for understanding slavery is particularly effective, as he presents labor as a resource worth fighting over. This lens is also a crucial part of the second prong of his argument, as it illustrates the many ways in which the Union Army provided relief for Unionists who had been cut off from resources by Confederate authorities. The most effective application of this lens is the conclusion, however, which extends the timeline of the book to modern Alabama. By showing how the political landscape of Alabama has changed in response to the continued fight over resources (now defined as votes and labor) since the Civil War, he provides a compelling image of the issues facing both the Yellowhammer State and the United States as a whole.

Katelyn Brown is the Digital Project Specialist for the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore. She has published articles in Ohio Valley History and Military Images and is currently working on her first book.

Selling Slaves and Stuff

Marketing the Blue & Gray: Newspaper Advertising and the American Civil War.

By Lawrence A. Kreiser, Jr. Notes, bibliography, index, 239 pp., 2019. Louisiana State University Press, www.lsupress.org. $47 cloth.

Reviewed by Stephen Davis

Booth’s Confederate Connections Re -

related—or did not relate—to the war’s shifting fortunes. I was struck by Kreiser’s conclusion that “in Confederate newspapers, the phrasing of slave announcements remained slick and self-assured, even while the slaveholders’ republic crumbled.”

…struck the more so because that’s what Bill Hendrick and I are seeing in the wartime pages of the Atlanta Intelligencer. For our book, tentatively titled The War Comes Home: The Atlanta Daily Intelligencer and the Civil War, we are reading every copy of the newspaper we can find (Atlanta History Center microfilm, thank you). On May 15, 1863, Crawford, Frazer & Co., “Auctioneers and Dealers in Negroes” located at 8 Whitehall Street downtown, took out an advertisement that prominently declared, “Our NEGRO YARD AND LOCK-UP, at No. 8, are SAFE AND COMFORTABLE.”

Booth’s Confederate Connections. By Sandy Pringle. Illustrations, notes, index, 256 pp., 2019. Pelican Publishing Co., www.pelicanpub.com. $24.95 hardcover.

Reviewed by Joan Chaconas

even though the messages were secret, Surratt must have known what was in them. Thus, he knew murder was the aim, and he took measures to remove himself from the area of Ford’s Theatre when it would happen, and made sure people saw him at those other locations. As for John’s lengthy escape, he talked too much for his own good. One person he talked to was Henri Beaumont de Sainte Marie. Surratt told Marie that the assassins had “acted under the orders” of persons under Davis and strongly pointed to Judah Benjamin. All this information had been passed on to the government in 1866. Our author thinks this 1866 statement of Marie is pertinent and is evidence that points directly to the Confederacy and to those responsible.

Whether true or not, Confederate higher-ups believed the raid aimed for their deaths, with Benjamin first on the death-list. Benjamin kept a low profile while working on the murder plan that Booth carried out.

After the war Judah Benjamin left the country and never came back. After a very arduous trip to England he eventually led a very good life, earning more than eighty thousand dollars a year.

“Newspapers were the primary means of advertising during the mid-nineteenth century,” Lawrence Kreiser reminds us in the opening pages of his new and welcome work, Marketing the Blue & Gray. The author further contends that “Civil War historians, in turn, have long cited newspapers but have ignored the advertisements.” I’ll go further: that’s because scholarly writing about Civil War newspapers, both Northern and Southern, has really only hit its stride in, say, the last twenty years. Examples of recent, notable works are Ford Risley, Civil War Journalism (2012); Patricia G. McNeely, Debra Reddin van Tuyll and Henry H. Schulte, eds., Knights of the Quill: Confederate Correspondents and their Civil War Reporting (2010) and Debra Reddin van Tuyll, The Confederate Press in the Crucible of the American Civil War (2012).

Professor Kreiser, who teaches at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, makes the point that businesses advertising in their local newspapers seized upon the public’s (again, whether Northern or Southern) war fervor and used propagandistic war themes in their ads to better market their products. The author looked at 550 newspapers to form his conclusions. War-related ad headlines were employed to sell goods, such as the notice blaring “Sundries and Southern Rights.” Kreiser discerns what may be called nationwide advertising; “publishing companies and patent medicine makers were the most prolific in advertising across the Union and Confederacy.” The author also examines how advertising themes

The point was that Crawford and Frazer took good care of “our stock” with capabilities to “feed and lodge [them] well.” As we write in our manuscript, the merchants made clear that they took good care of their merchandise: “sleeping apartments and cook house” were “closely looked after,” so that “our stock is thereby kept in health.”

Not only were slave traders advertising vigorously in the spring of 1863, but their “stock” continued to fetch high prices.

In mid-April 1863—note, this was four months after Lincoln had issued his Emancipation Proclamation, arguably the deathknell of the South’s peculiar institution—the Intelligencer reported that Crawford and Frazer had auctioned “a likely waiter” for $3,500 and “a likely maid servant” for $3,000. The high prices that white people were willing to pay, as we point out, attested as much to their confidence in the future of Southern slavery as to their need for labor.

Southern traders’ advertising of slaves and Southern purchasers’ buying of them (in the midst of a war ostensibly aimed at destroying slavery) illustrates one of Lawrence Kreiser’s conclusions.

Civil War newspaper advertising tells us a whole lot more about contemporary attitudes and emotions than we have previously thought about.

Steve Davis is Book Review

Editor for Civil War News. His and Bill’s book on the Atlanta Daily Intelligencer is under contract with the University of Tennessee Press.

Having worked at the Surratt House Museum, I have read many books about the Lincoln assassination. The standard story heard in school is that Booth, a staunch Southerner, felt Lincoln must be done away with and only he was up to doing it. On the morning of April 14, Booth finds out Lincoln will be going to Ford’s Theater, and he decides this is his perfect opportunity. He gets his band of cohorts together for a meeting and assigns them their jobs. Booth shoots Lincoln and then the various questions develop. Did Booth act alone? Did he have help from the Confederates? Were the Confederates the ones leading the murder plot and using Booth as the marksman? Was the Catholic Church behind it? There are many avenues to travel in these directions, but travel no more: Judge Sandy Prindle feels he has found the answers in his new book, Booth’s Confederate Connections.

In the recently discovered “lost confession” of conspirator George Atzerodt, he makes mention of the fact that Booth had to hurry to accomplish his plan or the New York group would beat him to it. They had a plan to blow up the White House. Fortunately, this was discovered and stopped. But by using some of Atzerodt’s comments in this discovered “lost confession” and following the various trips of John Surratt, Jr. and his alluring traveling companion Sarah Slater, Prindle believes strongly that John and his mother were keys to John Wilkes Booth’s murder plans through the messages given to John by Judah Benjamin. He argues that

The South was losing the war at this point. Richmond had been evacuated and Davis was on the run. Did Jefferson Davis condone murder or was Benjamin the real mastermind? Did he tell Davis of his plan? When it appeared that Richmond was going to be evacuated, kidnapping Lincoln was no longer viable. Now enters the New York group and their plan to blow up the White House. There is strong evidence that Judah Benjamin withdrew fifteen hundred dollars from Confederate funds for this project and gave it to demolition expert Thomas Harney. This plan obviously failed. On this same day, John Surratt was paid for his courier service. John Jr. made many trips and carried many messages for Benjamin; he was very welcome at his office.

It was the last ditch for the Confederacy. The Dahlgren Raid had pushed them over the edge. No more “mister nice guy.”

When John came back from his last trip for Benjamin, he arrived in Washington and had a brief stopover at his mother’s house. A few words were spoken and he left. Was Booth a late visitor at the Surratt house and did Mrs. Surratt give him a message? Our author believes it was Mrs. Surratt who gave the message to Booth—not to capture Lincoln, and but to kill him—and it was given by way of Judah Benjamin’s messages to her son John.

