Early modern warfare Books

Trade Review“Opposing the Second Corps at Antietam is an excellent companion to Unfurl Those Colors. Armstrong masterfully recounts the key engagements of the battle at a level of detail no other scholar has done, a task made difficult by the scarcity of Confederate sources. Historians, battlefield trampers, and enthusiasts will welcome his deep analysis.” —Thomas G. Clemens, editor of The Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Volume 1, South Mountain and The Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Volume II, Antietam“Marion V. Armstrong's Opposing The Second Corps At Antietam: The Fight For The Confederate Left And Center On America’s Bloodiest Day is a masterful tactical study as only he can do. This is an essential book for any Antietam library.” —Ted Alexander, author Antietam: The Bloodiest Day and Historian, Antietam National Battlefield

Read more less

Book SynopsisTells the story of Charles Patrick’s quest for justice in segregated Alabama on the eve of the civil rights movement, and represents a telling instance of the growing determination of African Americans to be treated fairly, part of the broadening and deepening stream of resolve that led to the widespread activism of the civil rights movement.

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Gus' McClendon joined the 15th Alabama Infantry Regiment, and served in many of the Eastern Theater engagements. This is a dramatically improved edition of William A 'Gus' McClendon's memoir of his service in the 15th Alabama Infantry. It also includes an exhaustive index that also makes McClendon's memoir notably more accessible.

Read more less

Trade ReviewCaptain Scheibert's [book] was available only in German until W. S. Hoole edited the present version. A member of the Prussian army since 1849, and 'well known as an authority on fortifications,' Scheibert was sent to America 'to study the effect of rifled cannon fire on earth, masonry, and iron, and the operation of armor on land and at sea.' The captain preferred to observe the South rather than the North at war. 'If there ever was a foreign Rebel,' Mr. Hoole asserts, 'he was one.' Scheibert, impressed with the South's 'enormous energy' and 'amazed at the industry of a patriotic people,' was cordially received by President Davis and generals Lee, Jackson, Beauregard, and Stuart. The vivid impressions, observations, and characterizations of a Prussian captain are a significant commentary on the engagements at Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, and Gettysburg, on blockade running, and on the spirit of the people and their military genius. - Wendell Holmes Stephenson, Journal of Southern History

Read more less

Book SynopsisGeorge W. Nichols's aptly titled Soldier's Story is one of the classic narratives of frontline infantry service in the Army of Northern Virginia. Nichols framed his account without sentimental hindsight; in addition to reporting great battles and dramatic moments, he told the story of two cousins killing each other in a quarrel about cooking duties and described maggot-infested corpses.

Read more less

Book SynopsisMost surviving correspondence of the Civil War period was written by members of a literate, elite class; few collections exist in which the woman's letters to her soldier husband have been preserved. Here, in the exchange between William and Emily Moxley, a working-class farm couple from Coffee County, Alabama, we see vividly an often-neglected aspect of the Civil War experience: the hardships of civilian life on the home front.

Read more less

Book SynopsisUntil this work, no comprehensive study of the Florida units that served in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) had been attempted, and problems attend the few studies of particular Florida units that have appeared. Based on more than two decades of research, Waters and Edmonds have produced a study that covers all units from Florida in the ANV, and does so in an objective and reliable fashion. Drawn from what was then a turbulent and thinly settled frontier region, the Florida troops serving in the Confederacy were never numerous, but they had the good or bad luck of finding themselves at crucial points in several significant battles such as Gettysburg where their conduct continues to be a source of contention. Additionally, the study of these units and their service permits an examination of important topics affecting the Civil War soldier: lack of supplies, the status of folks at home, dissension over civilian control of soldiers and units from the various Confederate

Read more less

Book SynopsisVivid and lively letters from a young Confederate in Lee's Army. In the spring of 1861 a 22yearold Alabamian did what many of his friends and colleagues were doing he joined the Confederate Army as a volunteer. The first of his family to enlist, William Cowan McClellan, who served as a private in the 9th Alabama Infantry regiment, wrote hundreds of letters throughout the war, often penning for friends who could not write home for themselves. In the letters collected in John C. Carter's volume, this young soldier comments on his feelings toward his commanding officers, his attitude toward military discipline and camp life, his disdain for the western Confederate armies, and his hopes and fears for the future of the Confederacy. McClellan's letters also contain vivid descriptions of camp life, battles, marches, picket duty, and sickness and disease in the army. The correspondence between McClellan and his family dealt with separation due to war as well as with other wartime difficulTrade ReviewWelcome the Hour of Conflict is a masterfully edited volume of correspondence between a Limestone County soldier in the Ninth Alabama Infantry Regiment and his family in northern Alabama.... It is a welcome addition to the published resources on Alabama's Civil War experience and it is of clear value to all readers interested in Confederate soldiers' experiences."" The Alabama Review

