Civil wars Books

Book Synopsis'I was not willing, but finally agreed...' So wrote Texas pioneer cattle drover William Berry Duncan in his March 1862 diary entry, the day he joined the Confederate Army. Despite his misgivings, Duncan left his prosperous business to lead neighbors and fellow volunteers as commanding officer of cavalry Company F of Spaight's Eleventh Battalion which later became the 21st Texas Infantry in America's Civil War. Philip Caudill's rich account - drawn from Duncan's previously untapped diaries and letters, written by candlelight on the Gulf Coast cattle trail to New Orleans, in Confederate Army camps, and on his southeast Texas farm after the war - reveals the personable Duncan as a man of steadfast integrity and extraordinary leadership. After the war, he returned to his home in Liberty County and battled for survival on the chaotic Reconstruction-era Texas frontier. Supplemented by archival records and complementary accounts, Moss Bluff Rebel paints a picture of everyday life for the Anglo-Texans who settled the Mexican land grants in the early nineteenth century and subsequently became citizens of the proudly independent Texas Republic. "Moss Bluff Rebel" will appeal to history lovers of all ages who are attracted to the drama of the Civil War period and interested in the stories of the men and women who shaped the Texas frontier.

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Book SynopsisA maverick, unionist district in the heart of the Old South? A notorious county that seceded from the Confederacy? This is how Jones County, Mississippi, is known in myth and legend.Since 1864, the legend has persisted. Differing versions give the name of this new nation as Republic of Jones, Jones County Confederacy, and Free State of Jones. Over the years this story has captured the imaginations of journalists, historians, essayists, novelists, short story writers, and Hollywood filmmakers, although serious scholars long ago questioned the accuracy of local history accounts about a secessionist county led by Newt Knight and a band of renegades.Legend of the Free State of Jones was the first authoritative explanation of just what did happen in Jones County in 1864 to give rise to the legend. This book surveys the facts, the records, and the history of the ""Free State of Jones"" and well may provide the whole story.

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Book SynopsisThe Battle of Antietam, fought in Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862, was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War, with 23,000 casualties on both sides. While the battle was tactically inconclusive, it resulted in two significant milestones. First, because Robert E. Lee failed to carry the war successfully into the North, Great Britain was dissuaded from recognising the Confederate States of America diplomatically. Second, the battle gave President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.After the battle, two photographers sent by Mathew Brady--Alexander Gardner and James Gibson--recorded the horror of war with the first-ever images of dead American soldiers. Gardner's and Gibson's legendary photos have been the subject of debate for decades. The lack of information about locations, dates, and times in the thousands of photographs taken during the war has limited any thorough understanding of the photographers' work and led to much speculation.In Shadows of Antietam, Robert J. Kalasky has painstakingly re-created Gardner's and Gibson's output, retracing their footsteps by location, date, and time to chronologically and sequentially place their images. With the help of reenactors and black-and-white photography, Kalasky has assembled a comprehensive study, based on sunlight and shadow, of the 74 known glass plates recorded by Gardner and Gibson at Antietam. Civil War photography historians and buffs will appreciate this groundbreaking research for correcting previous errors and misjudgments made about the photographers' trek across the battlefield and for answering 150-year-old questions about their photographs.

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Book SynopsisFor sixty years the journal Civil War History has presented the best original scholarship in the study of America’s greatest struggle. The Kent State University Press is pleased to present this third volume in its multivolume series, reintroducing the most influential of more than 500 articles published in the journal. From military command, strategy, and tactics to political leadership, race, abolitionism, the draft, and women’s issues, and from the war’s causes to its aftermath and Reconstruction, Civil War History has published pioneering and provocative analyses of the determining aspects of the Middle Period.In this third volume of the Civil War History Readers, John T. Hubbell has selected ground-breaking essays by Douglas L. Wilson, Mark Neely Jr., Herman Hattaway and Archer Jones, Ludwell Johnson, Allen Guelzo, and other scholars who examine Lincoln’s assertive idealism, leadership, views on slavery, abolitionism, emancipation, and Lincoln as a war president. Hubbell’s introduction assesses the contribution of each article to our understanding of Lincoln and the Civil War era.

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Book SynopsisThe Spanish Civil War, a military rebellion supported by Hitler and Mussolini, attracted the greatest writers of the age. Among them were Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, André Malraux, Arthur Koestler, Langston Hughes, and Martha Gellhorn. They returned to their homelands to warn the world about a war of fascist aggression looming on the horizon.Spain’s cause drew 35,000 volunteers from 52 countries, including 2,800 Americans who formed the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Eight hundred Americans lost their lives. Of them, Hemingway wrote, “no men entered earth more honourably than those who died in Spain.” Writers and soldiers alike saw Spain as the first battlefield of World War II. In the title essay of this book, historian Peter N. Carroll traces the war’s legacy, from the shocking bombing of the Basque town of Guernica by German and Italian air forces to the attacks on civilians and displacement of refugees in later wars.Carroll’s work focuses on both the personal and political motives that led seemingly ordinary Americans to risk their lives in a foreign war. Based on extensive oral histories of surviving veterans and original archival work—including material in the once-secret Moscow archives—the essays, some never before published, present forty years of scholarship. A portrait of three American women illustrates the growing awareness of a fascist threat to our home front. Other pieces examine the role of ethnicity, race, and religion in prompting Americans to set off for war.Carroll also examines the lives of war survivors. Novelist Alvah Bessie became a screenwriter and emerged as one of the blacklisted “Hollywood Ten.” Ralph Fasanella went from union organizing to becoming one of the country’s significant “outsider” painters. Hank Rubin won fame as a food connoisseur and wine columnist. And one volunteer, the African American Sgt. Edward Carter, earned a Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism in World War II. Most famously, Ernest Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls. His sharp criticism of the film version of the novel, in a series of private letters published here for the first time in book form, reveals his deep commitment to the antifascist cause.For those who witnessed the war in Spain, the defeat of democracy remained, in the words of Albert Camus, “a wound in the heart.” From Guernica to Human Rights is essential reading for anyone interested in the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath.

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Book SynopsisIn May 1863, eighteen-year-old William Brooke Rawle graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and traded a genteel, cultured life of privilege for service as a cavalry officer. Travelling from his home in Philadelphia to Virginia, he joined the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry and soon found himself in command of a company of veterans of two years’ service, some of whom were more than twice his age. Within eight weeks, he had participated in two of the largest cavalry battles of the war at Brandy Station and Gettysburg. Brooke Rawle and the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry would serve with the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac through April 1864, fighting partisans and guerillas in Northern Virginia and also seeing action during the Bristoe Station and Mine Run battles of late 1863. A meticulous diarist and letter writer, Brooke Rawle documented nearly everything that came under his observant eye in 150 well-written letters home to his family. These letters, supplemented by his diary entries, provide a fascinating, richly detailed look into the life of a regimental cavalry officer during the last two years of the Civil War in the East.

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Book SynopsisA scrupulous analysis of Rodes's conduct during the Battle of Gettysburg Over the years, many top historians have cited Major General Robert E. Rodes as the best division commander in Robert E. Lee's vaunted army. Despite those accolades, Rodes faltered badly at Gettysburg, which stands as the only major blemish on his otherwise sterling record. Although his subordinates were guilty of significant blunders, Rodes shared the blame for the disjointed attack that led to the destruction of Alfred Iverson's brigade on the first day of the battle. His lack of initiative on the following day was regarded by some in the army as much worse. Whether justified or not, they directly faulted him for not supporting Jubal Early's division in a night attack on Cemetery Hill that nearly succeeded in decisively turning the enemy's flank.The reasons behind Rodes's flawed performance at Gettysburg have long proven difficult to decipher with any certainty. Because his personal papers were destroyed, primary sources on his role in battle remain sparse. Other than the official reports on the battle, the record of what occurred there is mostly limited to the letters and diaries of his subordinates. In this new study, however, Robert J. Wynstra draws on sources heretofore unexamined, including rare soldiers' letters published in local newspapers and other firsthand accounts located in small historical societies, to shed light on the reasons behind Rodes's missteps.As a result of this new research and analysis, we are finally able to come to a more detailed understanding of Rodes's division's activities at Gettysburg, an enduring subject of study and interest.Trade ReviewAt the moment of Gettysburg's sesquicentennial, it was estimated that nearly half of the approximately 65,000 books published about the Civil War in some way focused on the war's bloodiest battle. Because such a vast literature already exists about the Gettysburg Campaign, one might easily surmise that it would be impossible for anyone to produce anything original about it. Robert J. Wynstra successfully challenges that assumption with his recent volume, one destined to become a staple for anyone seeking a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the campaign's opening weeks. There is little to criticize about Wynstra's exhaustively researched, skillfully written, and nuanced history. While this book is certainly a necessity for students of the Gettysburg Campaign, those who seek a deeper understanding of the interactions between Confederate soldiers and white civilians, Confederates and African Americans, or how soldiers justified bringing war to people's doorsteps will find Wynstra's volume inestimably valuable."- The Civil War Monitor