Case closed. Or is it? Judge Prindle has presented a strong line of evidence that leads to the top Confederate leadership. By following the various stops of John and Sarah Slater, using the various clues in the newly discovered Atzerodt statement, and connecting them to Booth’s movements, he has given us a logical trail. They lead to Judah Benjamin and his plans. It seems that the Confederacy was behind Booth’s assassination all along. The Judge’s book belongs in your library. Get it!

Joan is historian at the Surratt House museum and has been consultant for several television productions on the Lincoln assassination story. She was the one who found the missing Atzerodt statement in the mid-seventies.

Civil War Artillery Book

The Young Lions of Pittsylvania County, Virginia

southeastern Virginia in 1861, to its surrender with General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in April 1865.

Reviewed by Joe Bordonaro

A number of books have looked at General Armistead’s brigade but have focused on its involvement in the Pickett-PettigrewTrimble charge on July 3 at Gettysburg. General Armistead himself, of course, famously fell at the climax of this charge. This book is unique in that it looks at the entire history of the brigade and hence relates, as the subtitle of the book indicates, the untold story of Armistead’s brigade.

The author has obviously done a tremendous amount of research, as a glance at the extensive bibliography will show. He also has gone beyond published works and has researched unpublished manuscripts. This research provided the author with a wealth of information on Armistead’s brigade and its component regiments.

by members of Virginia’s “First Families of Virginia,” while the bulk of the white population (55% of the county; the rest was black) consisted of farmers descended from settlers. Many of the settlers were descendents of colonial dissidents, outcasts and non-English immigrants. Despite this disparate background, the inhabitants of Pittsylvania County (watered by the Dan River) proved through the course of the war that they were “Lions of the Dan.”

This informative book tells the story of General Lewis Armistead’s brigade from its formation by units enlisted from the Pittsylvania County area of

To a large extent, the history of Armistead’s brigade is intertwined with the history of Pittsylvania County, as seventy percent of all infantry from this county served in the brigade. The author explains how the county was guided in its growth

The campaigns and battles of Armistead’s brigade are covered in much detail in this book. Its one serious shortcoming is the complete absence of maps detailing this fighting, or depicting Pittsylvania County itself. The author does include enough detail to make it possible to follow the course of the brigade’s combat. But the brigade spent a considerable amount of time on detached duty from the Army of Northern Virginia, and these areas are not as familiar to most readers as those where the Army’s main battles occurred, so the absence of maps is particularly unfortunate when the history of this detached service is recited.

When the brigade did serve with the army, it suffered considerably more than it did during its various detached services, as in the disastrous charges at Malvern Hill in 1862 and Gettysburg in 1863. The famous charge that the brigade made at Gettysburg is covered in much detail, as is the heroic death of its leader, Lewis Armistead. Ironically, Armistead was not looked upon favorably by the army’s command prior to the battle of Gettysburg for a variety of reasons. His death, however, has forever enshrined him as the epitome of a heroic combat leader. The brigade continued on under other leaders and the author relates this “untold story.” The story has been “untold” because most interest in the brigade has heretofore terminated upon reading of its charge at Gettysburg. Its hardest fighting actually occurred after that battle and is of considerable interest to a student of the war.

Every combat in which the brigade, or its component regiments, fought is covered in some detail. Included in this detail are references to various members of the brigade and how they fared in these battles. This personalization

of the account makes it possible for the reader to make a connection to these soldiers and so brings them to life in a way that standard regimental histories often do not.

This history is recommended to those readers interested in the soldiers who fought for, and were from, Virginia. Much can be learned from the book about Pittsylvania County, pre-war Virginia, economic and race relations in the county, Virginia’s secession from the Union, and, of course, the fighting that the “Lions of the Dan” were involved in during their long and bloody struggle.

Joe Bordonaro is a veteran of the USAF (1973–77), taught for 25 years in elementary and middle schools, and has been reenacting the Civil War for the past 20 years. He has been writing articles for Civil War News for the past several years, focusing on the reenacting and living history communities.

Lions Of The Dan The Untold Story Of Armistead’s Brigade. By J. K. Brandau. Photos, endnotes, bibliography, index, 282 pp., 2020. Morgan James Publishing, www. MorganJamesPublishing.com. $18.95 softbound.

The End of a Great Life’s Patrol

The Last Weeks of Abraham Lincoln: A Day-by-Day Account of his Personal, Political, and Military Challenges. By David Alan Johnson. 384 pp., 2018. Prometheus Books, prometheusbooks.com. $28 hardcover.

Reviewed by Frank J. Williams

Challenges is the tale of the last six weeks of President Abraham Lincoln’s life. Those six weeks were an extraordinary time not only for the president, but also for the nation that reverberates to this day.

During those six weeks, Lincoln gave his celebrated Second Inaugural Address. He worked with his generals and supervised the battles that led to the end of the Civil War. He learned of General Ulysses S. Grant’s acceptance of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Virginia. And he was felled by assassin John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre.

his Inaugural Address. He spoke often with Generals Grant and Sherman regarding the battles taking place in Virginia and the battles’ potential for ending the war. He visited a field hospital outside of City Point, Virginia. He read the press reviews and accounts of his Inaugural Address.

All the while, he worked diligently to calm his wife, who at that time appeared to be suffering mental health issues that he feared would lead to a nervous collapse. There is a great account of how Washington City and the country celebrated when the end of the war was announced.

A Misnamed Review of the Civil War in Missouri

A Burned Land: The TransMississippi in the Civil War.

By Robert R. Laven. Photos, maps, endnotes, bibliography, index, 194 pp, 2019. McFarland & Company, www.mcfarlandpub. com. $35 softcover.

Reviewed by

Lawrence K. Peterson

have greatly enhanced this book. Laven soundly documents his narrative, and provides an index as well.

The author briefly mentions the battle of Pea Ridge or Elkhorn Tavern and covers the battle of Mine Creek in Kansas. He essentially does not describe any of the other actions which took place within the Trans-Mississippi other than those in conjunction with Missouri, such as Fort Scott and the sack of Lawrence, Kansas.

David Alan Johnson’s The Last Weeks of Abraham Lincoln: A Day-by-Day Account of his Personal, Political, and Military

Interestingly and carefully, the author describes Lincoln’s daily routine as he guided our nation during the end of the war. These small but important events shed light on how President Lincoln commanded the loyalty of so many during this time. His inauguration is described in detail from Mrs. Lincoln’s ball gown to the inaugural ball attendees. During this time, Lincoln greeted visitors to his ball. He asked the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass what he thought about

This book finds strength in its vivid descriptions of Lincoln’s last six weeks. It describes what many may consider the most important period this country has ever seen. The author’s description of the assassination of Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre is masterful, describing the incident from the viewpoint of audience members before transporting the reader to Lincoln’s box and that fateful shot.

Frank J. Williams is the founding Chairman of The Lincoln Forum.

A Friend, Indeed!

Lincoln’s Confidant: The Life of Noah Brooks. By Wayne C. Temple. Notes, Index, photos, 283pp., 2019. University of Illinois Press, www.press.uillinois.edu. $34.95 hardcover.

Reviewed by Joseph Truglio

confidant to a President and naval officer, amongst other occupations. He travelled from coast to coast, never staying long in any one place.

left Washington City for greener pastures.