Read more less

Book SynopsisMajor General William Tecumseh Sherman set out from Vicksburg on February 3, 1864, with an army of some 25,000 infantry and a battalion of cavalry. Though not a particularly effective campaign in terms of enemy soldiers captured or killed, it offers a rich opportunity to observe how this large-scale raid presaged Sherman's Atlanta and Carolina campaigns.Trade ReviewWilliam T. Sherman’s March to the Sea is the stuff legends are made of: huge armies, eccentric generals, and epic battles. . . . Sherman’s Mississippi Campaign is the first modern study of not only Sherman’s battlefield tactics in Mississippi but also their philosophical underpinnings. Additionally, the book assesses the expedition in terms of its immediate impact on the western theater of war and its effect on Sherman’s long-term military thinking. . . . Buck T. Foster’s Sherman’s Mississippi Campaign is a noteworthy addition to the historiography of the Civil War’s western campaigns and to the military life of William T. Sherman."" - Civil War History""With Sherman’s Mississippi Campaign Foster has contributed significantly to the literature on the Civil War’s western theater. He engages notable Civil War historians . . . arguing that the Meridian campaign holds a greater significance in the development of Sherman’s ‘hard war’ strategy than has been previously admitted. Although focused on Sherman’s strategy, Foster also provides a thorough analysis of the Confederate military’s strategic and tactical mistakes. . . . The book has useful and well-placed maps that help the reader follow the detail-oriented narrative."" - Journal of Southern History""This book fills a gap in Sherman's military life that has heretofore been overlooked by his biographers as well as students of strategy and tactics. The Mississippi Campaign dramatically affected Sherman's evolution of policy; Foster explains how Sherman came to formulate the strategy that he used so successfully in the Confederate Southeast."" - Anne J. Bailey, author of The Chessboard of War: Sherman and Hood int he Autumn Campaigns of 1864""This book is the first modern analytical study of the Mississippi Campaign. It should appeal to readers interested in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, the generalship of William Tecumseh Sherman, and the evolution of what many historians term 'total war' by Union armies."" - Arthur W. Bergeron Jr., author of Confederate Mobile""Those who look to the Georgia campaign as Sherman's coming-out party (to be followed by the Carolinas campaign) would do well to consider the working assumption of this book: Sherman's strategic thinking had been evolving toward a more destructive brand of warfare since early 1862, to be tested first in the Mississippi campaign."" - Daniel E. Sutherland, author of Seasons of War: The Ordeal of a Confederate Community, 1861-1865

Read more less

Book SynopsisOffers a narrative of Zachary Taylor’s Mexican War campaign, from the formation of his army in 1844 to his last battle in 1847, with emphasis on the 163 men in his “Army of Occupation” who became Confederate or Union generals in the Civil War. It clarifies what being a Mexican War veteran meant to them, how they interacted, how they performed their duties, and how they reacted under fire.Trade ReviewTrailing Clouds of Glory is an essential addition to any Mexican War library because of its focus on Taylor. It is also a useful addition to the growing effort to move beyond generalizations and determine the specifics of the influence Mexico had on Civil War leadership."" — Civil War Book Review“This study of Zachary Taylor’s campaign in northern Mexico makes a significant contribution to the history of this often forgotten war. The work reads well, is organized logically, is argued effectively, and is rooted in extensive primary research.” —Timothy D. Johnson, author of Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military Glory and A Gallant Little Army: The Mexico City Campaign“Readers who enjoy a more traditional approach . . . will delight in Lewis's volume. By design, the narrative emphasizes regulars and officers. She details the dated arrival and departure of various companies and regiments, along with the deployment, command, retirement, injury, and death among officers ranked from general to lieutenant. Her research is most impressive, the footnotes rich in primary sources, congressional and War Department documents, but especially the personal papers and diaries of the participants. She is also aware of and engaged with current scholarship, a point reflected in her extensive bibliography and throughout the volume where she parries thrusts against the military reputation of Old Zach.” — H-Net Reviews

Read more less

Book SynopsisAnalyses Jefferson Davis's public discourse, arguing that throughout his time as president of the Confederacy, Davis settled for short-term rhetorical successes at the expense of creating more substantive and meaningful messages for himself and his constituents.Trade ReviewAtchison . . . reviews the possible role Jefferson Davis played in the failure of the Confederates. . . . The depth and complexity of this research is a remarkable achievement for a single author. . . . This book will be highly useful for scholars interested in the Civil War era and those who study American public discourse. Highly recommended."" - CHOICE""If you study Civil War Era politics, A War of Words deserves a place on your bookshelf."" - Civil War Book Review""A War of Words explores an under-studied aspect of Jefferson Davis's leadership, his ability (or lack thereof) to inspire and mobilize audiences through his crafting of rhetorical appeals. This book should be valuable to students of the history of American public discourse, scholars of the Civil War era, advanced rhetorical critics, and those interested in Southern rhetoric and public address."" - David Zarefsky, author of Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery: In the Crucible of Public Debate ""Atchison does an excellent job of delving into how and why Davis's speeches often failed to achieve their goals - and why Davis's rhetorical aims were often off the mark and unsuccessful. Many of the author's insights and evaluation of Davis's rhetoric will help students of the Civil War era understand more about the context and history of the time, and, indeed, more about Davis himself."" - W. Stuart Towns, author of Enduring Legacy: Rhetoric and Ritual of the Lost CauseTable of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1. Decorum in Davis's Resignation from the Senate Chapter 2. Civic Republicanism in Davis's Inaugural Address Chapter 3. Amplification in Davis's Defense of Conscription Chapter 4. Conspiracy Rhetoric in Davis's Response to the Emancipation Proclamation Chapter 5. Pragmatism and Desperation in Davis's Push for Conditional Emancipation Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA landmark book that sheds invigorating new light on the causes, the course, and the outcomes in Alabama of America's greatest drama and trauma. Based on twenty years of exhaustive research, Civil War Alabama presents compelling new explanations for how Alabama's white citizens came to take up arms against the federal government.Trade ReviewNot since Walter Lynwood Fleming's partisan Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama (1905) has there been a broad history of this state's Civil War experience. To be sure, there is no dearth of recent books and articles on specific aspects of the war and its vivid personalities and legacies - from the Battle of Mobile Bay to Gen. Josiah Gorgas' herculean efforts to keep the Confederacy in powder and shot - but not one since Fleming has attempted to wrap it all into one package." - Alabama Review "Exhaustively researched, skillfully compiled, and engagingly written, McIlwain's impressive volume is a service to scholars searching for greater detail and support for their own work, as well as Alabamians hoping to understand exactly how their state could fall into the grip of destructive demagogues and ruinous rebellion." - H-Net Reviews"Civil War Alabama is one of the most interesting and provocative studies of a Confederate state that has appeared in recent years. McIlwain presents an impressive amount of fresh research and information that advances a number of striking and controversial interpretations." - George C. Rable, author of God's Almost Chosen Peoples: A Religious History of the American Civil War"McIlwain has produced an engaging, often witty, and always informative study of the development of Reconstructionist thought in Alabama. This is a topic that has only recently garnered serious attention, and so McIlwain stands as one of its pioneers." - Ben H. Severance, author of Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Alabama in the Civil War and Tennessee's Radical Army: The State Guard and Its Role in Reconstruction, 1867-1869Table of Contents List of Figures Foreword by G. Ward Hubbs Acknowledgments Introduction Part I. Alabama Secedes Chapter 1. The "Lawyers' Revolution" Chapter 2. "A Leap in the Dark" Chapter 3 "There Will Be a Revulsion" Part II. The War Begins Chapter 4 "Sprinkle Blood in the Face of the People" Chapter 5 "Food for Sad and Gloomy Fits" Chapter 6 Evil Times Part III The Decree of the Nation Chapter 7 "Yankeeizing Southerners" Chapter 8 "The Struggle of the Masters" Part IV The Hard War Chapter 9 The Destroying Angels Chapter 10 The Reconstructionists Chapter 11 The Slaughter Pen Chapter 12 The River of Death Part V In Search of Peace Chapter 13 "God Close This Terrible War" Chapter 14 War Eagle! Chapter 15 The Horrors of the Black Flag Part VI Bowing Down to Mars Chapter 16 "Retrograde Movements" and "Backward Advances" Chapter 17 Rousseau's Raid Chapter 18 The Fall of Mobile Bay and Atlanta Part VII The Death Throes of a Rebellion Chapter 19 "On the Wrong Side of the Line of Battle" Chapter 20 "Rats to Your Holes" Chapter 21 "Balls and Parties Are All the Rage" Chapter 22 Franklin, Nashville, and Disintegration Part VIII "The Holocaust" Chapter 23 "Ne-Gotiation" or "Ne-Grotiation" Chapter 24 "The Day of Jubilee Am Come!" Chapter 25 Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisBrings together some of the most important and innovative scholars of the Civil War era to reflect on what death and memorialization meant to the Civil War generation - and how those meanings still influence Americans today.Trade ReviewFinal Resting Places contains elements that certainly will surprise readers who thought they knew everything about the American Civil War. The essays deal with more than death and dying: they reveal cogent details of how people lived, strived for various goals while here on Earth, and have been remembered." - William A. Blair, author of Cities of the Dead: Contesting the Memory of the Civil War in the South, 1865-1914