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Book SynopsisThe definitive biography of a Civil War scoundrel and streetwise politico Largely forgotten by historians, Billy Wilson (1822-1874) was a giant in his time, a man well known throughout New York City, a man shaped by the city's immigrant culture, its harsh voting practices, and its efforts to participate in the War for the Union. For decades, Wilson's name made headlines-for many different reasons-in the city's major newspapers.An immigrant who settled in New York in 1842, Wilson found work as a prizefighter, a shoulder hitter, an immigrant runner, and a pawnbroker, before finally entering politics and being elected an alderman. He harnessed his tough persona to good advantage, in 1861 becoming a colonel in command of a regiment of alleged toughs and ex-convicts known as the "Wilson Zouaves." A poor disciplinarian, however, Wilson exercised little control over his soldiers, and in 1863, unable to maintain order, he was jailed for a number of weeks. Nonetheless, Wilson returned home to a hero's welcome that year.Wilson left behind no personal papers, journals, or correspondences, so Robert E. Cray has masterfully woven together a record of Wilson's life using the only available records: newspaper stories. These accounts present Wilson as a fascinating but highly unlikable man. As Cray demonstrates, Wilson bullied his way into New York, bullied his way into fame and politics, and attempted to bully his way into military greatness. His story depicts the New York City and Civil War experience in bolder, darker hues. As Cray shows us, it was not always a pretty tale.Trade Review"This book is clever, well researched, and the subject—Billy Wilson—is unquestionably an interesting one. Immigration historians, historians of 19th-century US politics, historians of New York City, and Civil War historians will all find A Notable Bully: Colonel Billy Wilson, Masculinity, and the Pursuit of Violence in the Civil War Era to be a welcome addition to their bookshelves."—Timothy J. Orr, coauthor of Never Call Me a Hero: A Legendary American Dive-Bomber Pilot Remembers the Battle of Midway"Billy Wilson came straight out of the cauldron of antebellum New York City street life. A boxer and political thug, he was anything but a sensitive soul. In A Notable Bully: Colonel Billy Wilson, Masculinity, and the Pursuit of Violence in the Civil War Era, Robert Cray has ferreted out, in the most creative fashion, details of the fascinating life of this New York tough. A great read that tells us much that is new about Gotham's history."—Shane White, author of Prince of Darkness: The Untold Story of Jeremiah G. Hamilton, Wall Street's First Black Millionaire

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Book SynopsisThe insightful letters of a Harvard-educated staff officer's experience in the Army of the PotomacaCharles J. Mills, the scion of a wealthy, prominent Boston family, experienced a privileged upbringing and was educated at Harvard University. When the Civil War began, Mills, like many of his college classmates, sought to secure a commission in the army. After a year of unsuccessful attempts, Mills was appointed second lieutenant in the Second Massachusetts Infantry in August 1862; however, he was seriously wounded at Antietam a month later. Following a nearly yearlong recovery, Mills eventually reentered the service as a staff officer, although he remained physically disabled for the rest of his life. He was initially with the Ninth Corps during the Overland and Petersburg Campaigns and later at the Second Corps headquarters.During his time in the army, Mills served under seven different generals and witnessed some of the most intense fighting of the war. Mills's letters to his family offer enlightening insights about the Civil War in the East as seen from the perspective of an educated, impressionable, and opinionated Bostonian Brahmin.Compiled, edited, and privately published in a limited edition in 1982 by the late Gregory A. Coco, Through Blood and Fire did not achieve widespread attention and has been out of print for decades. This new edition of the Mills letters, extensively revised and edited by J. Gregory Acken, incorporates additional letters and source material and provides exhaustive annotations and analysis, revitalizing this important primary source for understanding a crucial era of our history.Trade Review"Few primary sources better inform us about the lives of Civil War soldiers than do their letters. .... With the recent publication of Through Blood and Fire in a "revised and expanded edition," and expertly edited by J. Gregory Acken, bibliophiles now have an opportunity to finally read and own what is widely considered as one of the finest collections of published letters in existence."#8212;Emerging Civil War "This second edition of Through Blood and Fire improves upon the original version by increasing reader understanding of the people, places, and events in Charles J. Mills' letters home. Taken as a whole, Through Blood and Fire is a worthy successor to Greg Coco's rare original and should be on the shelves of anyone interested in the Petersburg Campaign." —The Siege of Petersburg Online "In the many collections of Civil War letters published, those of Charlie Mills stand out. A line officer and, for much of the war, a staff officer, he had a unique perspective of the conflict. Greg Acken has done a superb job of editing and annotating Mills's letters and providing context."—D. Scott Hartwig,author of To Antietam Creek: The Maryland Campaign of 1862 "Charles G. Mills's observations about military affairs, Union commanders, northern politics, and other topics constitute a treasure trove of evidence to be savored by students of the conflict."—Gary W. Gallagher, author of The Enduring Civil War: Reflections on the Great American Crisis "Likeable, smart, articulate, and observant, Charles Mills left behind a written chronicle of an officer's life rarely exceeded in the literature of the Civil War—a close, vivid look at an army in the process of ultimate victory. Mills's Civil War letters are beautifully resurrected, edited, and annotated by Greg Acken and must become a standard source for anyone with an interest in the Army of the Potomac or the human experience of war."—John Hennessy, retired National Park Service historian and author of Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas

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Book SynopsisAn in-depth look at of a vitally important but little-known heavy artillery regiment of the Civil WarIn early 1864, many heavy artillery regiments in the Civil War were garrisoning the Washington defenses, including the Fifteenth New York. At the same time, newly minted Union general in chief Ulysses S. Grant sought to replenish the ranks of the Army of the Potomac, and the Fifteenth became one of the first outfits dispatched to Major General George Meade at Brandy Station.Composed of predominantly German immigrants, members of the Fifteenth not only endured the nativist sentiments held by many in the army, but as "heavies" normally stationed to the rear, they were also derided as "band box soldiers." The men were still struggling to adjust to their new roles as infantrymen when they experienced combat for the first time at the Wilderness. Despite lacking infantry training and adequate equipment, they persisted. From the Wilderness to Appomattox describes how the Fifteenth continued to hone their skills and distinguish themselves throughout the Overland, Petersburg, and Appomattox Campaigns, eventually witnessing the surrender of Robert E. Lee's vaunted Army of Northern Virginia.Drawing on a wealth of previously unmined primary sources, Edward A. Altemos pays tribute to the Fifteenth, other heavy artillery regiments, and the thousands of immigrants who contributed to the Union army's victory.Trade Review"The predominantly German American 'heavies' of the 15th New York Heavy Artillery saw some of the toughest fighting of the war, from the tangled thickets of the Wilderness to final confrontation at Appomattox, establishing themselves as a reliable command with a substantial late-war battlefield record. Altemos's thorough research and lively narrative does justice to this largely forgotten regiment." —Patrick A. Schroeder, historian and author of We Came to Fight: The History of the 5th New York Veteran Volunteer Infantry, Dury<é<e's Zouaves, 1863–1865 "The heavy artillery units that joined the Army of the Potomac in 1864 played an outsize role during the war's final year, yet few studies examine their experience. Altemos's history of the 15th New York Heavy Artillery fills that gap with exhaustive research and penetrating analysis." —A. Wilson Greene, author of A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg

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Book SynopsisA governor embraces patriotism over partisanship in a crucial Union stateBefore his election to the state's executive office in 1862, David Tod was widely regarded as Ohio's most popular Democrat. Tod rose to prominence in the old Western Reserve, rejecting the political influence of his well-known father, a former associate justice of Ohio's Supreme Court, a previous member of the Federalist Party, and a new, devoted Whig. As a fierce Democratic Party lion, the younger Tod thrilled followers with his fearless political attacks on Whig adversaries and was considered an unlikely figure in the battle to keep the Union intact.However, the Civil War and the serious consequences of its potential outcome came to outweigh his loyalty to the Democratic Party. Placing the restoration of the Union above all else, Tod eagerly shed his partisan identity to take up the Union cause. As governor, he quickly pledged Ohio's support to the nation's leader, President Abraham Lincoln. Tod rallied Ohioans to support the war and equipped scores of physicians and nurses with medical supplies to tend to Ohio's wounded soldiers. He also had to protect the state's borders from invasion by developing defenses at home.Despite his patriotic service, partisan politics and political intrigue denied Tod a second term. The Political Transformation of David Tod chronicles Tod's unwavering support for the Union and describes the importance of one man's loyalty to country over partisanship.Trade Review"This engagingly written book is a marvelous addition to the political history of the Civil War. By bringing Ohio's governor David Tod out of obscurity, Lambert showcases Tod's ability to rise to the challenge of putting the Union above party to restore the nation, and he places Tod's inspired leadership and the nation-state alliance at the forefront of the war's tumultuous years of 1862 and 1863."—Stephen D. Engle, author of Gathering to Save a Nation: Lincoln and the Union's War Governors"Modern political biographies of Civil War leaders beyond the national and presidential level have been neglected for too long. Joseph Lambert Jr. provides us a study of one of Ohio's war governors, taking us into the experience of politics during the rebellion at the state level with this insightful look at David Tod, a 'War Democrat' whose tenure reflected the deep divisions and political realities of the war years in the Union heartland."—A. James Fuller, University of Indianapolis, author of Oliver P. Morton and the Politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction "Lambert's detailed and concise biography of David Tod provides a long-overdue study of Ohio's most notable Civil War governor. A lifelong Democrat, Tod became a Lincoln ally, and his leadership during the turbulent years of 1862 and 1863 ensured the Buckeye State would be a steadfast supporter of the Union cause."—Thomas Crowl, author of Opdycke's Tigers in the Civil War: A History of the 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

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Book SynopsisThe Afterlives of Specimens explores the space between science and sentiment, the historical moment when the human cadaver became both lost love object and subject of anatomical violence. Walt Whitman witnessed rapid changes in relations between the living and the dead. In the space of a few decades, dissection evolved from a posthumous punishment inflicted on criminals to an element of preservationist technology worthy of the presidential corpse of Abraham Lincoln. Whitman transitioned from a fervent opponent of medical bodysnatching to a literary celebrity who left behind instructions for his own autopsy, including the removal of his brain for scientific study.Grounded in archival discoveries, Afterlives traces the origins of nineteenth-century America’s preservation compulsion, illuminating the influences of botanical, medical, spiritualist, and sentimental discourses on Whitman’s work. Tuggle unveils previously unrecognized connections between Whitman and the leading “medical men” of his era, such as the surgeon John H. Brinton, founding curator of the Army Medical Museum, and Silas Weir Mitchell, the neurologist who discovered phantom limb syndrome. Remains from several amputee soldiers whom Whitman nursed in the Washington hospitals became specimens in the Army Medical Museum.Tuggle is the first scholar to analyze Whitman’s role in medically memorializing the human cadaver and its abandoned parts.Trade Review"In a deft study that weaves together the story of Whitman’s aesthetic development and the history of medical practice, Tuggle casts new light on this pivotal moment in Whitman’s artistic career and this equally pivotal moment in US history. [...] Tuggle is at her best when she recovers the fascinating history of nineteenth-century scientific and medical history and links this history with Whitman’s own writing. [...] This lively, fascinating work mines the rich history of medical science in the nineteenth century and draws illuminating connections to one of the most vital figures of American letters." - ALH Online Review, Series XVI

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Book SynopsisThis is the first book exclusively devoted to the Civil War writings of Walt Whitman and Herman Melville, arguably the most important poets of the war. The essays brought together in this volume add significantly to recent critical appreciation of the skill and sophistication of these poets; growing recognition of the complexity of their views of the war; and heightened appreciation for the anxieties they harbored about its aftermath. Both in the ways they come together and seem mutually influenced, and in the ways they disagree, Whitman and Melville grapple with the casualties, complications, and anxieties of the war while highlighting its irresolution. This collection makes clear that rather than simply and straightforwardly memorializing the events of the war, the poetry of Whitman and Melville weighs carefully all sorts of vexing questions and considerations, even as it engages a cultural politics that is never pat. Contributors: Kyle Barton, Peter Bellis, Adam Bradford, Jonathan A. Cook, Ian Faith, Ed Folsom, Timothy Marr, Cody Marrs, Christopher Ohge, Vanessa Steinroetter, Sarah L. Thwaites, Brian Yothers

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Book SynopsisIn an attempt to counter the insular narratives of much of the sesquicentennial commemorations of the Civil War in the United States, editors David T. Gleeson and Simon Lewis present this collection of essays that examine the war as more than a North American conflict, one with transnational concerns. The book, while addressing the origins of the Civil War, places the struggle over slavery and sovereignty in the United States in the context of other conflicts in the Western hemisphere. Additionally Gleeson and Lewis offer an analysis of the impact of the war and its results overseas. Although the Civil War was the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history and arguably its single most defining event, this work underscores the reality that the war was by no means the only conflict that ensnared the global imperial powers in the mid-nineteenth century. In some ways the Civil War was just another part of contemporary conflicts over the definitions of liberty, democracy, and nationhood. The editors have successfully linked numerous provocative themes and convergences of time and space to make the work both coherent and cogent. Subjects include such disparate topics as Florence Nightingale, Gone with the Wind, war crimes and racial violence, and choices of allegiance made by immigrants to the United States. While we now take for granted the nation's values of freedom and democracy, we cannot understand the impact of the Civil War and the victorious ""new birth of freedom"" without thinking globally.The contributors to The Civil War as Global Conflict reveal that Civil War-era attitudes toward citizenship and democracy were far from fixed or stable. Race, ethnicity, nationhood, and slavery were subjects of fierce controversy. Examining the Civil War in a global context requires us to see the conflict as a seminal event in the continuous struggles of people to achieve liberty and fulfill the potential of human freedom. The book concludes with a coda that reconnects the global with the local and provides ways for Americans to discuss the war and its legacy more productively.

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Book SynopsisThe Red River Campaign of 1864 was a bold attempt to send large Union army and navy forces deep into the interior of Louisiana, seize the Rebel capital of the state, and defeat the Confederate army guarding the region enabling uninhibited access to Texas to the west. Through the Howling Wilderness emphasizes the Confederate defensive measures and the hostile attitudes of commanders toward each other as well as toward their enemies.Gary D. Joiner contends that the campaign was important to both the Union army and navy in the course of the war and afterward, altering the political landscape in the fall presidential elections in 1864. The campaign redirected troops originally assigned to operate in Georgia during the pivotal Atlanta campaign, thus delaying the end of the war by weeks or even months, and it forced the navy to refocus its inland or “brown water” naval tactics. The Red River Campaign ushered in deep resentment toward the repatriation of the State of Louisiana after the war ended. Profound consequences included legal, political, and sociological issues that surfaced in Congressional hearings as a result of the Union defeat.The efforts of the Confederates to defend northern Louisiana have been largely ignored. Their efforts at building an army and preparations to trap the union naval forces before the campaign began have been all but lost in the literature of the Civil War. Joiner’s book will remedy this lack of historical attention.Replete with in-depth coverage on the geography of the region, the Congressional hearings after the Campaign, and the Confederate defenses in the Red River Valley, Through the Howling Wilderness will appeal to Civil War historians and buffs alike.