Noah Brooks was born in Castine, Maine in 1830. He was educated locally and upon finishing high school promptly left to find his fame and fortune. From an early age he exhibited a wanderlust. He tried his hand at many occupations and endeavors. For example, he was a painter, artist, writer, reporter, editor, novelist, prospector, political spy,

He met Lincoln for the first time in 1856 in Dixon, Illinois. It was a brief encounter but made an impression on Lincoln. After getting elected president, they met again with Brooks now a reporter for a local newspaper. They seemed to get on famously. Lincoln liked Brooks’ easygoing style and the fact that he never asked for favors. (This was a rarity in that era of lobbyists.) Gradually, Brooks began to write political articles in favor of Lincoln under the name “Castine”—the nom de plume was a popular device of the era. He began to spend much time with Lincoln and started attending political rallies, reporting back to the president about the events. Lincoln found this valuable information. Brooks’ relaxed demeanor made him welcome in all circles and this placed him in an advantageous position. In fact, Lincoln asked him to replace John Hay at the beginning of his second term as his personal secretary. Unfortunately, the assassination ended that opportunity and Brooks was never to hold that office. Soon after this tragedy he

He wrote a few histories for young readers and achieved a modicum of success. Unfortunately he never achieved the financial success he had always strived for. He eventually went to Pasadena for his health, which slowly deteriorated. Brooks died in 1903.

I found this book a difficult read. For whatever reason it had no flow to the story. Every page is filled with information, yet most it is piecemeal. I was looking for depth and I received snippets. I never really understood just what the author was trying to tell me. I was most disappointed in Temple’s explanation of Brooks’ relationship with Lincoln. This subject takes up about a third of the book, and it too is just one-sentence snippets, reading like modern-day sound bites.

I realize that this is a biography of Noah Brooks and that Lincoln was only a small part of his life. I expected more. For those of you interested in Noah Brooks, it will be a worthy read. For Lincoln students, not so much.

This work appeared to be just what I was looking for: a review of the Civil War in the TransMississippi West. Turns out it wasn’t. Robert Laven indicates in his Preface that he has had an interest in Missouri’s role in the Civil War for many years. He has studied that role and has written an easy-to-read description of it. While he briefly mentions a few actions in the Trans-Mississippi, this is all about Missouri’s specific role, and, as such, is mistitled. Laven takes the reader through the Civil War in Missouri in a fairly easy style, giving enough detail to make sense of the various actions conducted by both sides during that conflict. There is some inconsistency in spelling. The book abounds with photos. In describing many of the actions, I would have greatly appreciated more maps to help me follow many of the events described. Though familiar with some of them, maps would nonetheless

My suggestion is that this work be retitled into a history of Missouri in the Civil War. The occasional references to other actions within the Trans-Mississippi help to place Missouri within the context of this area. As it stands, the reader looking for a definitive description of the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi will not find it here. Laven has obviously conducted extensive research on the war in the state of Missouri. For those interested in how the Civil War was conducted by both sides within and around Missouri, and that state’s fate in the Civil War, will find that this book provides a good description and reference of those events.

Lawrence K. (Larry) Peterson is President of the Rocky Mountain Civil War Round Table. He has had published three books on the critical decisions of the battle of Chattanooga, and the Kentucky and Atlanta Campaigns in the University of Tennessee Press’ Command Decisions in America’s Civil War series. He is working on the critical decisions of the battle of Perryville.

Joseph Truglio, of Manchester, N.J., is president of the Phil Kearny Civil War Round Table.

Confederate Biography, A to Z

For this issue, publisher Jack Melton asked some of our regular columnists, “What’s on your rolling tray?” The idea came from Michael Shaffer, author of our monthly “The Source” feature, when he told us that he keeps a small rolling tray next to his desk to hold the handful of books that he regularly consults in his research and writing. You’ll see “What’s On My Tray” pieces from Harold Holzer, Stephanie Hagiwara, Joe Bordonaro, Wayne Wolf, and others in this issue.

Well, I don’t have a tray so much as a trio of bookshelves to the left of my desk that hold more than four hundred works

of Confederate biography which I’ve collected through the years. They literally range from A (Brig. Gen. John Adams) to Z (Brig. Gen. Felix Zollicoffer). The two generals that bookend my collection shared a tragic fate: both were killed in action. Adams was slain in the Confederate charge at Franklin; Zollicoffer was shot during the battle of Mill Springs, Ky., Jan. 19, 1862, when he accidentally rode into Federal lines.

I dignify my entire Civil War library—I don’t know; three thousand volumes?—with the ostentatious appellation of “the Brigadier General Clement Anselm Evans Memorial Research Collection.”

In this part of it, Confederate biography standouts include my first edition of Douglas Southall Freeman’s four-volume R. E. Lee (1934–35)—I paid all of $31 dollars for it fifty years ago! (All told, I am the proud owner of sixty-six books on General Lee and his family.)

Let me highlight a few more of my favorites:

• Dunbar Rowland’s ten-volume Jefferson Davis Constitutionalist: His Letters, Papers, and Speeches (Jackson, 1923);

• Scribner’s first edition (1904) of General John B. Gordon’s Reminiscences of the Civil

War;

• eleven biographies of Bedford Forrest (from Dr. Wyeth to Dr. Wills).

I proudly own a first edition of Douglas Southall Freeman, ed., Lee’s Dispatches: Unpublished Letters of General Robert E. Lee, C.S.A. to Jefferson Davis and the War Department of the Confederate States of America 1862–1865 from the Private Collection of Wymberly Jones De Renne of Wormsloe, Georgia (1915). Recall that this was Dr. Freeman’s first book. He had taken his Ph.D. in history from Johns

Hopkins in June 1908 at the age of 22. In 1911 he was given this editing assignment, on which he worked four years.

You never know what you’ll find at a second-hand bookstore.

(I wish there were more of ‘em today.) Through separate purchases I pieced together the three volumes (1955–1964) of Hudson Strode’s biography of Jefferson Davis. In the third, Tragic Hero (1964), I chanced to find that Mr. Strode had written in front

For Eleanor with abiding love from Hudson and

affectionate good wishes from [indistinct] Christmas 1964

Lo and behold! Also in the book was a photo of the author standing in his living room, beside his fireplace. Hanging above the mantel is—you guessed it--a painting of President Davis—the same one used on the dust jacket of Strode’s Volume Two (1959). Remember book marbling? It was a colonial-era art form that

see page 41

Confederate biography A to Z. Up top, busts of General Lee from my bookends—I’ve had ‘em since high school!

Among my five volumes on John Singleton Mosby is V. C. Jones’ Ranger Mosby (1944). I bought it from Bell Wiley—$5, fifty years ago!

Bookish

Some notable titles in Civil War writing are listed below. Match the book with the author.

1. The 20th Maine: A Volunteer Regiment in the Civil War (1957)

2. R. E. Lee: A Biography (1934–1935)

3. Mr. Lincoln’s Army (1951)

4. Return to Bull Run (1993)

5. George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon (1988)

6. Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 (1992)

7. Their Tattered Flags: The Epic of the Confederacy (1970)

8. Hard Tack and Coffee: The Unwritten Story of Army Life (1887)

9. Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend (1997)

10. The Killer Angels: A Novel (1974)

H

from page 40

continued into the nineteenth century, as you can see from the cover of Joseph E. Johnston’s Narrative of Military Operations (1874).

Then there’s the peculiarly titled Memoirs of Robert E. Lee. They’re not General Lee’s memoirs, but Armistead Long’s reminiscences about Lee. Decades ago, when in graduate school, I remember leading an undergrad class. Taking roll, I came upon the name of one Army Long. I asked the gentleman if he was descended from Brigadier General Armistead Lindsay Long, late of the Army of Northern Virginia. (He was.)

