Author: James Belcombe ThomasPublisher: Stan Clark Military Books
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 400
Book Description
The Civil War Letters of First Lieutenant James B. Thomas, Adjutant, 107th Pennsylvania Volunteers
Author: James Belcombe ThomasPublisher: Stan Clark Military Books
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 400
Book Description
A Fine Day - The Civil War Diary of Captain Emanuel D. Roath, 107th PA Volunteers, 1864
Author: John P. MulcahyPublisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1300107790
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 228
Book Description
The 1864 Civil War diary of Captain Emanuel D. Roath of the 107th Pennsylvania Regiment with details of combat actions and life in confederate prisons. A vivid, personal record of his role in the 1864 campaign in Virginia with the Army of the Potomac under General U. S. Grant and his months in southern prisons.
Double Duty in the Civil War
Author: George S BurkhardtPublisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 0809386496
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289
Book Description
In 1861 at the age of eighteen, Edward Woolsey Bacon, a Yale student and son of well-known abolitionist minister Leonard Bacon, left his home in New Haven, Connecticut, to fight for the United States. Over the next four years Bacon served in both the Union navy and army, which gave him a sweeping view of the Civil War. His postings included being a captain’s clerk on the USS Iroquois, a hospital clerk in his hometown, a captain in the 29th Connecticut Infantry (Colored), and a major in the 117th U.S. Colored Infantry, and he described these experiences in vibrant letters to his friends and family. Historian George S. Burkhardt has compiled these letters, as well as Bacon’s diary in the impressive Double Duty in the Civil War: The Letters of Sailor and Soldier Edward W. Bacon. Bacon tells of hunting Confederate commerce raiders on the high seas, enduring the tedium of blockade duty, and taking part in riverine warfare on the Mississippi. He recalls sweating in South Carolina as an infantry officer during drill and picket duty, suffering constant danger in the battlefield trenches of Virginia, marching victoriously on fallen Richmond, and tolerating the boredom of occupation duty in Texas. His highly entertaining letters shed new light on naval affairs and reveal a close-knit family life. The narrative of his duty with black troops is especially valuable, since few first-hand accounts from white officers of the U.S. Colored Troops exist. Furthermore, his beliefs about race, slavery, and the Union cause were unconventional for the time and stand in contrast to those held by many of his contemporaries. Double Duty in the Civil War is filled with lively descriptions of the men Bacon met and the events he experienced. With Burkhardt’s careful editing and useful annotations, Bacon’s letters and diary excerpts give rare insight into areas of the Civil War that have been neglected because of a lack of available sources. Given the scarcity of eyewitness testimonies to navy life and life in African American regiments, this book is a rarity indeed.
The Cornfield
Author: David A. WelkerPublisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504062388
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 585
Book Description
The Civil War battle in western Maryland that killed 22,000 men—and served no military purpose. For generations of Americans, the word Antietam—the name of a bucolic stream in western Maryland—held the same sense of horror and carnage that the date 9/11 does for Americans today. But Antietam eclipses even this modern tragedy as America’s single bloodiest day, on which 22,000 men became casualties in a war to determine our nation’s future. Antietam is forever burned into the American psyche as a battle bathed in blood that served no military purpose and brought no decisive victory. This much Americans know was true. What they didn’t know was why the battle broke out at all—until now. The Cornfield: Antietam’s Bloody Turning Point tells for the first time the full story of the struggle to control “the Cornfield,” the action on which the costly battle of Antietam turned. Because Federal and Confederate forces repeatedly traded control of the spot, the fight for the Cornfield is a story of human struggle against fearful odds, men seeking to do their duty, and a simple test of survival. Many of the firsthand accounts included in this volume have never before been revealed to modern readers or assembled in such a comprehensive, readable narrative. At the same time, The Cornfield offers fresh views of the battle as a whole, arguing that two central facts doomed thousands of soldiers. This new, provocative perspective is certain to change our modern understanding of how the battle of Antietam was fought and its role in American history.