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Book SynopsisCivil War Flags of Tennessee provides information on all known Confederate and Union flags of the state and showcases the Civil War flag collection of the Tennessee State Museum. This volume is organized into three parts. Part 1 includes interpretive essays by scholars such as Greg Biggs, Robert B. Bradley, Howard Michael Madaus, and Fonda Ghiardi Thomsen that address how flags were used in the Civil War, their general history, their makers, and preservation issues, among other themes. Part 2 is a catalogue of Tennessee Confederate flags. Part 3 is a catalogue of Tennessee Union flags. The catalogues present a collection of some 200 identified, extant Civil War flags and another 300 flags that are known through secondary and archival sources, all of which are exhaustively documented. Appendices follow the two catalogue sections and include detailed information on several Confederate and Union flags associated with the states of Mississippi, North Carolina, and Indiana that are also contained in the Tennessee State Museum collection.Complete with nearly 300 color Illustrations and meticulous notes on textiles and preservation efforts, this volume is much more than an encyclopedic log of Tennessee-related Civil War flags. Stephen Cox and his team also weave the history behind the flags throughout the catalogues, including the stories of the women who stitched them, the regiments that bore them, and the soldiers and bearers who served under them and carried them. Civil War Flags of Tennessee is an eloquent hybrid between guidebook and chronicle, and the scholar, the Civil War enthusiast, and the general reader will all enjoy what can be found in its pages.Unprecedented in its variety and depth, Cox's work fills an important historiographical void within the greater context of the American Civil War. This text demonstrates the importance of Tennessee state heritage and the value of public history, reminding readers that each generation has the honor and responsibility of learning from and preserving the history that has shaped us all-and in doing so, honoring the lives of the soldiers and civilians who sacrificed and persevered.Trade ReviewThis volume is well conceived, organized, and executed. The essays are impressive, and the writing style will engage both scholars and the larger public." - John D. Fowler, author of Mountaineers in Gray: The Nineteenth Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment, C.S.A.

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Book SynopsisIntended for a general readership, Decisions of the Atlanta Campaign introduces readers to critical decisions made by both Union and Confederate commanders who faced harrowing situations and attempted to achieve strategic and tactical victories. Like four similar books by Matt Spruill, Dave Powell, and Peterson's own Decisions at Chattanooga, this contribution to the Command Decisions in America's Civil War series contains maps, photographs, and a guided tour of the battlefields. It will be the first in the series to tackle an entire campaign

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Book SynopsisBorn to an affluent family in 1836, Hylan B. Lyon claimed ancestors among Irish rebels, patriots of the American Revolution, and slaveowners in his native Kentucky. Biographer Dan Lee chronicles Lyon’s military career, which began with service in the Third US Artillery after his graduation from West Point in 1856. Lyon first saw action in the Third Seminole War. Later stationed at Fort Yuma in California, he went on to fight in the Coeur d’Alene War. Witnessing the execution of Yakima chief Qualchan during this last conflict nearly made Lyon leave the army. Yet the young lieutenant persevered. After serving with troops building the Mullan Road between Washington and Montana, Lyon returned to Kentucky just as Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election. Though his home state never seceded from the Union, Lyon cast his lot with the Confederacy. He served with the Third Kentucky Infantry Regiment (CSA), led the Eighth Kentucky Infantry, and later commanded the Kentucky Brigade under Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Lyon saw action in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, spending several months as a prisoner of war and winning special commendation for his performances at the Battles of Coffeeville and Brice’s Crossroads. He ultimately earned the rank of brigadier general. After the Civil War, Lyon sought refuge with other ex-Confederates in Mexico, working as a railroad surveyor. He requested and received a presidential pardon and returned to Kentucky by mid-1866. Lyon remained there until his death in 1907, devoting himself to farming and prison reform, as well as serving in the state house of representatives. He was the mayor of Eddyville, Kentucky, when he died in 1907. Trade Review“Hylan Lyon blazed a path across the latter part of the Civil War under Nathan Bedford Forrest. Dan Lee has uncovered new material on this unjustly neglected general, and readers of Civil War history, especially the Western Theater, should celebrate.” — Brian Wills, director, Center for the Study of the Civil War Era, Kennesaw State University

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Book SynopsisThe Battle of Gettysburg has inspired scrutiny from virtually every angle, but until the first publication of Matt Spruill’s Decisions at Gettysburg in 2011 investigations of critical decisions made by Union and Confederate commanders were not heavily scrutinized. The success of Decisions at Gettysburg launched a series of books exploring critical decisions in various battles and campaigns during the Civil War. In this revised second edition, Spruill updates the nineteen critical decisions, adding a twentieth decision, and aligns the book with others in the Command Decisions in America’s Civil War series.Decisions at Gettysburg, second edition, further defines the critical decisions made by Confederate and Union commanders throughout the battle. Matt Spruill examines the decisions that prefigured the action and shaped the course of battle as it unfolded. Rather than a linear history of the battles, Spruill’s discussion of the critical decisions presents readers with a vivid blueprint of the battle’s development. Exploring the critical decisions in this way allows the reader to progress from a sense of what happened in these battles to why they happened as they did. Complete with maps and a guided tour, Decisions at Gettysburg is an indispensable primer, and readers looking for concise introduction to the battle can tour this sacred ground—or read about it at their leisure—with key insights into the battle and a deeper understanding of the Civil War itself.

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Book SynopsisBorn near Guntersville, Alabama, Catherine (Cassie) Fennell was nineteen when the Civil War began. Starting with her time at a female academy in Washington, DC, the diaries continue through the war’s end and discuss civilian experiences in Alabama and the Tennessee Valley. Fennell believed that by keeping a diary she made a small contribution to the war effort and history itself.Fennell was fairly well off and highly educated, moving easily in very elite social circles. Most of her relatives were staunch Confederates, and the war took its toll, with multiple members of her family killed or captured. As Fennell recounts the consequences of war—the downward spiral of the family fortune, the withering of hope at news from the battlefront, and the general uncertainty of civilian life in the South—her diaries constitute one of the few contemporaneous records of north Alabama, including the shelling and burning of Guntersville, which has been poorly documented in the historiography of the Civil War. While the first diary is written as a private reflection, the war journals are well researched and rely on extensive familiarity with local newspapers and seem like they are intended for the eyes of later generations.Ultimately, these diaries amount to a social history of the war years, in a specific region where scholars have recovered relatively few firsthand accounts, and editor Whitney Snow’s compilation adds to the now growing genre of women’s Civil War diaries. Insightful and engrossing, The Civil War Diaries of Cassie Fennell is a compelling portrait of a privileged young woman who suffered devastating losses for her ardent support of a Confederate nation.

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Book SynopsisToward the end of the American Civil War, the Confederacy faced manpower shortages, and the Confederate Army, following practices the Union had already adopted, began to recruit soldiers from their prison ranks. They targeted foreign-born soldiers whom they thought might not have strong allegiances to the North. Key battalions included the Brooks Battalion, a unit composed entirely of Union soldiers who wished to join the Confederacy and were not formally recruited; Tucker’s Regiment and the 8th Battalion Confederate Infantry recruited mainly among Irish, German, and French immigrants.Though the scholarship on the Civil War is vast, Changing Sides represents the first entry to investigate Union POWs who fought for the Confederacy, filling a significant gap in the historiography of Civil War incarceration. To provide context, Patrick Garrow traces the history of the practice of recruiting troops from enemy POWs, noting the influence of the mostly immigrant San Patricios in the Mexican-American War. The author goes on to describe Confederate prisons, where conditions often provided ample incentive to change sides. Garrow’s original archival research in an array of archival records, along with his archaeological excavation of the Confederate guard camp at Florence, South Carolina, in 2006, provide a wealth of data on the lives of these POWs, not only as they experienced imprisonment and being “galvanized” to the other side, but also what happened to them after the war was over.