Read more less

Book SynopsisBrings together some of the most important and innovative scholars of the Civil War era to reflect on what death and memorialization meant to the Civil War generation - and how those meanings still influence Americans today.Trade ReviewFinal Resting Places contains elements that certainly will surprise readers who thought they knew everything about the American Civil War. The essays deal with more than death and dying: they reveal cogent details of how people lived, strived for various goals while here on Earth, and have been remembered." - William A. Blair, author of Cities of the Dead: Contesting the Memory of the Civil War in the South, 1865-1914

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents the first comprehensive look at relations between Spain and the two antagonists of the American Civil War. Using Spanish, US and Confederate sources, Bowen provides multiple perspectives of critical events during the Civil War, including Confederate attempts to bring Spain and other European nations into the war; reactions to those attempts; and Spain's revived imperial fortunes.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis remarkable memoir is one of the most celebrated documents to emerge from the tumult of America's Revolutionary War. The ordinary and yet exceptional experiences of a young soldier in Washington's army are given a new life in this fourth edition, sensitively edited for a modern readership. Classic primary source on the Revolutionary War Edited by a leading US authority on the period Now with extra maps and a more extensive bibliography Includes a new Afterword by Karen Guenther on film portrayals of the continental soldier Table of ContentsIntroductory Comments ix Overview Maps of Joseph Plumb Martin's Adventures, 1776–1783 xxiii–iv Martin's Narrative of Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings xxv Preface 1 Chapter I: Introductory 3 Chapter II: Campaign of 1776 11 Chapter III: Campaign of 1777 39 Chapter IV: Campaign of 1778 70 Chapter V: Campaign of 1779 98 Chapter VI: Campaign of 1780 111 Chapter VII: Campaign of 1781 132 Chapter VIII: Campaign of 1782 158 Chapter IX: Campaign of 1783 168 The Revolutionary War Soldier on Film 183 Karen Guenther Suggestions for Additional Reading 188 Index 195

Read more less

Book SynopsisThough its most famous battles were waged in the East at Antietam, Gettysburg, and throughout Virginia, the Civil War was a conflict that raged across a continent. In this comprehensive military history of the war west of the Mississippi River, Thomas Cutrer shows that the theatre's distance from events in the East does not diminish its importance.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEmpire and Emancipation explores how the agency of Scottish and Irish Catholics redefined understandings of Britishness and British imperial identity in colonial landscapes. In highlighting the relationship of Scottish and Irish Catholics with the British Empire, S. Karly Kehoe starts an important and timely debate about Britain’s colonizer constituencies. The colonies of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Newfoundland, and Trinidad had some of the British Empire’s earliest, largest, and most diverse Catholic populations. These were also colonial spaces where Catholics exerted significant influence. Given the extent to which Scottish and Irish Catholics were constrained at home by crippling legislation, long-established patterns of socio-economic exclusion, and increasing discrimination, the British Empire functioned as the main outlet for their ambition. Kehoe shows how they engaged with and benefitted from the security needs of an expanding empire, the Table of ContentsIntroduction: Catholic Britons at the Atlantic Fringe Part I: Identity, Catholic Relief, and Imperial Security 1. Catholics, Colonies, and the Imperial State 2. Imperial Security and Catholic Relief 3. Colonial Catholics and Constitutional Change: Developments in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Part II: Service, Education, and Political Influence 4. Engaging with Imperial Traditions: Military Mobilization and Slavery 5. Enabling Ambition through Education 6. The Decline of Lay Authority: Ecclesiastical Reorganization and Imperial Power in Trinidad and Newfoundland Conclusion