I used to work with physicians. As I look at Daniel W. Barefoot’s biography of Robert F. Hoke (1996), I remember learning at a Georgia Orthopaedic Society meeting that the famed Atlanta pediatric orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Michael Hoke, was the son of the Confederate general!

Fellow bibliophiles will agree that Chapel Hill and LSU stand preeminently among publishers of Civil War books. Not to be forgotten is that a half-century ago,

War is Hell, but the Surrender Option Makes it Less Hellish

Raising the White Flag: How Surrender Defined the Civil War. By David Silkenat. Endnotes, index, bibliography, 368 pp., 2019. University of North Carolina Press, www.uncpress. org. $39.95 cloth.

Reviewed by Gould Hagler

A. Stephen W. Sears

B. Douglas Southall Freeman

C. Michael Shaara

D. John J. Pullen

E. Frank E. Vandiver

F. Albert Castel

G. Bruce Catton

H. John J. Hennessy

I. James I. Robertson, Jr.

J. John D. Billings

Answers found on page 46.

Steve Davis is the Civil War News Book Review Editor. He can be contacted by email at: SteveATL1861@yahoo.com.

Indiana University Press turned out its Civil War Centennial Series, with standout reprints such as Jubal Early’s War Memoirs (purchased in 1986 for $22) and Longstreet’s From Manassas to Appomattox ($7.50).

I’ve had authors inscribe my books over the years, and seeing their signatures brings back fond memories. I had James Ramage sign his Rebel Raider in 2000 when we both were speakers at Pamplin Park’s symposium on Cavalry Raids and Guerrillas. Other presenters were Ed Bearss (Brice’s Crossroads), Jeff Wert (Mosby) and Brian Wills (Forrest). My paper was titled, “Civil War Cavalry Raids: Just What Did They Achieve?” (More on that later.)

What’s even better, my Confederate biographical library continues a-buildin’. Recently I bought from Owens & Ramsey, the Richmond booksellers, Sarah Woolfolk Wiggins’ edition of The Journals of Josiah Gorgas, 1857–1878. (Thanks, Marc!)

Singly and in small groups, soldiers on the battlefield would realize that they faced a choice: surrender or die. So they dropped their weapons and raised their hands. Garrisons in fortified places and units in the field, forces ranging in size from the very small up to thousands of men, could find themselves in a no-win situation. Their commanders raised the white flag and negotiated terms as best they could.

Sometimes the men would be paroled on the field. Sometimes surrender meant a short time in prison before exchange. Other times prisoners suffered for long periods as they awaited release, and for tens of thousands release came only with death.

Some capitulations were considered by all to be honorable, bringing no shame on the officers who made the decisions or their men. In other cases giving up was condemned as disgraceful and cowardly. Men surrendered by their officers might object vehemently—as at Harpers Ferry in September 1862 – and suffer ridicule for decisions made not by them but for them. In other cases, especially in the Trans-Mississippi in the war’s last spring, it was the common Confederate soldiers who forced their officers to yield. They knew the jig was up even if the brass refused to face facts.

Raising the White Flag covers in detail events that are usually mere codas to the narrative, a couple of paragraphs before the next chapter takes up the next battle. Except for a few surrenders—Appomattox, of course, and some others that are sometimes treated as stories

in their own right—we read that the surrenders occurred, we get a prisoner count, and we move on. Silkenat’s work fills a gap. When is a surrender honorable and manly? When is giving up a craven and despicable act? What are the mores and protocols that governed during this war? How did they change as the war progressed? What effect did practices in America’s previous wars have on the war between North and South? How did practices in the Civil War affect rules in subsequent conflicts? How did the termination of the Dix-Hill exchange cartel influence soldiers’ willingness to capitulate? These questions and more are addressed by Silkenat’s carefully researched and thoroughly documented work.

Readers may question some of Silkenat’s analysis and interpretations. To pick one small example, this reviewer does not accept that the “widespread condemnation” of Bowe Bergdahl was due to his “capture,” but rather to his desertion. The author also makes contradictory statements about the fate of John Brown at Harpers Ferry. On one page we read of “his surrender.” On the next page he is beaten unconscious but does not voluntarily give up. Then on the same page he “believed that surrender entitled him and his men to certain protections and rights.” So Brown surrendered. Then he didn’t. Then he did.

The best parts of the book are the excellent descriptions of numerous surrenders that we have all heard of but few (I suspect) know

very much about. These are solid narratives that help tell the story of the war. My favorites are the episodes in the Trans-Mississippi after Lee, Johnston and Taylor surrendered all the Confederate forces east of the river. Get the book and learn more about conditions in the west and the goings on with E. Kirby Smith, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jo Shelby and a character named Meriwether Jeff Thompson. My marginal notes on pages describing his actions read “kookie” and “Baghdad Bob.” Silkenat, a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh who has previously written two books and several articles on the Civil War, poses in his concluding chapter a counterfactual. He asks us to consider “what the Civil War would have looked like if the option to surrender had been taken off the table.” It is easy to imagine a hard war made all the harder, a cruel time made utterly barbarous, a long war made longer and peace and reconciliation made impossible.

Gould Hagler is a retired lobbyist living in Dunwoody, Ga. He is a past president of the Civil War Round Table of Atlanta and the author Georgia’s Confederate Monuments: In Honor of a Fallen Nation, published by Mercer University Press in 2014. Hagler speaks frequently on this topic and others related to different aspects of the Civil War and has been a regular contributor to CWN since 2016. He can be reached at gould.hagler@gmail.com.

Programs for Civil War Round Tables and Historical Societies

Iconic War Writings

Civil War Writing: New Perspectives on Iconic Texts. Ed. by Gary W. Gallagher and Stephen Cushman. Photos, notes, index, 296 pp., 2019. Louisiana State University Press, www.lsupress.org. $48 cloth.

Reviewed by Brian S. Wills

This Ship’s Story Is as Murky as the Water It Sank In

sense, allowing for less restriction to conform to a “chronological arrangement” that would be artificial in this instance, particularly when many of the writings appeared over a span of time and in different forms.

The first of an intended series, this volume includes nine essays on “iconic” texts of the American Civil War under Louisiana State University Press’ series Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War. Editors Gary W. Gallagher and Stephen Cushman turn to fellow academics, largely from college or university departments of history, to rediscover works related to the great conflict of the mid-Nineteenth Century. The editors explain that no communication composed by the human hand, presumably including this one, is devoid of messaging, although the degree to which such viewpoints have become subject to evolving audiences and readerships is a critical part of their evolution into “iconic” status.

The current volume is a logical addition to the earlier writings of both scholars, particularly Cushman’s Belligerent Muse: Five Northern Writers and How They Shaped Our Understanding of the Civil War (North Carolina, 2014), which also included a foreword by Gallagher. That volume took the reader through samples of the well-known work of Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, and William T. Sherman. As such, it should not surprise readers of this work to see similar evaluations of Civil War-era authors and their writings by Cushman, Gallagher and the other contributors.

Selection of the texts/topics and those tasked with examining them always indicates a great deal. Readers of Gallagher’s edited volumes will find many familiar collaborators from his previous works and associations. The arrangement of the essays based upon “an editorial sense of rhythm and equilibrium” makes

What emerges here is the sense that each author is a product of his or her time and conventions. Selfinterest in various forms served as catalysts for the original texts, ranging from attempts at raising awareness (Joseph T. Wilson’s The Black Phalanx) and shaping historical interpretations (Jubal A. Early and John B. Gordon) to generating income and notoriety (“Loreta Velasquez”). The “commercial pragmatism” demonstrated by the same publishing house of the two works by Joseph E. Johnston and Sherman also reminds us that all of these publications fit into a larger contextual or competitive framework in the hopes of reaching wide-ranging audiences and potential consumers. Even so, readers will learn about the contexts in which diarists Charlotte Forten and Mary Chesnut composed their thoughts and experiences, including their interactions with high-profile figures, although they will ascertain considerably less about the ways in which the Louisa May Alcott novel Little Women informed anyone concerning the Northern “home front.”