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Book SynopsisConfederate historiography of the Civil War is rich with stories of leaders and decision makers-oft-repeated names immortalized by their association with America's great trial of the 1860s. But while scholarship exploring the roles of Confederate generals and politicians abounds, a major part of the story remains untold: that of the ordinary people who became soldiers and turned the very pages of Civil War history.Part of the Voices of the Civil War series, Suffering in the Army of Tennessee doesn't just draw upon one single diary or letter collection, and it does not use brief quotations as a way to fill out a larger narrative. Rather, across eight chapters spanning the Atlanta Campaign to the Battle of Nashville in 1864, Thrasher draws upon a remarkably broad set of primary sources-newspapers, manuscripts, archives, diaries, and official documents-to tell a story that knits together accounts of senior officers, the final campaigns of the Western Theater, and the experiences of the civilians and rebel soldiers who found themselves deep in the trenches of a national reckoning. While volumes have been written on the Atlanta Campaign or the Battles of Nashville and Franklin, no previous historian has constructed what amounts to a sweeping social history of the Army of Tennessee-the daily details of soldiering and the toll it took on the men and boys who mustered into service foreseeing only a small skirmish among the states.While this volume will appeal to Civil War buffs and military history scholars, its accessible structure and engaging narrative style will likewise captivate American history enthusiasts, students, and general readers.Trade ReviewWhat sets Suffering in the Army of Tennessee apart is how thoroughly and seamlessly the author is able to interweave a comprehensive narrative that includes civilians, senior officers, as well as historiography of the Western Theater to the accounts of the Rebel soldiers. The end result is a well-written book that expertly contextualizes the soldiers' trials and tribulations with their values of duty, loyalty, and courage in the maelstrom of war." - Alex Mendoza, author of Chickamauga 1863: Rebel Breakthrough

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Book SynopsisBorn in early 1812 in Crawfordville, Georgia, Alexander Stephens grew up in an antebellum South that would one day inform the themes of his famous Cornerstone Speech. While Stephens made many speeches throughout his lifetime, the Cornerstone Speech is the discourse for which he is best remembered. Stephens delivered it on March 21, 1861—one month after his appointment as vice president of the Confederacy—asserting that slavery and white supremacy comprised the cornerstone of the Confederate States of America. Within a few short weeks, more than two hundred newspapers worldwide had reprinted Stephens’s words.Following the war and the defeat of the Confederacy, Stephens claimed that his assertions in the Cornerstone Speech had been misrepresented, his meaning misunderstood, as he sought to breathe new and different life into an oration that may have otherwise been forgotten. His intentionally ambiguous rhetoric throughout the postwar years obscured his true antebellum position on slavery and its centrality to the Confederate Nation and lent itself to early constructions of Lost Cause mythology.In Cornerstone of the Confederacy, Keith HÉbert examines how Alexander Stephens originally constructed, and then reinterpreted, his well-known Cornerstone Speech. HÉbert illustrates the complexity of Stephens’s legacy across eight chronological chapters, meticulously tracing how this speech, still widely cited in the age of Black Lives Matter, reverberated in the nation’s consciousness during Reconstruction, through the early twentieth century, and in debates about commemoration of the Civil War that live on in the headlines today.Audiences both inside and outside of academia will quickly discover that the book’s implications span far beyond the memorialization of Confederate symbols, grappling with the animating ideas of the past and discovering how these ideas continue to inform the present.Trade ReviewIn 1861, Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens proclaimed with pride that white supremacy was the "cornerstone" of his new nation. That candid admission haunted Stephens to his grave, and even today echoes discordantly from crowded streets and empty pedestals. In this pioneering study, Keith Hebert locates Stephens and his speech in deep context, and follows their torturous path though American culture from the Fort Sumter to the digital age. Nuanced and often courageous, this will be a central text for readers who hope to better understand the Civil War and comprehend its knotty legacy." - Kenneth W. Noe, author of The Howling Storm: Weather, Climate, and the American Civil War.

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Book SynopsisIn 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant appointed one of his regimental chaplains, John Eaton of Ohio, as general superintendent of contrabands for the Department of the Tennessee. As the American Civil War raged, the former chaplain’s approach to humanitarian aid and education for the newly freed people marked one of the first attempts to consider how an entire population of formerly enslaved people would be assimilated into and become citizens of the postwar Union. General superintendent Eaton chronicled these pioneering efforts in his 1907 memoir, Grant, Lincoln, and the Freedmen: Reminiscences of the Civil War, a work that for more than a century has been an invaluable primary source for historians of the Civil War era.In this long-awaited scholarly edition, editors John David Smith and Micheal J. Larson provide a detailed introduction and chapter-by-chapter annotations to highlight the lasting significance of Eaton’s narrative. These robust supplements to the 1907 volume contextualize important events, unpack the complexities of inter-agency relationships during the war and postwar periods, and present Eaton’s view that the military should determine how best to assimilate the freed people into the reunited Union.Grant, Lincoln, and the Freedmen presents a firsthand account of the challenges Grant, Lincoln, and Eaton himself faced in serving and organizing the integration of the newly freed people. This heavily annotated reprint reminds us just how important Eaton’s recollections remain to the historiography of the emancipation process and the Civil War era.Trade Review“John Eaton’s recollections of it long have been an important resource for historians. Grant, Lincoln, and the Freedmen is well worth reading and long has needed a thoroughly, thoughtfully, carefully annotated version. Now we have one.” —Michael Green, author of Freedom, Union, and Power: Lincoln and His Party during the Civil War

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Book SynopsisFrom June 25 to July 1, 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia engaged Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac in a series of battles at the end of the Peninsula Campaign that would collectively become known as the Seven Days Battles. Beginning with the fighting at the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, Lee consistently maneuvered against and attacked McClellan’s Army of the Potomac as it retreated south across the Virginia Peninsula to the James River. At the conclusion of the Battle of Malvern Hill, Lee’s second most costly battle, where McClellan’s strong defensive position of infantry and artillery repelled multiple frontal assaults by Lee’s troops, the Federal army slipped from Lee’s grasp and brought the Seven Days to an end. The Seven Days was a clear Confederate victory that drove the Union army away from the capital at Richmond, began the ascendancy of Robert E. Lee, and commenced a change in the war in the Eastern Theater. It set the stage for the Second Manassas Campaign followed by the Maryland Campaign of 1862.Decisions of the Seven Days explores the critical decisions made by Confederate and Union commanders during the Seven Days Battles and how these decisions shaped the outcome. Rather than offering a history of the battles, Matt Spruill hones in on a sequence of critical decisions made by commanders on both sides of the contests to provide a blueprint of the Seven Days at its tactical core. Identifying and exploring the critical decisions in this way allows students of the battles to progress from knowledge of what happened to a mature grasp of why events happened.Complete with maps and a driving tour, Decisions of the Seven Days is an indispensable primer, and readers looking for a concise introduction to the battles can tour this sacred ground—or read about it at their leisure—with key insights into the campaign and a deeper understanding of the Civil War itself.Decisions of the Seven Days is the ninth in a series of books that will explore the critical decisions of major campaigns and battles of the Civil War.

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Book SynopsisAt the outbreak of the Civil War, Sarah Kennedy watched as her husband, D.N., left for Mississippi, leaving her alone to care for their six children and control their slaves in a large home in downtown Clarksville, Tennessee. D. N. Kennedy left to aid the Confederate Treasury Department. He had steadfastly supported secession and helped recruit local boys for the Confederate army. The Civil War Letters of Sarah Kennedy: Life under Occupation in the Upper South showcases the letters Sarah wrote to her husband during their time apart, offering readers an inside look at life on the home front during the Civil War through the eyes of a slave-owning, town-dwelling wife and mother.Featuring fifty-two of Sarah Kennedy’s letters to her husband from August 16, 1862, to February 20, 1865, this important collection chronicles Sarah Kennedy’s personal struggles during the Civil War years, from periods of illness to lack of consistent contact with her husband and everything in between. Her love and devotion to her family is apparent in each letter, contrasting deeply with her resentment and harsh treatment toward her enslaved people as Emancipation swept through Clarksville. A useful volume to Civil War historians and women’s history scholars alike, The Civil War Letters of Sarah Kennedy pulls back the curtain on upper-middle-class family life and social relations in a mid-sized Middle Tennessee town during the Civil War and reveals the slow demise of slavery during the Union occupation.