Army of the Potomac
Author: Russel H. BeatiePublisher: Savas Beatie
ISBN: 1611210216
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 757
Book Description
The third volume of this masterful Civil War history series covers the pivotal early months of General George McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign. As he did in his first two volumes of this magisterial series, Russel Beatie tells the story largely through the eyes and from the perspective of high-ranking officers, staff officers, and politicians. This study is based upon extensive firsthand research (including many previously unused and unpublished sources) that rewrites the history of Little Mac’s inaugural effort to push his way up the peninsula and capture Richmond in one bold campaign. In meticulous fashion, Beatie examines many heretofore unknown, ignored, or misunderstood facts and events and uses them to evaluate the campaign in the most balanced historical context to date. Every aspect of these critically important weeks is examined, from how McClellan’s Urbanna plan unraveled and led to the birth of the expedition that debarked at Fort Monroe in March 1862, to the aftermath of Williamsburg. To capture the full flavor of their experiences, Beatie employs the “fog of war” technique, which puts the reader in the position of the men who led the Union army. The Confederate adversaries are always present but often only in shadowy forms that achieve firm reality only when we meet them face-to-face on the battlefield. Well written, judiciously reasoned, and extensively footnoted, McClellan’s First Campaign will be heralded as the seminal work on this topic. Civil War readers may not always agree with Beatie’s conclusions, but they will concur that his account offers an original examination of the Army of the Potomac’s role on the Virginia peninsula. “If you want to understand the war in the east, this series is essential.” —Civil War Books and Authors
Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!
Author: George C. RablePublisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807867934
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 688
Book Description
During the battle of Gettysburg, as Union troops along Cemetery Ridge rebuffed Pickett's Charge, they were heard to shout, "Give them Fredericksburg!" Their cries reverberated from a clash that, although fought some six months earlier, clearly loomed large in the minds of Civil War soldiers. Fought on December 13, 1862, the battle of Fredericksburg ended in a stunning defeat for the Union. Confederate general Robert E. Lee suffered roughly 5,000 casualties but inflicted more than twice that many losses--nearly 13,000--on his opponent, General Ambrose Burnside. As news of the Union loss traveled north, it spread a wave of public despair that extended all the way to President Lincoln. In the beleaguered Confederacy, the southern victory bolstered flagging hopes, as Lee and his men began to take on an aura of invincibility. George Rable offers a gripping account of the battle of Fredericksburg and places the campaign within its broader political, social, and military context. Blending battlefield and home front history, he not only addresses questions of strategy and tactics but also explores material conditions in camp, the rhythms and disruptions of military life, and the enduring effects of the carnage on survivors--both civilian and military--on both sides.
Cold Harbor to the Crater
Author: Gary W. GallagherPublisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469625342
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 357
Book Description
Between the end of May and the beginning of August 1864, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee oversaw the transition between the Overland campaign—a remarkable saga of maneuvering and brutal combat—and what became a grueling siege of Petersburg that many months later compelled Confederates to abandon Richmond. Although many historians have marked Grant's crossing of the James River on June 12–15 as the close of the Overland campaign, this volume interprets the fighting from Cold Harbor on June 1–3 through the battle of the Crater on July 30 as the last phase of an operation that could have ended without a prolonged siege. The contributors assess the campaign from a variety of perspectives, examining strategy and tactics, the performances of key commanders on each side, the centrality of field fortifications, political repercussions in the United States and the Confederacy, the experiences of civilians caught in the path of the armies, and how the famous battle of the Crater has resonated in historical memory. As a group, the essays highlight the important connections between the home front and the battlefield, showing some of the ways in which military and nonmilitary affairs played off and influenced one another. Contributors include Keith S. Bohannon, Stephen Cushman, M. Keith Harris, Robert E. L. Krick, Kevin M. Levin, Kathryn Shively Meier, Gordon C. Rhea, and Joan Waugh.