The William C. Davis and Gallagher essays are among the most engaging of the compilation. Whether or not one wishes to dispute the characterization of Edward Porter Alexander as “the best Confederate memoirist,” or the proposition that “Loreta Velasquez” was an earlier version of the modern self-made “celebrity,” those individuals certainly produced fascinating, and in Alexander’s case, articulate windows into their worlds. While each of the other essays is enlightening in its own fashion, undoubtedly, it will prove difficult to determine the degree to which this volume or any of its successors can appeal to general readers, outside of those familiar with the individual text or texts under examination. Nevertheless, in the final analysis, Civil War Writing demonstrates that such assessments and re-evaluations will continue to add to our understanding of the conflict that inspired them.

Brian S. Wills of Kennesaw State University is the author of award-winning studies of Union general George Thomas and Inglorious Passages: Noncombat Deaths in the Civil War (Kansas).

Going Home: The Secret Life and Sudden Death of the U.S. Army Transport Steamer General Lyon. By Peter Holman. Illustrations, maps, tables, appendices, chapter notes, 256 pp., 2018. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. $15.99 softcover.

Reviewed

by Richard J.

Blumberg

Army Transport Steamer General Lyon, built in 1864, not the captured Confederate vessel of the same name. The General Lyon likely carried invalid soldiers, former prisoners of war, women and children on its final voyage from Wilmington, N.C., to Fort Monroe, Va. Since remains of the vessel have yet to be recovered, and no drawings or original plans for the ship still exist, its demise is hard to determine. Some think an explosion occurred as a result of a bomb. Others presume that a kerosene oil can turned over near a main boiler during a bad storm. Reports simply claim it inexplicably caught fire and sank off the coast of Cape Hatteras.

Many varieties of steamboats served as floating hospitals, as well as transports for military cargo and troops throughout the Civil War. The U.S. Army Transport General Lyon, a side-wheeled steamer, was one of them. The U.S. Navy also rebuilt a captured Confederate side-wheeled steamer named the USS General Lyon. Let the confusion begin!

Peter Holman is a retired British-born postal worker who also worked in the United States marketing, selling and shipping various medical diagnostic equipment and radioactive materials. Holman’s work focuses on the

Holman’s extensive research over three years enables him to vividly tell stories of the individuals lost, and the families impacted, when the General Lyon sank. He uses Combined Military Service Records (CMSRs), located at the National Archives, along with various passenger lists to resurrect the names of some six hundred lives lost on March 31, 1865. The narrative, while interesting, becomes confusing with apparent flashbacks to different years in the war in order to introduce new characters. This, coupled with the Navy’s reconfigured vessel of the same name (which served in several Civil War battles), makes it difficult to follow various parts of the story.

This work underscores problems historians and researchers still face today: determining what is newsworthy, and dealing with facts that contradict each other. In March 1865, the Civil War was all but over. The sinking of

the General Lyon was the worst maritime disaster up to that time. However, reviewing our history from April 1-April 27, 1865, we encounter General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox; the assassination of President Lincoln and the explosion of the Sultana. These events caused much of the expected hype about the General Lyon’s loss to never materialize. News reporters of the mid-1800s focused on what was the most sensational and attention-getting at that moment, and then moved on to new topics. This is very similar to how our reporters conduct their work today. As one might also expect, misspellings of names and changed recollections of family members resulted in confusion regarding whether certain individuals lost on this vessel were even on it in the first place. Similarities and differences when compared to the Sultana disaster of April 27th also muddy the water.

Holman’s book creates a good foundation for further research, but by his own admission, much work still needs to be done. The factual content and controversies covered in this work are compelling and make it well worth the price.

Richard is a retired Army veteran with more than 26 years of service. Seventeen of those were spent in assignments dealing with Corps and Theater Army level multi-functional logistics. Transportation, Ordnance and Quartermaster functions had the most emphasis. He is entering his eighteenth year as a book reviewer and his current research focuses on the contributions of music during the war.

Jefferson Davis: Traitor or Patriot?

Treason on Trial: The United Sates vs. Jefferson Davis. By Robert Icenhauer-Ramirez. Notes, illustrations, index, bibliography, 356 pp., 2019. Louisiana State University Press, www.lsupress. org. $55 cloth. Reviewed by Wayne L. Wolf

Robert Icenhauer-Ramirez does a remarkably thorough job of tracing the nuances, ambiguities, Constitutional arguments, and political theatre that contributed to the eventual dismissal of treason charges against Jefferson Davis. It was this convergence of events, personalities and skills of the prosecution and defense teams, many little known before Davis’ indictment, that resulted in four years of delay before bringing Davis to trial.

The reader will be introduced to these characters one by one.

Lucius Chandler, the U.S. Attorney for Virginia, doubted his own legal skills, and cognizant of the trial’s effect on his own political ambitions, bears a major responsibility for the endless delays. But his actions do not exonerate Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, who did not want to offend

Southern states whose votes he might need as he quietly sought the 1868 Democratic presidential nomination. Likewise, James Speed, President Johnson’s first Attorney General, was reluctant to prosecute such a nationally divisive case. His successor, Henry Stanbery, personally did not believe Davis committed treason. Finally, Andrew Johnson, while believing Davis should be tried, allowed his legal team full control of the trial process, thus sanctioning the numerous delays. Further complicating the prosecution were the vindictive attitudes of presiding District Court Judge John C. Underwood, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and William M. Everts, chief prosecutor and later Attorney General. The delays and outward vindictiveness gave time for Davis’ defense team, led by Charles O’Conor, Robert

Not Redcoats, but Bluecoats

Hidden History of Civil War Williamsburg. By Carson O. Hudson, Jr. Maps, photos, notes, appendixes, index. 238 pp., 2019. The History Press, www. arcadiapublishing.com. $21.99 paperback.

Reviewed by Jonathan W. White

How the Union Army Tried and Failed to Take Charleston, S.C.

the immediate postwar period. As a leader in the Williamsburg Battlefield Association and a longtime employee of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, he knows this material as well as anybody.

Hudson’s lively prose introduces many new stories to the historic village. In early 1862, for example, Louisiana troops led a Mardi Gras parade in the town. Hudson also describes the plight of white refugees from Hampton who made their way to Williamsburg early in the war.

As one resident wrote, “Poor creatures they arrived here in the night with not even their clothing & many of them slept on the Courthouse Green but I can assure as soon as morning came & we knew of their distress every door was opened to them.”

One Union soldier noticed “the scowls of the women and children” he encountered, but he also seemed to relish “the delighted faces of the Negroes.”

For most Americans, Williamsburg, Va., evokes thoughts of women in bonnets, British Redcoats, the Union Jack, children playing hoop and stick, fireworks on the Fourth of July, and costumed interpreters portraying Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, and the Marquis de Lafayette. And there is good reason for these associations. Colonial Williamsburg is a tourist destination that draws thousands of visitors each year to step back into history as they walk through the Governor’s Palace, the Capitol, Bruton Parish Church, or any number of historic homes and shops.