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Book SynopsisConfederate newspapers were beset by troubles: paper shortages, high ink prices, printers striking for higher pay, faulty telegraphic news service, and subscription prices insufficient to support their operations. But they also had the potential to be politically powerful, and their reporting of information—accurate or biased—shaped perceptions of the Civil War and its trajectory.The Atlanta Daily Intelligencer Covers the Civil War investigates how Atlanta’s most important newspaper reported the Civil War in its news articles, editorial columns, and related items in its issues from April 1861 to April 1865. The authors show how The Intelligencer narrated the war’s important events based on the news it received, at what points the paper (and the Confederate press, generally) got the facts right or wrong based on the authors’ original research on the literature, and how the paper’s editorial columns reflected on those events from an unabashedly pro-Confederate point of view.While their book focuses on The Intelligencer, Stephen Davis and Bill Hendrick also contribute to the scholarship on Confederate newspapers, emphasizing the papers’ role as voices of Confederate patriotism, Southern nationalism, and contributors to wartime public morale. Their well-documented, detailed study adds to our understanding of the relationship between public opinion and misleading propaganda

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Book SynopsisIn June of 1863, Col. William P. Sanders led a cavalry raid of 1,300 men from the Union Army of the Ohio through Confederate-held East Tennessee. The raid severed the Confederate rail supply line from Virginia to the Western Theater and made national headlines. Until now, this incredible feat has been relegated to a footnote in the voluminous history of the American Civil War.In Yankee Commandos, Stuart Brandes presents readers with the most complete account of the Sanders raid to date by using newly discovered and under-explored materials, such as Sanders’s official reports and East Tennessee diaries and memoirs in which Sanders is chronicled. The book presents important details of a cavalry raid through East Tennessee that further turned the tide of war for the Union in the Western Theater. It also sheds light on the raid’s effect on the divided civilian population of East Tennessee, where, unlike the largely pro-secession populations of Middle and West Tennessee, the fraction of enlisted men to the Union cause rose to nearly a quarter.Colonel Sanders remains an enigma of the American Civil War. (He was a cousin of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, and his father and three brothers donned Confederate gray at the outbreak of the war.) By studying the legend of Sanders and his raid, Brandes fills an important gap in Civil War scholarship and in the story of Unionism in a mostly Confederate-sympathizing state.

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Book SynopsisThe Maryland Campaign represented Gen. Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of the North. Opposing Lee was Gen. George B. McClellan, who had just retreated from Lee’s onslaught during the Seven Days Battles. While Lee and McClellan fought a preliminary battle at South Mountain, and a final engagement with Lee’s rearguard at Shepherdstown as the Confederate Army withdrew across the Potomac, the full force of both armies would meet at Antietam, and the subsequent battle would prove to be the bloodiest single-day battle of the war.Decisions of the Maryland Campaign introduces readers to critical decisions made by Confederate and Union commanders throughout the campaign. Michael S. Lang examines the decisions that prefigured the action and shaped the contest as it unfolded. Rather than a linear history of the campaign, Lang’s discussion of the critical decisions presents readers with a vivid blueprint of the campaign’s developments. Exploring the critical decisions in this way allows the reader to progress from a sense of what happened in this campaign to why they happened as they did.Complete with maps and a guided tour, Decisions of the Maryland Campaign is an indispensable primer, and readers looking for a concise introduction to the campaign can tour this sacred ground—or read about it at their leisure—with key insights into the campaign and a deeper understanding of the Civil War itself.Decisions of the Maryland Campaign is Lang’s second contribution and the thirteenth in a series of books that will explore the critical decisions of major campaigns and battles of the Civil War.

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Book SynopsisThe Battle of Shiloh took place April 6–7, 1862, between the Union Army of the Tennessee under General Ulysses S. Grant and the Confederate Army of Mississippi under General Albert Sidney Johnston. Johnston launched a surprise attack on Grant but was mortally wounded during the battle. General P. G. T. Beauregard, taking over command, chose not to press the attack through the night, and Grant, reinforced with troops from the Army of the Ohio, counterattacked the morning of April 7th and turned the tide of the battle.Decisions at Shiloh introduces readers to critical decisions made by Confederate and Union commanders throughout the battle. Dave Powell examines the decisions that prefigured the action and shaped the contest as it unfolded. Rather than a linear history of the battle, Powell’s discussion of the critical decisions presents readers with a vivid blueprint of the battle’s developments. Exploring the critical decisions in this way allows the reader to progress from a sense of what happened in these battles to why they happened as they didComplete with maps and a guided tour, Decisions at Shiloh is an indispensable primer, and readers looking for a concise introduction to the battle can tour this sacred ground—or read about it at their leisure—with key insights into the battle and a deeper understanding of the Civil War itself.Decisions at Shiloh is Powell’s second contribution and the fourteenth in a series of books that will explore the critical decisions of major campaigns and battles of the Civil War.

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Book SynopsisThe Shenandoah Valley Campaign, often referred to as Jackson’s Valley Campaign, saw Gen. Stonewall Jackson lead fewer than seventeen thousand Confederate soldiers on a 464-mile march that defeated three larger Union armies. Jackson’s men fought and skirmished for months to achieve their ultimate objective of preventing Union forces in the Valley from reinforcing the Federal assault on the Confederacy’s capital at Richmond. Jackson’s success in the Shenandoah Valley contributed greatly to his legend among Confederate soldiers and brass and to his permanent place in military history, yet Jackson was not the only leader of note during this pivotal episode of the Civil War.Decisions of the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign explores the critical decisions made by Confederate and Union commanders during the battle and how these decisions shaped its outcome. Rather than offering a history of the battle, Robert G. Tanner hones in on a sequence of critical decisions made by commanders on both sides of the contest to provide a blueprint of Jackson’s Valley Campaign at its tactical core. Identifying and exploring the critical decisions in this way allows students of the battle to progress from a knowledge of what happened to a mature grasp of why events happened. Complete with maps and a driving tour, Decisions of the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign is an indispensable primer, and readers looking for a concise introduction to the battle can tour this sacred ground—or read about it at their leisure—with key insights into the campaign and a deeper understanding of the Civil War itself.Decisions of the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign is the fifteenth in a series of books that will explore the critical decisions of major campaigns and battles of the Civil War.

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Book SynopsisWhile Vicksburg and Gettysburg tend to receive the most attention among Civil War battles, it is Port Hudson that holds the record for the longest-running siege in American history. During the summer of 1863, US soldiers fought in the infamous heat and damp of Louisiana for forty-eight grueling days, having severely underestimated the Confederates’ determination to win. Previous accounts of these events have rested on the leaders, well-known figures, and familiar faces of the Civil War. Here, social historian Christopher Thrasher draws from a robust collection of archival sources to tell the story of the common people’s experience throughout the Port Hudson Campaign: the soldiers who fought, the civilians who persisted, and the men who persevered, for those long days. With more than forty illustrations and maps depicting the battles of Port Hudson and the defenses of the place itself, The Miserable Little Conglomeration builds upon previous scholarship to present a social history of this campaign through the eyes of the people who lived, fought, and died within it.Filling a long-empty gap within Civil War scholarship, Thrasher’s fresh approach to the Port Hudson campaign will be of interest to Civil War scholars, students of Louisiana history, and younger learners who are interested in the voices of American history.