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe ways in which women have historically authorized themselves to write on war has blurred conventionally gendered lines, intertwining the personal with the political. Women on War in Spain’s Long Nineteenth Century explores, through feminist lenses, the cultural representations of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Spanish women’s texts on war. Reshaping the current knowledge and understanding of key female authors in Spain’s fin de siècle, this book examines works by notable writers including Rosario de Acuña, Blanca de los Rios, Concepción Arenal, and Carmen de Burgos as they engage with the War of Independence, the Third Carlist War, Spain’s colonial wars, and World War I. The selected works foreground how women’s representations of war can challenge masculine conceptualizations of public and domestic spheres. Christine Arkinstall analyses the works’ overarching themes and symbols, such as honour, blood,Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: From behind the Lines to Writing War’s Texts: Redrawing the Boundaries of War and Gender 1. Love of Nation and Women’s Citizenship in Rosario de Acuña’s Amor a la patria (1877) 2. Gender, Casticismo, and Imperial Nations in Spain’s fin de siècle: Blanca de los Ríos’s Sangre española (1899) 3. Charity, Patria, and Painting War’s Pain: Concepción Arenal’s Writings, 1869–79 4. The Monstrosity of War and Justpeace: Concepción Arenal’s Cuadros de la guerra and Ensayo sobre el Derecho de Gentes 5. Getting Intimate with Empire: Fin-de-Siècle Women Writing a Psychology of the Disaster 6. Disordering the Imperial Home: Blanca de los Ríos’s La niña de Sanabria (1907) 7. Purity of Blood in the National Family? Spain’s War in Morocco in Carmen de Burgos’s En la guerra (Episodios de Melilla) (1909) 8. Between Feminist Aspirations and Pacifist Ideals: Burgos’s Essays on World War I and Women in War 9. Denouncing War’s Broken Syntax: Burgos’s World War I Novellas Conclusion: Transforming Moral Maps, Then and Now Notes References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTo date, most texts regarding higher education in the Civil War South focus on the widespread closure of academies. In contrast, Persistence through Perilbrings to life several case histories of southern colleges and universities that persisted through the perilous war years.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt's one thing to understand that over twenty-thousand Confederate and Union soldiers died at the Battle of Murfreesboro. It's quite another to study an ambrotype portrait of twenty-year-old private Frank B. Crosthwait, dressed in his Sunday best, looking somberly at the camera. In a tragically short time, he'll be found on the battlefield, mortally wounded, still clutching the knotted pieces of handkerchief he used in a hopeless attempt to stop the bleeding from his injuries. Private Crosthwait's image is one of more than 250 portraits - many never before published - to be found in the highly anticipated ""Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Tennessee in the Civil War"". The eighth in the distinguished ""Portraits of Conflict"" series, this volume joins the personal and the public to provide a uniquely rich portrayal of Tennesseans - in uniforms both blue and gray - who fought and lost their lives in the Civil War. Here is the story of a widow working as a Union spy to support herself and her children. Of a father emerging from his house to find his Confederate soldier son dying at his feet. Of a nine-year-old boy who attached himself to a union regiment after his mother died. Their stories and faces, joined with personal remembrances from recovered letters and diaries and ample historical information on secession, famous battles, surrender and Reconstruction, make this new ""Portraits of Conflict"" a Civil War treasure.Trade ReviewA major contribution and welcome addition to . . . Civil War history." —The Journal of Southern History"A sensibly priced, beautifully produced photographic history." —Civil War History"A splendid addition to the graphic literature of the sectional conflict." —Choice"We now have another window to view America's bloodiest war." —Raleigh News and Observer"A must for the shelves of any serious student of the war." —Arkansas Democrat-Gazette"Destined to become a collector's item . . . first class." —The Civil War News"Authoritative, handsome volumes of this kind are a pure delight." —Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Read more less

Book SynopsisChimborazo Hospital, just outside Richmond, Virginia, served as the Confederacy’s largest hospital for four years. During this time, it treated nearly eighty thousand patients, boasting a mortality rate of just over 11 percent. This book, the first full-length study of a facility that was vital to the Southern war effort, tells the story of those who lived and worked at Chimborazo.Organized by Dr. James Brown McCaw, Chimborazo was an innovative hospital with well-trained physicians, efficient stewards, and a unique supply system. Physicians had access to the latest medical knowledge and specialists in Richmond. The hospital soon became a model for other facilities. The hospital’s clinical reputation grew as it established connections with the Medical College of Virginia and hosted several drug and treatment trials requested by the Confederate Medical Department.In fascinating detail, Chimborazo recounts the issues, trials, and triumphs of a Civil War hospital. Based on an extensive study of hospital and Confederate Medical Department records found at the National Archives, along with other primary sources, the study includes information on the patients, hospital stewards, matrons, and slaves who served as support staff. Since Chimborazo was designated as an independent army post, the book discusses other features of its organization, staff, and supply system as well. This careful examination describes the challenges facing the hospital and reveals the humanity of those who lived and worked there.