“Strong Men of the Regiment Sobbed Like Children”
Author: John Michael PriestPublisher: Savas Beatie
ISBN: 1954547617
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449
Book Description
The fighting on the first day at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, was unexpected, heavy, confusing, and in many ways, decisive. Much of it consisted of short and often separate simultaneous engagements or “firefights,” a term soldiers often use to describe close, vicious, and bloody combat. Several books have studied this important inaugural day of Gettysburg, but none have done so from the perspective of the rank and file of both armies. John Michael Priest’s “Strong Men of the Regiment Sobbed Like Children”: John Reynolds’ I Corps at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863 rectifies this oversight in splendid style. When dawn broke on July 1, no one on either side could have conceived what was about to take place. Anticipating a fight and with a keen appreciation for terrain, Brig. Gen. John Buford deployed his Union cavalry in a giant arc north and west of Gettysburg to slow down any Confederate advance until Maj. Gen. John Reynolds could bring up his infantry. By the time the foot soldiers of the I Corps arrived, A. P. Hill’s heavy Confederate formations had pushed back the troopers from the west. Richard Ewell’s troops would soon arrive from the north, threatening the town and its key road network. Reynolds, who would die early in the fighting, poured his troops in as they arrived. The road system and undulating ground broke up command control, and the various ridges, tall ground cover, and powder smoke made target recognition difficult. Brigades and regiments often engaged on their own initiatives without the direction of a division or corps commander. The men of both armies fought with determination born of desperation, valor, and fear. By the time the fighting ended, the I Corps was in shambles and in pell-mell retreat for Cemetery Hill. Its bold stand, together with the XI Corps north of town, bought precious hours for the rest of the Army of the Potomac to arrive and occupy good defensive ground. Priest, who Edwin Bearss hailed as “the Ernie Pyle of the Civil War,” spent a decade researching this study and walking the ground to immerse readers into the uncertain world of the rank-and-file experience. He consulted more than 300 primary sources, including letters, diaries, memoirs, newspaper accounts, recollections, casualty lists, and drill manuals to present the battle from the ground up. Nineteen detailed regimental-level maps illustrate the ebb and flow of the battle. The result is a fast-paced narrative sure to please the most demanding students of the Civil War. The footnotes alone are worth the price of admission. Readers will close the book with a full understanding of why a veteran New Yorker spoke for the survivors of both armies when he wrote, “Strong men of the regiment sobbed like children.”
Conflict of Command
Author: George C. RablePublisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 080718103X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 491
Book Description
The fraught relationship between Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan is well known, so much so that many scholars rarely question the standard narrative casting the two as foils, with the Great Emancipator inevitably coming out on top over his supposedly feckless commander. In Conflict of Command, acclaimed Civil War historian George C. Rable rethinks that stance, providing a new understanding of the interaction between the president and his leading wartime general by reinterpreting the political aspects of their partnership. Rable pays considerable attention to Lincoln’s cabinet, Congress, and newspaper editorials, revealing the role each played in shaping the dealings between the two men. While he surveys McClellan’s military campaigns as commander of the Army of the Potomac, Rable focuses on the political fallout of the fighting rather than the tactical details. This broadly conceived approach highlights the army officers and enlisted men who emerged as citizen-soldiers and political actors. Most accounts of the Lincoln-McClellan feud solely examine one of the two individuals, and the vast majority adopt a steadfast pro-Lincoln position. Taking a more neutral view, Rable deftly shows how the relationship between the two developed in a political context and ultimately failed spectacularly, profoundly altering the course of the Civil War itself.
On to Petersburg
Author: Gordon C. RheaPublisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807167487
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468
Book Description
On to Petersburg is the final book in Gordon Rhea’s five-volume history of the Overland Campaign, a series of Civil War battles fought between Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee in southeastern Virginia in the spring and summer of 1864. Having previously covered the campaign in The Battle of the Wilderness May 5–6, 1864; The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7–12, 1864; To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13–25, 1864; and Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26 – June 3, 1864, Rhea concludes his series with a comprehensive account of the last twelve days of the campaign, which concluded with the beginning of the siege of Petersburg. Like the four volumes that preceded it, On to Petersburg represents decades of research and scholarship and will stand as the most authoritative history of the final battles in the campaign.