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Book Synopsis“Let our citizens organize and drill,” urged the editor of the Pittsburgh Gazette in September 1862 as rumors of a Confederate attack on the North grew louder. Bank president John Harper, chair of the city’s Committee of Home Defense, confirmed Pittsburgh was ready to repel any raid: “Our people . . . are warlike,” he averred. The Keystone State played an indispensable role in the Federal war effort, and Pittsburgh does not fit the common “brother-on-brother” historiographical theme, which emphasizes divided loyalties between Federal and Confederate supporters. This volume argues that overwhelmingly pro-Union fervor—which cut across class, ethnic, and gender lines—mobilized the city for the war effort. From its establishment as a frontier village, Pittsburgh evolved on a cultural path divergent from that of both the Northeast and the towns developing farther west. The city entered the war with close economic ties to the East, West, and South, yet also stood apart from them—too small to assume the political positions of cities like New York or Philadelphia that represented greater ethnic and class conflict and much greater tension over secession—yet large enough to manifest the complex institutions and systems of an urban center. This book represents a significant contribution to the scholarship of both the Civil War and the city of Pittsburgh, adding to the growing historiography of regional and community studies of the war. With abundant illustrations of local people and places, research on Pittsburgh’s geographic importance and extensive industrial output, this book also provides compelling details on Black citizens’ efforts to oppose slavery, ultimately through their service in the Union Army. Civil War Pittsburgh was unique: its distinctive geography, politics, and economy set the conditions for ordinary citizens to directly participate in the war in myriad ways that connected the experiences of the battlefield and the home front.Trade ReviewUsing a variety of primary sources, including manuscripts, military records, and newspapers, York provides excellent detail on the nature of mobilization in Pittsburgh." —Stephen Rockenback, author of War Upon Our Border: Two Ohio Valley Communities Navigate the Civil War

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Book SynopsisThe stately mansion known as the Argyle has a past as storied and fascinating as the Lone Star State itself. From its origins as a home and headquarters of a horse ranch to its transformation into an inn and elegant dining club, and ultimately part of a pathfinding medical research endeavor, the Argyle has been at the center of San Antonio and Texas history since the middle of the nineteenth century. Originally built as a residence in 1860 by Charles Anderson, the Argyle temporarily served as an arsenal for the Confederacy during the Civil War. By the late nineteenth century, siblings Robert and Alice O'Grady operated what became a familiar inn and fine dining establishment for weary travelers and many notable figures, including Gen. John J. ""Black Jack"" Pershing. During the Great Depression and World War II, the Argyle fell into disrepair. Betty Moorman, whose brother Tom Slick had founded the nonprofit Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, rescued the Argyle from the brink of demolition and converted it into a fine dining club whose members would provide financial support for the research institute. Today the Argyle continues to serve and support the mission of the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, making important contributions to understanding and developing treatments for infectious diseases and cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and other common diseases. This book not only contributes to the story of San Antonio's history but is also a treasured and informative keepsake for those who support and continue to benefit from the Argyle and its larger mission.

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Book SynopsisFrom the bitter disputes over secession to the ways in which the conflict would be remembered, Texas and Texans were caught up in the momentous struggles of the American Civil War. Tens of thousands of Texans joined military units, and scarcely a household in the state was unaffected as mothers and wives assumed new roles in managing farms and plantations. Still others grappled with the massive social, political, and economic changes wrought by the bloodiest conflict in American history.The sixteen essays from some of the leading historians in the field (eleven of them new) in the second edition of Lone Star Blue and Gray illustrate the rich traditions and continuing vitality of Texas Civil War scholarship. Along with these articles, editors Ralph A. and Robert Wooster provide a succinct introduction to the war and Texas and recommended readings for those seeking further investigations of virtually every aspect of the war as experienced in the Lone Star State.

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Book SynopsisHistorians have published countless studies of the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865 and the era of Reconstruction that followed those four years of brutally destructive conflict. Most of these works focus on events and developments at the national or state level, explaining and analyzing the causes of disunion, the course of the war, and the bitt er disputes that arose during restoration of the Union. Much less attention has been given to studying how ordinary people experienced the years from 1861 to 1876. What did secession, civil war, emancipation, victory for the United States, and Reconstruction mean at the local level in Texas? Exactly how much change—economic, social, and political—did the era bring to the focus of the study, Harrison County: a cotton-growing, planter-dominated community with the largest slave population of any county in the state? Providing an answer to that question is the basic purpose of A Southern Community in Crisis: Harrison County, Texas, 1850–1880 . First published by the Texas State Historical Association in 1983, the book is now available in paperback, with a foreword by Andrew J. Torget, one of the Lone Star State’s top young historians.

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Book SynopsisIn the spring of 1880, Ulysses S. Grant, former general-in-chief and two-term president of the United States, stepped ashore at Galveston and began what turned out to be a seven-day whirlwind visit to Texas. Because of his past accomplishments and the chance that he might be nominated to serve an unprecedented third presidential term, Grant was the most famous and eagerly awaited celebrity ever to visit the Lone Star State. The general visited Galveston, San Antonio, and Houston, where he was greeted by thousands of cheering Texans. Grant’s visit to Texas was the subject of extensive coverage in newspapers across the nation, providing a unique time capsule for modern readers. The detailed reports of parades, banquets, receptions, and social activities not only document what Grant did at these functions, but also provide a record of what the thousands who came to see him said and did. The elaborate banquet menus and the word-by-word transcriptions of after-dinner toasts and speeches provide a fascinating window into social activities that are no longer an active part of modern life. This book tells the story of Grant’s busy week in Texas, allowing the reader to see Texas the way Grant experienced it. The book also includes a tour guide that will allow readers to literally retrace the general’s footsteps to the sites of many historic buildings that still exist today.

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Book SynopsisWidely known as the “poor man’s lawyer” in antebellum Boston, John Albion Andrew (1818–1867) was involved in nearly every cause and case that advanced social and racial justice in Boston in the years preceding the Civil War. Inspired by the legacies of John Quincy Adams and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and mentored by Charles Sumner, Andrew devoted himself to the battle for equality. By day, he fought to protect those condemned to the death penalty, women seeking divorce, and fugitives ensnared by the Fugitive Slave Law. By night, he coordinated logistics and funding for the Underground Railroad as it ferried enslaved African Americans northward. In this revealing and accessible biography, Stephen D. Engle traces Andrew’s life and legacy, giving this important, but largely forgotten, figure his due. Rising to national prominence during the Civil War years as the governor of Massachusetts, Andrew raised the African American regiment known as the Glorious 54th and rallied thousands of soldiers to the Union cause. Upon his sudden death in 1867, a correspondent for Harper’s Weekly wrote, “Not since the news came of Abraham Lincoln’s death were so many hearts truly smitten.”Trade ReviewStephen D. Engle reintroduces us to one of the nineteenth century’s leading political reformers, abolitionists, and citizens. John Andrew deserves to be more widely known, and this book is the kind of biography he deserves. Through the story Andrew’s life, Engle illuminates the contentious and exhilarating era in which Andrew played such a pivotal role." - Robert Allison, author of The American Revolution: A Very Short Introduction"In an engagingly written book, Stephen Engle traces Andrew’s trajectory from young idealistic student and abolitionist lawyer to his career as Lincoln’s most effective ally among the Civil War governors. A first-class biography, Engle’s book is also a comprehensive history of the one of the most consequential governorships in American history. It will be read by many; it will be essential reading for those working in the political history of the Civil War." - John L. Brooke, author of “There Is a North”: Fugitive Slaves, Political Crisis, and Cultural Transformation in the Coming of the Civil WarTable of Contents List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Windham Origins: 1818–1833 Chapter 2: The Bowdoin College Years: 1834–1837 Chapter 3: The Poor Man’s Lawyer: 1837–1845 Chapter 4: The Emerging Politician: 1846–1849 Chapter 5: On the Right Side of God: 1850–1854 Chapter 6: The Republican Tide: 1855–1856 Chapter 7: The Radical Champion: 1857–1858 Chapter 8: Republican Star Rising: 1858–1859 Chapter 9: The Governorship: 1860 Chapter 10: Man for the Hour: January–April 1861 Chapter 11: “A Grand Era Has Dawned”: April–May 1861 Chapter 12: Communities at War: June–September 1861 Chapter 13: The Politics of Command: October–November 1861 Chapter 14: The Lord Is Marching On: November 1861–January 1862 Chapter 15: The Changing War: January–July 1862 Chapter 16: Emancipation: July–November 1862 Chapter 17: Slaves No More: December 1862–May 1863 Chapter 18: Opening Eyes of North and South: May–December 1863 Chapter 19: The Promise of a New Year: January–June 1864 Chapter 20: This Justice: July–December 1864 Chapter 21: Thirteenth Amendment: January–June 1865 Chapter 22: Last Months in the Statehouse: July–December 1865 Chapter 23: Working for the Ages: January–April 1866 Chapter 24: Postwar Yankee: May 1866–May 1867 Epilogue Children Will Call You Blessed: April 1866–October 1897 Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWidely known as the “poor man’s lawyer” in antebellum Boston, John Albion Andrew (1818–1867) was involved in nearly every cause and case that advanced social and racial justice in Boston in the years preceding the Civil War. Inspired by the legacies of John Quincy Adams and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and mentored by Charles Sumner, Andrew devoted himself to the battle for equality. By day, he fought to protect those condemned to the death penalty, women seeking divorce, and fugitives ensnared by the Fugitive Slave Law. By night, he coordinated logistics and funding for the Underground Railroad as it ferried enslaved African Americans northward. In this revealing and accessible biography, Stephen D. Engle traces Andrew’s life and legacy, giving this important, but largely forgotten, figure his due. Rising to national prominence during the Civil War years as the governor of Massachusetts, Andrew raised the African American regiment known as the Glorious 54th and rallied thousands of soldiers to the Union cause. Upon his sudden death in 1867, a correspondent for Harper’s Weekly wrote, “Not since the news came of Abraham Lincoln’s death were so many hearts truly smitten.Trade ReviewStephen D. Engle reintroduces us to one of the nineteenth century’s leading political reformers, abolitionists, and citizens. John Andrew deserves to be more widely known, and this book is the kind of biography he deserves. Through the story Andrew’s life, Engle illuminates the contentious and exhilarating era in which Andrew played such a pivotal role." - Robert Allison, author of The American Revolution: A Very Short Introduction"In an engagingly written book, Stephen Engle traces Andrew’s trajectory from young idealistic student and abolitionist lawyer to his career as Lincoln’s most effective ally among the Civil War governors. A first-class biography, Engle’s book is also a comprehensive history of the one of the most consequential governorships in American history. It will be read by many; it will be essential reading for those working in the political history of the Civil War." - John L. Brooke, author of “There Is a North”: Fugitive Slaves, Political Crisis, and Cultural Transformation in the Coming of the Civil War