Read more less

Book SynopsisKnown as one of the most aggressive Confederate officers in the Western Theater, Brigadier General Alfred Jefferson Vaughan Jr. is legendary for having had eight horses shot out from under him in battle—more than any other infantry commander, Union or Confederate. Yet despite the exceptional bravery demonstrated by his dubious feat, Vaughan remains a largely overlooked Civil War leader. In Confederate Combat Commander, Lawrence K. Peterson explores the life of this unheralded yet important rebel officer before, during, and after his military service. A graduate of Virginia Military Institute, Vaughan initially commanded the Thirteenth Tennessee Infantry Regiment, and later Vaughan’s Brigade. He served in the hard-fought battles of the western area of operations in such key confrontations as Shiloh, Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and the Atlanta Campaign. Tracing Vaughan’s progress through the war and describing his promotion to general after his commanding officer was mortally wounded, Peterson describes the rise and development of an exemplary military career, and a devoted fighting leader. Although Vaughan was beloved by his troops and roundly praised at the time—in fact, negative criticism of his orders, battlefield decisions, or personality cannot be found in official records, newspaper articles, or the diaries of his men—Vaughan nevertheless served in the much-maligned Army of Tennessee. This book thus assesses what responsibility—if any—Vaughan bore for Confederate failures in the West. While biographies of top-ranking Civil War generals are common, the stories of lower-level senior officers such as Vaughan are seldom told. This volume provides rare insight into the regimental and brigade-level activities of Civil War commanders and their units, drawing on a rich array of privately held family histories, including two written by the general himself.

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisA historical figure's attempts to secure freedom for America and her slaves winning a reputation for reckless bravery in a succession of major battles and sieges, John Laurens distinguished himself as one of the most zealous, self-sacrificing participants in the American Revolution. A native of South Carolina and son of Henry Laurens, president of the Continental Congress, John devoted his life to securing American independence. In this comprehensive biography, Gregory D. Massey recounts the young Laurens's wartime record --a riveting tale in its own right --and finds that even more remarkable than his military escapades were his revolutionary ideas concerning the rights of African Americans.Massey relates Laurens's desperation to fight for his country once revolution had begun. A law student in England, he joined the war effort in 1777, leaving behind his English wife and an unborn child he would never see. Massey tells of the young officer's devoted service as General George Washington's aide-de-camp, interaction with prominent military and political figures, and conspicuous military efforts at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Newport, Charleston, Savannah, and Yorktown. Massey also recounts Laurens's survival of four battle wounds and six months as a prisoner of war, his controversial diplomatic mission to France, and his close friendship with Alexander Hamilton. Laurens's death in a minor battle in August 1782 was a tragic loss for the new state and nation. Unlike other prominent southerners, Laurens believed blacks shared a similar nature with whites, and he formulated a plan to free slaves in return for their service in the Continental Army. Massey explores the personal, social, and cultural factors that prompted Laurens to diverge so radically from his peers and to raise vital questions about the role African Americans would play in the new republic.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe American Revolution was a vicious civil war fought between families and neighbors. Nowhere was this truer than in South Carolina. Yet, after the Revolution, South Carolina’s victorious Patriots offered vanquished Loyalists a prompt and generous legal and social reintegration. From Revolution to Reunion investigates the way in which South Carolinians, Patriot and Loyalist, managed to reconcile their bitter differences and reunite to heal South Carolina and create a stable foundation for the new United States to become a political and economic leader.Rebecca Brannon considers rituals and emotions, as well as historical memory, to produce a complex and nuanced interpretation of the reconciliation process in post-Revolutionary South Carolina, detailing how Loyalists and Patriots worked together to heal their society. She frames the process in a larger historical context by comparing South Carolina’s experience with that of other states.Brannon highlights how Loyalists apologized but also went out of their way to serve their neighbors and to make themselves useful, even vital, members of the new experiment in self-government and liberty ushered in by the Revolution. Loyalists built on existing social ties to establish themselves in the new Republic, and they did it successfully.By 1784 the state government reinstated almost all the Loyalists who had stayed, as the majority of Loyalists had reinscribed themselves into the postwar nation. Brannon argues that South Carolinians went on to manipulate the way they talked about Loyalism in public to guarantee that memories would not be allowed to disturb the peaceful reconciliation they had created. South Carolinians succeeded in creating a generous and lasting reconciliation between former enemies, but in the process they unfortunately downplayed the dangers of civil war—which may have made it easier for South Carolinians to choose another civil war.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1781 South Carolina patriot militiamen played an integral role in helping the Continental army reclaim their state from its British conquerors. Martyr of the American Revolution is the only book-length treatment that examines the events that set an American militia colonel on a disastrous collision course with two British officers, his execution in Charleston, and the repercussions that extended from the battle lines of South Carolina to the Continental Congress and across the Atlantic to the halls of British Parliament.On August 4, 1781, in Charleston, South Carolina, the British army hanged Col. Isaac Hayne for treason. Rather than a strict chronological retelling of the events, which led to his execution during the British occupation of Charleston, what is offered instead is a consideration of factors, independently set in motion that culminated in the demise of a loving father and devout patriot.Hayne was the most prominent American executed by the British for treason. He and his two principal antagonists, Lt. Col. Nisbet Balfour and Lt. Col. Francis Lord Rawdon, were unwittingly set on a collision course that climaxed in an act that sparked perhaps the most notable controversy of the war. Martyr of the American Revolution sheds light on why two professional soldiers were driven to commit a seemingly wrongheaded and arbitrary deed that halted prisoner exchange and nearly brought disastrous consequences to captive British officers.The death of a patriot in the cause of liberty was not a unique occurrence, but the unusually well-documented events surrounding the execution of Hayne and the involvement of his friends and family makes his story compelling and poignant. Unlike young Capt. Nathan Hale, who suffered a similar fate in 1776, Hayne did not become a folk hero. What began as local incident, however, became an international affair that was debated in Parliament and the Continental Congress.

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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.

Read more less

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.