Just beneath the surface is another history that is just as interesting, but receives far less attention. In Hidden History of Civil War Williamsburg, Carson O. Hudson, Jr., uncovers the 1860s history of the colonial capital in vivid and dramatic style. Hudson’s narrative begins at the secession crisis and takes readers through various incidents of the war years, concluding in

Ould, and Thomas Bayard, to alter the nation’s negative views of Jefferson Davis, allow for the formation of the Lost Cause interpretation of the war, and portray Davis as a martyr for the original Constitution rather than a traitor. This book is an essential volume for the historian interested not only in the trial of President Davis, but also in the passions, doubts and competencies of the

The heart of the book deals with the Battle of Williamsburg (May 5, 1862) and its aftermath. Many familiar names appear on these pages, such as Sarah Emma Edmonds, Winfield Scott Hancock, George Armstrong Custer, James Longstreet, and Jubal Early, who was wounded twice in the engagement. Four thousand soldiers were killed or wounded in the battle, and many buildings became temporary hospitals. Bruton Parish Church overflowed with dead and wounded. “This church had been occupied as a hospital,” wrote a clergyman in the Union army, “the seats torn up, and beds, cots, and stretchers extended over the whole building; and across the floor in every direction had run streams of blood.” One local woman wrote, “I shall never forget the scene of horror that met my eye when I entered that Church.”

On May 6, writes Hudson, “Williamsburg became an occupied town” and “life changed in the city.” Union general George B. McClellan posted sentinels outside private homes to protect those inside, although that did not stop some Union soldiers from stealing prized possessions from local residents. In response to the occupation, several women openly insulted the U.S. flag.

men who led Reconstruction, the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, and postwar policies toward the defeated South. The voluminous use of excellent primary source material, legal proceedings, and personal observations make this book a wonderful read. The $55 price will probably reduce purchases to those readers who concentrate on postwar legal issues. A less expensive paper addition

Those delighted faces would soon participate in a massive celebration, singing and dancing with all their might when word reached Williamsburg that Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The proclamation freed the slaves in areas of the Confederacy that were not under Union control; counties under Union occupation were exempted from its provisions. Strangely enough, Williamsburg was divided between two counties in 1863—York County, which was exempted, and James City County, which was not. The dividing line between these two counties was the Duke of Gloucester Street, the main eastwest road in town. Thus, in a technical sense the slaves on one side of the street were declared free, while the slaves on the other were not. Since the town was under martial law, however, the proclamation had the effect of making all the slaves in Williamsburg free.

Hudson’s book contains stories of murder, romance, suicide, and other lesser-known aspects of the war. Readers of this book will be inspired to visit Colonial Williamsburg with new historical perspectives, as old, familiar sites take on new meaning. The only thing lacking is a modern map that would help readers locate sites of interest. Those interested in a walking tour should consult Hudson’s earlier book, Civil War Williamsburg (1997).

Jonathan W. White is associate professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University and is the author or editor of nine books, including Midnight in America: Darkness, Sleep, and Dreams during the Civil War (2017) and “Our Little Monitor”: The Greatest Invention of the Civil War (2018), co-authored with Anna Gibson Holloway. Visit his website at www.jonathanwhite.org.

would be a welcome addition.

Wayne L. Wolf is Professor Emeritus at South Suburban College and past president of the Lincoln-Davis Civil War Roundtable. Author of numerous books and articles on the Civil War, he is currently searching for unpublished material on the common soldier to bring their stories to light.

Morris Island and the Civil War-Strategy and Influence. By C. Russell Horres, Jr. Maps, photos, notes, index, 144 pp., 2019. The History Press, www.arcadiapublishing.com/The-HistoryPress. $21.99 paper.

Reviewed by Tom Elmore

Morris Island, the Northerners were no closer to taking Charleston than when they began their operations on the island. An attempt in May 1864 to attack adjoining James Island ended in disaster, and was the only time the Union army tried to capitalize on their capture of Morris Island, which proved to be an empty and expensive prize. When Charleston fell in February 1865, it was because the Confederate forces evacuated it in advance of Maj. Gen. W.T. Sherman’s army into South Carolina. Sadly, very little of the land where some of the war’s fiercest fighting survives, as much of wartime Morris Island now lies under the Atlantic Ocean.

The capture of Charleston, S.C. was always a major Northern military objective. For many in the Union army, capturing Morris Island, located just south of the city, was the key to taking the city.

Consequently, Morris Island was subjected to numerous Union army attacks led by Maj. Gen. Quincy Gillmore, who focused his attention on the island’s earthen fort, Battery Wagner (which became famous for the charge upon it by the African American 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, immortalized in the 1989 film Glory.) Despite Gillmore’s constant efforts, he never captured the fort, thanks to the engineering skill of Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard and Gillmore’s inability to work with his Union Navy counterparts.

By the time the Confederates evacuated Wagner on September 6, 1863, Union forces over the two previous months had lost more than 2,300 men in their several failed attempts versus 1,174 Confederate casualties. Many casualties on both sides were due to excessive heat, insect-borne diseases, bad water, and poor sanitary conditions.

Yet despite the capture of

The author, Dr. Russell Horres, a former cell biologist at Duke University, is a volunteer for the National Park Service and a founder of the African American Historical Alliance. While he is clearly passionate about this subject, his writing leaves something to be desired. He starts the book with a rambling seventeen-page introduction that swings from political correctness to “whiskey tango foxtrot.” He ends the book with a chapter dealing almost entirely with the 54th Massachusetts while presenting weak arguments that the events on Morris Island have been forgotten due to racism. Though the book contains some excellent period maps and images, there is nothing between the opening and closing sections that has not been covered before.

For those who want to study the Union’s efforts to take Charleston, this reviewer recommends E. Milby Burton’s The Siege of Charleston 1861–1865 or Stephen R. Wise’s Gate of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863. Both of these books tell the same story and put it in better context than Horres does in his well-intentioned, but flawed book.

Tom Elmore has lived in South Carolina almost all his life and has written numerous books and magazine articles about the Civil War in his home state.

A Compilation of Southern History

Approaching Civil War and Southern History. By William J. Cooper. Notes, index, 185 pp., 2019. Louisiana State University Press, www.lsupress.org. $38 hardcover.

Reviewed by Shelby Shrader

It is often said that history is written by the victors. It is therefore unsurprising that the prevailing narrative surrounding the Civil War tends to be presented with a pro-Northern bent. Nevertheless, it would be fallacious to assert that the factors leading to the postwar angst of the South is not, at the very least, a valid point of discussion. Approaching Civil

War and Southern History discusses Southern history in the context of the Civil War, in some passages dispelling myths both Northern and Southern and in others simply relating interesting stories of individuals that have not survived the test of time in the public mind.

Approaching Civil War and Southern History is written by William J. Cooper, a historian widely known for his expertise on Jefferson Davis and the history of the American South. Cooper is a graduate of Princeton and Johns Hopkins. He spent his academic career as a professor at Louisiana State University and has written several books on the history of the South. His latest is a compilation of ten essays regarding the South during the Civil War.

In two of these essays, Cooper examines Davis as a war leader before, during and after the war. “Reassessment of Jefferson Davis as a War Leader” challenges the conventional view of Davis’s acumen as a commander-in-chief, while “Jefferson Davis Confronts a Changed World” describes Davis’s life after the war. In both essays, Davis

is depicted in a more apologetic light than is traditional, but the latter essay particularly relates interesting stories about Davis postwar and how he had to cope with losing the conflict as well as his livelihood.

In some of Cooper’s other essays—“Economics or Race,” “The Politics of Slavery Affirmed,” “The Only Door” and “The Critical Signpost on the Journey toward Secession”—he takes a more political and economical approach in evaluating the South during the time of the Civil War and the road to secession. At times, a casual reader may detect controversial opinions about historical events and figures both beloved and reviled, but it is important to note that Cooper conveys the prevailing interpretation of the facts presented in the South during the Civil War; thus, Cooper encapsulates the attitudes driving the unrest in the Southern states, even if the interpretations tend to have changed through the generations.