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Book SynopsisFrom the first Union attack on Vicksburg in the spring of 1862 through Benjamin Grierson's last raid through Mississippi in late 1864 and early 1865, this book traces the campaigns, fighting, and causes and effects of armed conflict in central and North Mississippi, where major campaigns were waged and fighting occurred.The Civil War in Mississippi: Major Campaigns and Battles will be a must-read for any Mississippian or Civil War buff who wants the complete story of the Civil War in Mississippi. It discusses the key military engagements in chronological order. It begins with a prologue covering mobilization and other events leading up to the first military action within the state's borders. The book then covers all of the major military operations, including the campaign for and siege of Vicksburg, and battles at Iuka and Corinth, Meridian, Brice's Crossroads, and Tupelo. The colorful cast of characters includes such household names as Sherman, Grant, Pemberton, and Forrest, as well as a host of other commanders and soldiers. Author Michael B. Ballard discusses at length minority troops and others glossed over or lost in studies of the Mississippi military during the war.

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Book SynopsisIndependence Day, 1861. The schooner S. J. Waring sets sail from New York on a routine voyage to South America. Seventeen days later, it limps back into New York’s frenzied harbor with the ship's black steward, William Tillman, at the helm. While the story of that ill-fated voyage is one of the most harrowing tales of captivity and survival on the high seas, it has, almost unbelievably, been lost to history. Now reclaiming Tillman as the real American hero he was, historian Brian McGinty dramatically returns readers to that riotous, explosive summer of 1861, when the country was tearing apart at the seams and the Union army was in near shambles following a humiliating defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. Desperate for good news, the North was soon riveted by reports of an incident that occurred a few hundred miles off the coast of New York, where the Waring had been overtaken by a marauding crew of Confederate privateers. While the white sailors became chummy with their Southern captors, free black man William Tillman was perfectly aware of the fate that awaited him in the ruthless, slave-filled ports south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Stealthily biding his time until a moonlit night nine days after the capture, Tillman single-handedly killed three officers of the privateer crew, then took the wheel and pointed it home. Yet, with no experience as a navigator, only one other helper, and a war-torn Atlantic seaboard to contend with, his struggle had just begun. It took five perilous days at sea—all thrillingly recounted here—before the Waring returned to New York Harbor, where the story of Tillman's shipboard courage became such a tabloid sensation that he was not only put on the bill of Barnum’s American Museum but also proclaimed to be the "first hero" of the Civil War. As McGinty evocatively shows, however, in the horrors of the war then engulfing the nation, memories of his heroism—even of his identity—were all but lost to history. As such, The Rest I Will Kill becomes a thrilling and historically significant work, as well as an extraordinary journey that recounts how a free black man was able to defy efforts to make him a slave and become an unlikely glimmer of hope for a disheartened Union army in the war-battered North.Trade Review"Spectacular. . . . [A] carefully researched and expertly crafted book . . . . The Rest I Will Kill should enchant a wide audience: history buffs, Civil War enthusiasts, pirate junkies, readers who love action and adventure, and those interested in the seemingly unending quest for liberty. It’s difficult to imagine the person who can’t find something to admire in these pages" -- Michael Kleber-Diggs - Minneapolis Star Tribune"Vivid writing creates an exciting read, and McGinty’s use of primary sources such as newspapers and government documents is exceptional. . . . McGinty dubs Tillman a hero and a patriot, one of the first during the Civil War. An important contribution to the shelf of Civil War histories, this story will transfix readers." -- Patricia Ann Owens - Library Journal (Starred Review)

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Book SynopsisWho burned South Carolina's capital city on February 17, 1865? Even before the embers had finished smoldering, Confederates and Federals accused each other of starting the blaze, igniting a controversy that has raged for more than a century. Marion B. Lucas sifts through official reports, newspapers, and eyewitness accounts, and the evidence he amasses debunks many of the myths surrounding the tragedy. Rather than writing a melodrama with clear heroes and villains, Lucas tells a more complex and more human story that details the fear, confusion, and disorder that accompanied the end of a brutal war. Lucas traces the damage not to a single blaze but to a series of fires—preceded by an equally unfortunate series of military and civilian blunders—that included the burning of cotton bales by fleeing Confederate soldiers. This edition includes a new foreword by Anne Sarah Rubin, professor of history at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the author of Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman's March and America.Trade ReviewThis splendid little volume should put to rest forever the question of who burned the capital city of South Carolina." - Civil War History"Well worthy of examination by all interested in the nature of war and the social, political, and economic ramifications of total warfare. Professor Lucas is to be commended for a very worthy research achievement." - Journal of Southern History"For a few South Carolinians, this little book will generate more heat than anything Mother Nature can do this summer. . . It is doubtful Lucas' book will ever shut down the debate over the burning of Columbia. History spawns passionate debate around here, as we've heard all year. But at least those who read it carefully should benefit from a little more balanced historical background." - The State"...deals with one of the most difficult, most delicate issues of the Civil War and deals with it in an honest, unbiased manner." - Midlands Weekend"The results of his efforts are eminently satisfying. He brings order out of contradiction and confusion by carefully weighing the evidence and presenting the results of his study in a simple, straightforward, and interesting manner." - McCormick Messenger

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Book SynopsisA fresh biography of a neglected figure in Southern history who played a pivotal role in the Civil War. In the predawn hours of April 12, 1861, James Chesnut Jr. piloted a small skiff across the Charleston Harbor and delivered the fateful order to open fire on Fort Sumter—the first shots of the Civil War. In The Man Who Started the Civil War, Anna Koivusalo offers the first comprehensive biography of Chesnut and through him a history of honor and emotion in elite white southern culture. Koivusalo reveals the dynamic, and at times fragile, nature of these concepts as they were tested and transformed from the era of slavery through Reconstruction. Best remembered as the husband of Mary Boykin Chesnut, author of A Diary from Dixie, James Chesnut served in the South Carolina legislature and as a US senator before becoming a leading figure in the South's secession from the Union. Koivusalo recounts how honor and emotion shaped Chesnut's life events and the decisions that culminated in the cataclysm of civil war. Challenging the traditional view of honor as a code, Koivusalo illuminates honor's vital but fickle role as a source for summoning, channeling, and expressing emotion in the nineteenth-century South.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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