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the months following the May 1780 capture of Charleston, South Carolina, by combined British and loyalist forces, British soldiers arrested sixty-three paroled American prisoners and transported them to the borderland town of St. Augustine, East Florida--territory under British control since the French and Indian War. In Patriots in Exile, James Waring McCrady and C. L. Bragg chronicle the banishment of these elite southerners, the hardships endured by their families, and the plight of the enslaved men and women who accompanied them, as well as the motives of their British captors. McCrady and Bragg thoroughly examine the exile from the standpoint of the British who governed occupied Charleston, the families left behind, the armies in the field, the Continental Congress, and finally the Jacksonboro Assembly of January and February 1782. Using primary sources and archival materials, the authors develop biographical sketches of each exile and illuminate important facets of the American Revolution's southern theater. While they shared a common fate, the exiles were a diverse lot of tradesmen, artisans, prominent civilians, and military officers--among them three signers of the Declaration of Independence. Although they had clear socioeconomic differences, most were unrepentant patriots. In this first comprehensive examination and narrative history of these patriots, McCrady and Bragg reveal how the exiles navigated their new surroundings within the context of a revolutionary conflict that involved various imperial powers of the Old World--Britain, France, and Spain--and American colonists seeking to create an independent nation.Trade ReviewA detailed, fascinating account of a neglected facet of the history of the American Revolution in South Carolina." —Walter Edgar, author of South Carolina: A History"Patriots in Exile fills a significant gap in the history of the American Revolution and broadens the perspective by exploring events that took place outside the limits of the thirteen colonies. This book will appeal to both academic and general readers, particularly those whose interests are focused on the South." —Jim Piecuch, author of Three Peoples, One King"Bragg and McCrady have highlighted a frequently neglected topic of the Revolutionary War in the South: the travails of men who were torn from families and familiar surroundings, often not knowing what awaited them in this forced removal from South Carolina. Engaging and original." —Carl Borick, Charleston Museum"McCrady and Bragg shed new light on how in 1780 the patriot elite of Charleston, South Carolina, came to be exiled to one of the most isolated corners of the British empire. While not quite a gulag or Guantanamo Bay, St. Augustine served a similar function as a place where the British could make disappear individuals deemed to be dangerous enemies of the state." —David K. Wilson, author of The Southern Strategy: Britain's Conquest of South Carolina and Georgia, 1775-1780