An essay about the Cotton Crisis, titled “The Cotton Crisis in the Antebellum South, contains tables showing statistics of

cotton production in four southern states. Cooper examines how production of cotton varied from 1850-1890. I found these tables to be quite useful.

In “Daniel R. Hundley, Interpreter of the Antebellum South,” Cooper gives a brief glimpse of the life of a man who studied the South, but hardly got any recognition for his studies–-particularly his book Social Relations. I found this to be a very interesting chapter, for I had never heard of this man and found his life to be intriguing.

Another essay that was splendidly written and very fascinating, titled “Edwin Forbes and the Civil War,” gives a view of the war through the eyes of an artist. Forbes mostly traveled with the Army of the Potomac as a pictorial reporter. He witnessed soldiers risking their lives, and he was subject to the same dangers while on the field painting and sketching history. This chapter gave a very interesting perspective of the war.

Cooper’s last essay, titled “Where was Henry Clay?,” offers unconventional views on Lincoln and secession. Again, it is worth

noting that regardless of the reader’s preconceived notions surrounding the subjects, one should be willing to consider those opinions shaping the culture of the South during the Civil War up to today.

Because some interpretations that run contrary to many of today’s common notions, this book would be best for someone with a good grasp of the conventional narrative against which Cooper pushes back. It offers information on a wide range of topics important to Southern history during the Civil War, so it would be especially useful for someone interested or studying the politics that surrounded the South during the conflict.

Shelby Shrader graduated magna cum laude from Shenandoah University in 2017 with a Bachelors of Science in History. She is a member of the McCormick Civil War Institute, and is also the Volunteer Coordinator at the Cool Spring Battlefield in Berryville, Va. She has a strong interest in slavery and women during the Civil War, and highly enjoys preparing Civil War book reviews.

A Look into the Voyages of a Slave Ship in the Middle Passage

The Voyage of the Slave Ship Hare: A Journey into Captivity from Sierra Leone to South Carolina. By Sean M. Kelley. Appendices, notes, bibliography, index, 304 pp., 2016. University of North Carolina Press, www. uncpress.unc.edu. $30 Cloth.

Reviewed by David Marshall

to determine the identities and culture of the people brought to North America. He makes numerous arguments that the slave trade was an organized commerce with intricate networks.

It was extremely difficult for the author to identify the prisoners, since slave-ship papers such as logbooks, commercial records and mercantile communication do not offer such information. However, Kelley found records located in the New York Historical Society of voyages made between 1754–1755. In the Hare’s crew records he learned of twenty-four individuals along the New Guinea coast who sold people to the Hare and sales records with the names of the twenty-six individuals who purchased them in South Carolina. He thus does an excellent job in detailing the structure of slave sales, shipmate relationships and the geographic distribution of enslaved people.

differences between whites and people of color. While many historians view this trade as minimal, Northerners at the time viewed it as a driving force of their area’s economy in the eighteenth century. The slave trade in New England contributed as much to the region’s economy as timber and whale product exports, and perhaps as much as cattle and meat exports. The author’s findings on the significance of the slave trade to Rhode Island and New England will surprise many readers and historians.

from page 34

in their passages, passed down over time. Men like Alf H. H. Taylor reported his feelings very candidly.

This lack of respect was felt by many Texans who took part in the charge of Pickett, Pettigrew and Trimble on the third day. Many felt that their actions were overlooked as historians focused only the men from Virginia. F. P. O’Brien still felt the anger 47 years later.

readers the fun of looking up what may be wrong with the recollections. The wildest to me is the claim by Thomas Riddle of the 12th Tennessee that only 13 people were killed at Gettysburg and he helped bury them. The 12th Tennessee was not at Gettysburg. Any book I read that gives me the urge to do research will be a welcome addition to my bookshelf.

The Voyage of the Slave Ship Hare explores the journey of one ship that traveled from Newport, Rhode Island to Sierra Leone, Africa, and its transport of enslaved Africans to South Carolina. Sean Kelley attempts to tell a story that explains who the captives were, what life in captivity meant to slaves, how they made it to the New World, and what their life was like in the United States. The author tries

Throughout this volume, Kelley illuminates how the Hare connected people from North America, Africa, and Caribbean, including Barbados. A crucial point concerns New England’s involvement in the slave trade and the middle passage. The author details the workings of the colonial Rhode Island slave or triangular trade. Bondage in these colonies shared many features with systems elsewhere, including ferocity, manipulation, and a growing emphasis on the

A Journey into Captivity from Sierra Leone to South Carolina addresses how slave trades took place and details who the buyers, sellers and slaves were. The first two chapters on “The Port” and “The Crew” concentrate on Rhode Island and evaluate the structure of the Hare’s voyages. Chapters 3 and 4 on “Long Knives” and “Traders and Captives” center on the Upper Guinea coast of Africa and the Hare’s undertakings in that location. The journeys to the Caribbean and the ship’s stops in Barbados are the main concerns of chapter 5, titled “Passage.”

The sale and compulsory diaspora of human cargo are the topics of chapters 6-8, titled “The Sale,” “Town and Country,” and “Shipmates and Countrymen.”

This is an interesting, well-written and well-researched behindthe-scenes look at the voyages of the Hare and how the slave trade was carried out. It offers a lucid, readable narrative that allows readers to understand the transatlantic venture on a small sloop. The book is greatly enhanced by three appendices, and eleven illustrations, three maps and twelve tables.

This reviewer highly recommends it.

David Marshall has been a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade School district for the past thirty-three years. A life-long Civil War enthusiast, David is president of the Miami Civil War Round Table Book Club.

One point mentioned by several of the veterans was the care they got from the civilians of Gettysburg. Nicholas Weeks of the 3rd Alabama Infantry still called these women “Angels of Mercy” in 1909. Their care for his wounds touched him deeply. He returned to Gettysburg in the 1870’s seeking to find this kind woman; he had no luck. These stories touched me deeply, showing the need for more stories and writings about the civilians who took care of the wounded.

Owen included several stories with no comment, allowing the

I highly recommend this book for those who love the stories of the average men who served. I applaud Joe Owen for expanding his research to include those who did not fight just in the Texas regiments. This is not a book for everyone, but for those who still feel the need to see what it was like for their ancestors who bravely wore the Blue & Gray.

Mike Shovlin is a graduate of Westminster College and is the Lead Assistant at the Gettysburg Foundation’s Rupp House History Center. Mike is a Certified Tourism Ambassador for the Journey Through Hallowed Ground and has written articles for Civil War News.

Before making plans to attend any event contact the event host.

Deadlines for Advertising, Editorial or Events Submissions is the 20th of each month.

We strive to add all events submitted to us but do not guarantee that your event will be published. There is a 100 word maximum for each event. Email events to: ads@civilwarnews.com

Nov. 2, Louisiana. Living History and Open House

Camp Parapet Day in Jefferson, the Greater New Orleans area, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jefferson Parish will open the grounds of its historic Civil War fortification for tours. Several vendors and exhibitors will be present including representatives of the state parks and other Louisiana history museums and sites. View a scale model of the large Camp Parapet facility as it existed in the 1860s. Experience period music, dancing and military reenactors representing both sides of the conflict. Camp Parapet served both the Confederacy and the Union during the war as a defensive position. It is also a location of significance to local African American history. Escaped slaves gathered near the site and some of the first African American soldiers were headquartered there. Music will be played each hour commemorating the various flags that flew over the site culminating with the National Anthem as Old Glory is raised Located a block off Causeway Blvd. between Jefferson Hwy. and River Rd., on Arlington Ave. Free admission.