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines African debates on captivity, legal and illegal enslavement, and religious and ethnic identity in the era of West African jihads. In this pioneering study—the first to cover ransoming, or the release of a prisoner prior to enslavement for cash or kind, in African regions south of the Sahara—Jennifer Lofkrantz focuses on a broad temporal and geographical area ranging from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries and including present-day Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Morocco. The work concentrates particularly on the nineteenth-century jihad era and on the Sokoto Caliphate and the Umarian States. The overall period was a time of intense intellectual debate over the questions of who was and who was not a Muslim, how Islamic law could and should be implemented, what rights and protections recognized freeborn Muslims should have, and what role governments should play in ensuring those rights especially during a time when slavery was legal. Ransoming discourses and procedures expose Muslim West African answers to these questions as well as providing a lens on broader issues and ideas on slavery, freedom, and religious and ethnic identity. Based on research conducted mostly in Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and France and on Arabic-, French-, and English-language archival sources, treatises, personal correspondence, oral sources and testimony, biographical data, travel reports, and early colonial documents, this study approaches the question of ransoming of captives through an examination, first, of intellectual debates among pre-nineteenth-century West African scholars on issues of ransoming; second, of nineteenth-century policies based on understandings of those intellectual debates in the context of the jihads; and, finally, of West African practices of ransoming in the nineteenth century.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Tables Introduction Chapter 1 - Islamic Discourse on Slavery and Ransoming before 1800 Chapter 2 - The Policy and Practice of Ransoming in the Maghrib Chapter 3 - Jihad, the Sokoto Caliphate, and Ransoming Chapter 4 - The Jihad of 'Umar Taal and its Ransoming Non-Policies Chapter 5 - The Negotiation and Practice of Ransoming Prisoners Conclusion Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisA comprehensive overview of the subject, demonstrating that the maritime aspects of the civil wars were much more important than has hitherto been acknowledged. NOMINATED FOR THE MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD! The civil wars in England, Scotland and Ireland in the period 1638-1653 are usually viewed from the perspective of land warfare. This book, on the other hand, presents a comprehensive overview of the wars from a maritime perspective. It considers the structure, organisation and manning of the parliamentarian, royalist, and Irish confederate navies, discussing how these changed overthe course of the wars. It also traces the development of the wars at sea, showing that the initial opting for parliament by seamen and officers in 1642 was a crucial development, as was the mutiny and defection of part of the parliamentarian navy in 1648. Moving beyond this it examines the nature of maritime warfare, including coastal sieges, the securing of major ports for parliament, the attempts by royalists to ship arms and other supplies from continental Europe, commerce raiding, and the transportation of armies and their supporters in the invasions of Scotland and Ireland. Overall the book demonstrates that the war at sea was an integral and important part of these dramatic conflicts. RICHARD J. BLAKEMORE is a Lecturer in the History of the Atlantic World at the University of Reading. ELAINE MURPHY is a Lecturer in Maritime/Naval History at the University of Plymouth and author of Ireland and the War at Sea, 1641-1653 (Boydell Press, 2012).Trade ReviewThis fine study by two of our foremost younger naval and maritime historians [is] doubly welcome [and] will undoubtedly remain the standard account of its subject for many years to come. * HISTORY *Not since Bernard Capp's Cromwell's Navy: The Fleet and the English Revolution, 1648-1660 (1992) has a work so thoroughly covered the war at sea as this one. . . . [A]n excellent book [that]demonstrates a great deal of careful, and moreover, thoughtful research into a subject that needs to have more attention from civil war historians, naval historians, and the historians of the illusive 'military revolution. -- Martyn Bennett * H-NET REVIEWS *This timely study presents a comprehensive analysis..It fills a significant void in the understanding of the British Civil Wars, and as such is a valuable contribution to the military history of the period. * MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY *[A]n accessible survey of a neglected dimension of Britain's civil wars that nuances our understanding of that conflict. . . It is essential reading for any historian or student of the civil wars, and it makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate about the "military revolution." -- Jon Fitzgibbons * Journal of British Studies *'A very clearly written and convincingly argued book . deeply researched and effectively constructed. It fills a significant historiographical gap with much new research; it does so from an archipelagic rather than an Anglocentric perspective; and it is an important contribution to the maritime and military histories of mid-seventeenth-century Britain and Ireland.' - -- David Smith Selwyn College Cambridge'This is going to be a very important and well-received book.' - -- J D Davies, author of numerous books on the seventeenth century navy'An excellent book . extremely well written, with a clear set of aims and objectives, a strong narrative and a staggering range of detailed footnotes - enough detail to hook academics, but general enough to make it extremely applicable to a student and non-specialist audience. -- Annaleigh Margey, Dundalk Institute of TechnologyThe British Civil Wars at Sea is well written and strongly argued, and its aim to give a full, comprehensive and evidence based view on the importance of the navies to the outcome of the Civil Wars and the evolution of the British State is convincingly achieved. -- Jonathan Turner * South West Soundings *Table of ContentsIntroduction Warfare at Sea in the Early Modern Period The Outbreak of War, 1638-1642 The War at Sea, 1642-1646 Parliament's Navy, 1642-1646 Royalist, Confederate, and Scottish Naval Efforts, 1642-1653 Revolution, 1647-1649 Conquest, 1649-53 Conclusion Appendix 1: Timeline of the Civil Wars at Sea, 1638-1653 Appendix 2 : Parliamentarian Fleets, 1642-1649 Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisDetailed account and analysis of a major event of the Hundred Years War, stressing the logistical efforts behind the fighting. On 19 September 1356 Edward of Woodstock, known as the Black Prince, and his Anglo-Gascon army defeated Jean II of France at the Battle of Poitiers. The victory was the culmination of an expedition which had begun in England in 1355, and saw the successful undertaking of the so-called "grande chevauchée" - which depended on a system of purveyance and recruitment in England, in addition to an efficient supply train which accompanied the army. This book examines in detail the efficient and effective logistics that drove that success; it also shows the powerful connection between tactics and strategy on the one hand, and geography, human topography, and the need for food, water and rest, on the other. MOLLIE M. MADDEN holds a PhD from the University of Minnesota.Trade ReviewMadden has provided a landmark study . . . built on intensive use of the available sources and a clear, well-reasoned and ultimately persuasive thesis: as an exhaustive, empirical account of military procedures in action, it commands respect and deserves careful reading. * DE RE MILITARI *Madden adds to the existing historiography of the Black Prince's expeditions, providing a valuable service in highlighting the extent to which the strategy of the Hundred Years War-like all military strategy throughout history-was shaped and determined by the demands of supply, and the difficulties of keeping an army fed on the march through enemy territory. -- Andy King * Journal of British Studies *[A] useful addition to the field of medieval military history, and an original one as well. . . . [T]his book makes a powerful and well-supported statement about logistics and its significance to the study of tactics, strategy, and even politics,and we can only hope Madden's line of inquiry and method to be expanded beyond the strict context of the Black Prince's chevauchée. * SPECULUM *Table of ContentsIntroduction The Preparations for the Chevauchée: England's Existing System of Purveyance A Competent Military Force: England's Existing System of Recruitment The Campaign to Narbonne: An Efficient System of Supply The Return to Bordeaux: A Test of Endurance After the Campaign Conclusion Appendix 1: Ships of the Prince's Fleet Appendix 2: Edward of Woodstock's Army Appendix 3: The Prince's March Appendix 4: Financial Tables Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines how the form and function of the Covenants were shorn of religious implications and repurposed, serving a pluralistic vision of the role of religion in politics and public life. Until now, scholarship on the Covenants has mainly focussed on their role in the conflicts of the 1640s, with discussion of the Covenants after 1660 mostly limited to the context of violent Scottish radicalism. This book moves beyond a rigid focus on Scotland to explore the legacy of the Covenants in England. It examines the discourse surrounding key events in the Restoration period and traces the influence of the Covenants in the context of radical Presbyterianism, and in mainstream debates around politics, church government, and the constitution of the British kingdoms. The Covenants continued to have relevance in two primary respects. Firstly, the Covenants were used as reference points for discussing the competing legacies of the English and Scottish Reformations and the confused issues of church and state that defined the Restoration period. Furthermore, the form of the Covenants as solemn individual subscriptions to a constitutional and religious model, and the political ideas that underpinned them, were emulated by those seeking to resist royal authority during the Exclusion Crisis of 1679-81, and during the events surrounding the Revolution of 1688. Thus, this book holds particular interest for students of constitutionalism, legal pluralism or civil religion in seventeenth-century Britain, and for those seeking to deepen their understanding of the intellectual origins of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Revolution of 1688-9.Trade Review[A] very detailed academic account of the latter part of the Covenanting period. -- SCOTTISH COVENANTER MEMORIALS ASSOC.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 The 1638 National Covenant and the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant 2 1660: What was to be Restored? 3 The Act of the Uniformity and the 'Great Ejection' 4 Crisis and Toleration in the 1660s 5 Exclusion and Association in the Late Restoration Period 6 The Revolution of 1688 and the Association of 1696 Conclusion

Read more less

Book SynopsisAnalyses the role of long-term continuities in the political and religious culture of Wales from the eve of the Civil War in 1640 to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 In Royalism, Religion and Revolution: Wales, 1640-1688, Sarah Ward Clavier provides a ground-breaking analysis of the role of long-term continuities in the political and religious culture of Wales from the eve of the Civil War in 1640 to the Glorious Revolution. A final chapter also extends the narrative to the Hanoverian succession. The book discusses three main themes: the importance of continuities (including concepts of Welsh history, identity and language); religious attitudes and identities; and political culture. As Ward Clavier shows, the culture of Wales in this period was not frozen but rather dynamic, one that was constantly deploying traditional cultural symbols and practices to sustain a distinctive religious and political identity against a tide of change. The book uses a wide range of primary research material: from correspondence, diaries and financial accounts, to architectural, literary and material sources, drawing on both English and Welsh language texts. As part of the 'New Regional History' this book discusses the distinctively Welsh alongside aspects common to English and, indeed, European culture, and argues that the creative construction of continuity allowed the gentry of North-East Wales to maintain and adapt their identity even in the face of rupture and crisis.Trade ReviewAn important work and one which will be of considerable use to scholars studying religion in Wales in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. * ANGLICAN AND EPISCOPAL HISTORY *Ward Clavier's study illuminates an often neglected period of Welsh social history. [...] In Royalism, Religion and Revolution, Ward Clavier has provided a convincing new answer to Gwyn A. William's old question, "When was Wales?" -- SEVENTEENTH CENTURY NEWSA well-written, clearly structured and provocative book, offering significant insights into the culture of the gentry of north-east Wales during decades of upheaval and resilience. -- PARLIAMENTARY HISTORYA necessary tool to understanding a society far removed from London and far from Anglocentric readings of British history as a whole. -- CONGREGATIONAL HISTORY SOCIETY MAGAZINETable of ContentsIntroduction Part 1. Welsh Historical Culture 1. How Was History Written in Wales? 2. The Character and Purpose of Welsh Historical Culture 3. Connecting Welsh Historical Culture 4. Thomas Mostyn: Collections, Historical Writing and Welsh Identity Part 2. Religion 5. The Welshness of the Church of England 6. The North-East Welsh Gentry and Their Catholic Neighbors 7. Puritanism and the North-East Welsh Gentry 1640-88 8. Sir Thomas Hanmer: Episcopalian Squire or 'Church-Papist'? Part 3. Royalism and Loyalism 9. Loyalty in the Region and the Nation 10. Royalism 11. North-East Welsh Royalism and Loyalism 1660-85 12. Robert Davies III: Royalism and Loyalism in North-East Wales Epilogue Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first full edition and English translation of the RA I.34 Firework Book. Produced from the early fifteenth century onwards, Firework Books are, broadly speaking, manuals on how to use gunpowder, witnessing a major development in warfare. Surviving in a corpus of some 65, each text has different content and components, but core elements are present throughout. An important example is a manuscript in the collection of the Royal Armouries (RA I.34), written in Early New High German, and (unlike many other manuscripts) still in what appears to be its original format and binding; it also, unusually, contains a number of illustrations. This volume provides the first full edition and English translation of the material, with a detailed analysis of its content and context. It positions the Firework Books at a crucial stage in the development of gunpowder artillery, offering an unparalleled insight into fifteenth-century gunpowder technology at a critical juncture of military and technological change at the end of the Middle Ages.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Firework Book Tradition 2. The Use and Reception of the Firework Book 3. The Leeds Firework Book 4. The Text of Royal Armouries I.34 Editorial Principles Edition and Translation 5. Analysis of the Text Conclusion Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book provides the first full-scale, scholarly analysis of the political, religious and social rationale which underlay Huguenot support for William of Orange in 1688. In the context of the Huguenot exodus from France and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the role of the Huguenot soldiers within an international Protestant political context is explained through the use of rich biographical and historical detail. Special attention is given to the role played by the most prominent Protestant soldiers of William's army, the Huguenot refugees and the British soldiers of the Anglo-Dutch Brigade. The importance of issues of loyalty and conscience amongst Europe's professional international officer corps is addressed, thereby placing the valuable service rendered to William III by his Huguenot soldiers in an international context encompassing political, religious and social aspects. This book will be a rich source of biographical information about hundreds of Huguenot soldiers in British, Dutch and Brandenburg service in the period 1670 to 1700.Trade Review"Glozier's study is most impressive in its reconstruction of the Huguenot community. His book has a prosopographical approach and contains a treasury of biographical information, based upon which the author analyzes the social and religious background of the soldiers... an important and innovative contribution to Dutch military historiography as well as Huguenot studies and may prove an important incentive to study this topic in more depth." -- H-Albion."This book's particular merit lies in its international scope and its focus on Huguenot officers serving William in the Netherlands and Ireland... Discusses a worthwhile and neglected subject." -- Albion.Table of ContentsContents: Introduction; The French Crown, the Huguenots and the Army before 1685; The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes; Huguenots in the Dutch Army, 1685--8; The Huguenots and the Anglo-Dutch Brigade; James II and the Huguenots; The Glorious Revolution' of 1688; Ireland; Epilogue; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAfter the American Revolution, sites representing key events in American history were crucial to the young nation's efforts to formalize its story. Following the Civil War, national history became a primary vehicle for patriotic and spiritual reconstruction, and sites such as historic battlefields served important roles in remembering the past during the nation's subsequent challenging periods, including the Great Depression and the Vietnam War.Gettysburg Contested traces patterns of commemoration back to the well-known field of battle of July 1 3, 1863, which earned a legacy as sacred ground that remains today, more than 150 years later. But the landscape history and record of preservation at Gettysburg are complicated, for Gettysburg has wrestled with large issues, ranging from public versus private development, to the role of local, state, and federal governments, to the actual implementation of memorialization on the battlefield.Although the story of the battle is ingrained in the fabric of American memory, Brian Black's account considerably broadens the scope. Never before has Gettysburg's story been told so completely, offering layer upon layer, story upon story. Gettysburg thus becomes a springboard to understanding more fully the nation's need for sacred sites and symbols of America's past, including cherished landscapes such as Gettysburg. In Gettysburg Contested, America's treasured battlefield becomes the great laboratory for how Americans preserve and honor the past.

Read more less