Nov. 8-9, Pennsylvania. Licensed Battlefield Guides of Gettysburg Fall Seminar

“Gone, But Not Forgotten,” a visit to locations, landmarks, and areas that used to be on the Battlefield, but are no longer there. Join us Fri. at 6:30 p.m. at The Gettysburg Heritage Center, 297 Steinwehr Ave. for welcome reception with snacks & beverages. At 7 p.m., LBG Dave Weaver will conduct a presentation of WWI at Gettysburg. On Sat. we meet at 8 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1061 York Road, for a light breakfast before tours beginning at 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Lunch will be held at HGI’s Garden Grill at noon. Final wrap-up will be held at 4:30 p.m. at The General’s Ballroom at HGI. The cost for this seminar will be $125 per person which includes the five programs, snacks, light breakfast, lunch, and transportation. For more information and reservations: https://gettysburgtourguides.org/2019-fallseminar/.

Nov. 16-17, Virginia. Civil War Show and Sale

MK Shows presents the “Original Richmond” Capital of the Confederacy Civil War Show for collectors and history enthusiasts. There are hundreds of dealers with tables filled with books, authentic artifacts, guns, swords, uniform gear, images, artillery, belt buckles, buttons, and other accoutrements. Located at the Richmond International Raceway, 600 E. Laburnum Ave. Free parking. Over 350 tables. Adults $10, Children under 12 are free. Sat. 9-5 and Sun. 9-3. For information; www.MKShows.com or mike@mkshows.com.

Nov. 22-23, Pennsylvania. Civil War Expo

Hotel Gettysburg, 1 Lincoln Square. Room left of front desk. Friday 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Free

Admission – Civil War and More: books; Sullivan Press: documents, stationary; Local Yokals Folk Art: pin cushions, pen wipes; Lucyshairwork: Victorian hair jewelry; Miller’s Millinery: authentic 18th & 19th century head wear. Daily and hourly parking in garage behind hotel. Daily parking passes available at hotel desk for $12 include in/out privileges. For more information: genjenkins@aol.com.

Nov. 22-23, Pennsylvania. Gettysburg - The President’s Remembrance Day Dinner & Ball

Come join us for the our 17th Annual President’s Dinner & Ball. Friday’s event will be at the Gettysburg Hotel and has a Celtic Theme to honor our Celtic ancestors. Saturday night will be held at NPS Visitors Center with a patriotic theme and full access to the museum as well as two private showings of the Cyclorama! See our website at www. remembrancedayball.com for full details or contact John B. Newbold at johngetysbg@aol.com, 930 Highland Ave., Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-420-5145.

Nov. 23, Pennsylvania. National Civil War Ball

The National Civil War Remembrance Day Ball will be held at 8 p.m. Nov. 23, at the Wyndham Gettysburg Hotel, Pa. Sponsored by the Sons of Veterans Reserve, the Military Dept. of the Sons of Union Veterans. Proceeds are donated to the Gettysburg Nat’l. Park. Period attire encouraged but not required. Dancing led by the Victorian Dance Ensemble. For a free Civil War Dance Manual email Contact@CivilWarDance.org. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at door. For tickets, mail check payable to “SVR Remembrance Day Ball” to Brig. Gen. Henry E. Shaw, Jr., 27 Griswold Street, Delaware, OH 43015. Include email and a stamped self-addressed envelope. For information; 740369-3722 or email hshaw@columbus.rr.com.

Nov. 23, Pennsylvania. Remembrance Day in Gettysburg

General Meade & his Generals and the veterans of the Battle of Gettysburg Honor/Dedication Ceremonies during the Remembrance Day Observance. Honoring all commanders and veterans of the Battle. Meet at the General Meade Equestrian Monument at 10:30 a.m. For info; Jerry McCormick, 215-848-7753 or gedwinmc@msn.com.

Nov. 23-24, Louisiana. Reenactment and Living History

Annual event will be held the weekend of Nov. 23-24. Camp Moore is the historical site of the largest Confederate training camp in Louisiana. A 6.5-acre park, Confederate cemetery and museum of artifacts from the Civil War located at 70640 Camp Moore Rd. Tangipahoa, La. Admission is just $5 adults, $3 students, under 6 free and includes tour of museum, campsites and scripted battles on both days at 2 p.m. Food vendors and sutlers will be on site. Hours are 9 a.m. (campsites) 10 a.m. (museum) until 4:30 p.m. on Sat. and until 4 p.m. on Sun. For more information: http:// www.campmoorela.com/Reenactment.html.

Dec. 7-8, Tennessee. Civil War Show and Sale

MK Shows presents the 32nd Annual Middle Tennessee Civil War Show and Sale at the Williamson County Ag Expo Park, 4215 Long Lane in Franklin. The nation’s largest Civil War show, featuring 1,000 tables of antique weapons, artifacts and memorabilia from top dealers and collectors around the country and encompassing all eras of military history from the Revolutionary War through World War II. Appraisers are always on hand to help you identify and value your military collectibles at no cost. Hours are 9-5 on Saturday, 9-3 on Sunday, parking is free and admission is only $10/adults and children 12 and under are free. For more information; www.MKShows.com or Mike@MKShows.com.

Dec. 31, Pennsylvania. Annual General Meade Birthday Celebration

Mark the annual anniversary of the birth of General George G. Meade, heroic commander of the victorious Union army at the Battle of Gettysburg. The General Meade Society of Philadelphia will celebrate at Historic Laurel Hill Cemetery, 3822 Ridge Ave. at 12 p.m. Champagne toast and reception will follow. For information; 215-228-8200 Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Jan. 4-5. South Carolina. Civil War Show

Low Country Civil War Show & Sale at Omar Shrine Temple, Mount Pleasant, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-3. Sponsored by American Digger Magazine. For information, 770-362-8671, 716-574-0465, www.americandigger.com.

Feb 1-2, Georgia. Civil War Show

MK Shows presents the Chickamauga (Dalton) Civil War Show at the Northwest Georgia Trade Center, Dalton, Ga., for collectors and history enthusiasts. Over 400 sale and display tables. Adults $10, Children under 12 are free. Open Sat. 9-5 and Sunday, 9-3. For information; www.MKShows.com, email Mike Kent at mike@mkshows.com.

Small Talk Trivia Answers

Terms and Conditions

The following terms and conditions shall be incorporated by reference into all placement and order for placement of any advertisements in Civil War News by Advertiser and any Agency acting on Advertiser’s behalf. By submitting an order for placement of an advertisement and/or by placing an advertisement, Advertiser and Agency, and each of them, agree to be bound by all of the following terms and conditions:

1. All advertisements are subject to acceptance by Publisher who has the right to refuse any ad submitted for any reason.

2. The advertiser and/or their agency warrant that they have permission and rights to anything contained within the advertisement as to copyrights, trademarks or registrations. Any infringement will be the responsibility of the advertiser or their agency and the advertiser will hold harmless the Publisher for any claims or damages from publishing their advertisement. This includes all attorney fees and judgments.

3. The Publisher will not be held responsible for incorrect placement of the advertisement and will not be responsible for any loss of income or potential profit lost.

4. All orders to place advertisements in the publication are subject to the rate card charges, space units and specifications then in effect, all of which are subject to change and shall be made a part of these terms and conditions.

5. Photographs or images sent for publication must be high resolution, unedited and full size. Phone photographs are discouraged.

6. At the discretion of Civil War News any and all articles will be edited for accuracy, clarity, grammar and punctuation per our style guide.

7. Articles can be emailed as a Word Doc attachment or emailed in the body of the message. Microsoft Word format is preferred. Email articles