Best Civil War Bull Run History
"This comprehensively researched, well-written book represents the definitive account of Robert E. Lee’s triumph over Union leader John Pope in the summer of 1862. . Lee's strategic skills, and the capabilities of his principal subordinates James Longstreet and Stonewall Jackson, brought the Confederates onto the field of Second Manassas at the right places and times against a Union army that knew how to fight, but not yet how to win.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I simply cannot imagine any better books written on either First Manassas or Second Manassas."
"As a native Virginian, I am enamored with the Civil War."
"It had one strange omission that I almost never see in military history books: John Hennessy never gives us the 'big numbers'!"
"Pompous (bragged about his military "exploits" in the West), foul-mouthed (used the Lord's name in vain when referring to McDowell), and impatient (Phil Kearney, an able Northern general, tired of Pope's orders for impetuous and fruitless marches that only served to tire the troops). Hennessy is fair with leaders, both North and South and his narrative is excellent - while, he is obviously a learned man with a deep knowlege of the battle, the author does not bore the reader with tedious details and dry narrative."
"An informative and detailed analysis that never loses focus on the subject matter and brings to life the campaign that brought Robert E. Lee to the beginning of his military career with the Army of Northern Virginia."
"Return to Bull Run is not only the book most often referenced by the Rangers and Volunteers at the battlefield, but also one of the most thorough, readable, and entertaining battle studies I've experienced."
"I enjoyed the detail along with the coverage of the whole of the campaign."
"A great book by a superb historian and storyteller."
2 The Iron Brigade in Civil War and Memory: The Black Hats from Bull Run to Appomattox and Thereafter
But it was at Gettysburg on July 1 where the brigade immortalized a railroad cut and helped save the high ground west of town that proved decisive, but was nearly destroyed for its brave stand. Herdegen’s magnificent The Iron Brigade in Civil War and Memory, sure to be looked upon as his magnum opus, is based on decades of archival research and includes scores of previously unpublished letters, photos, journals, and other primary accounts. This well researched and written tour de force, which includes reunion and memorial coverage until the final expiration of the last surviving member, will be the last word on the Iron Brigade for the foreseeable future. When we were young, explained one Black Hat veteran many years after the war, we hardly realized that we “had fought on more fields of battle than the Old Guard of Napoleon, and have stood fire in far greater firmness.” Here, at long last, is the full story of how young farm boys, shopkeepers, river men, and piney camp boys in a brigade forged with iron helped save the Union. “Lance Herdegen’s The Iron Brigade in Civil War and Memory is the first book-length treatment of this famous fighting unit from the first days of the war until the final drum roll at Appomattox. The Iron Brigade in Civil War and Memory: The Black Hats from Bull Run to Appomattox and Thereafter is destined to be the standard for the next fifty years.” ( ― Robert I. Girardi, author and historian ). “Lance Herdegen is the preeminent living Civil War historian on “those damned black hats.” His years of research and unparalleled knowledge of the Iron Brigade are clearly evident in this definitive study of an outstanding Union command.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The author has written a book that is enjoyable to read and not boring or overly statistical or in the laternative to weak statistically."
"Great book!"
"With either a dry narrative, or the lack of a continuous thought process, the previous Iron Brigade studies have fallen short. Throughout the detailed chapters, this book never fails to keep the interest high and fills the pages with the myriad of action which these boys saw during the war. Lance J. Herdegen is an award winning journalist and is the former director of the Institute of Civil War Studies at Carroll University. One of the major points which can be appreciated is the section on Gettysburg is not a carbon copy of his other book Those Damned Black Hats! Overall, this volume is the full treatment of the Iron Brigade any Civil War student or scholar could ever hope for."
"By day, I teach history in state prison, by night, I work for this darn fine newspaper and for 18 years, I've been a Civil War re-enactor and these days, a Yankee first sergeant in the 6th Wisconsin of the Iron Brigade. His latest is the crowning achievement of a lifetime of study, ``The Iron Brigade in Civil War and Memory: The Black Hats From Bull Run to Appomattox and Thereafter.''. As the bad asses of the Army of the Potomac, the Black Hats suffered a greater percentage of casualties than any other brigade in the entire Union army, fighting the best the South had, Robert E. Lee's legendary Army of Northern Virginia. There's thousands of Civil War books in print and nearly 40 on just the Iron Brigade alone - a few written by Herdegen; two of them are about Gettysburg, ``In the Bloody Railroad Cut at Gettysburg,'' (1990) and ``Those Damn Black Hats'' (2008) plus he has a thin volume on Mickey Sullivan, the quirky and quotable 6th Wisconsin wise-guy warrior, ``An Irishman in the Iron Brigade'' (1993). It was Alan Nolan who wrote the initial history of the unit, ``The Iron Brigade,'' published in 1961, and the two were pals for almost 50 years, recalled Herdegen in a interview when his new book was published last fall. It is difficult to grow up in Wisconsin and not be drawn to the story of the Iron Brigade, which included three Wisconsin regiments in addition to one from Michigan and one from Indiana. Over the years, I wrote a couple of books on the Black Hats that covered only a narrow portion of the story and expanded on Nolan's work with information that has come to light since 1961. Alan pretty much ended his book after the Iron Brigade lost its all-Western makeup in 1863, and included only a few pages on the rest of the war.''. So with this current volume, Herdegen has finished the story Nolan began, and having Herdegen write about his beloved Black Hats is like having Bart Starr tell Packer stories. Geography aside, the Westerners also looked different - they had been issued the M1858 dress hat worn by the regular army - the big Black Hat - while the vast majority of the Yankee soldiers wore the kepi or a forage cap, each sort of an old school baseball cap. The Black Hats fought in all those famous and terrible battles in the East from the summer of 1862 to the end of the war - each a good day to call in sick but that was not an option for a Civil War soldier. The Iron Brigade avoided the worst of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville but are rightly remembered for their fight at Gettysburg on the first day, July 1, 1863, and Herdegen's description is worth the price of the book. Without all that Black Hat blood and valor, the North could very well have lost at Gettysburg and shortly thereafter, the war itself. So I think this new book offers a conclusion--a final ending--to the endlessly interesting and revealing story of the Black Hats.''. Herdegen with access to much more material that has come to light in the last 50 years, including newspaper and letters, plus scores of never before seen pictures, finishes the Black Hat story."
Unmatched in its description of the battle's tactics and actual fighting.--Ethan Rafuse, author of McClellan's War On July 21, 1861, near a Virginia railroad junction twenty-five miles from Washington, DC, the Union and Confederate armies clashed in the first major battle of the Civil War. He previously served as a ranger at the Manassas battlefield and is currently chief historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Just a reprint of the original."
"John Hennessy's "First Battle of Manassas: An End To Innocence July 18-21, 1861" presents a very readable, detailed account of the first major battle of the Civil War/War Between the States, where both sides were "green" as Lincoln put it."
"While The Early Morning of War is the definitive book on the battle, this one is still excellent and informative and a must read if you are interested in Civil War battles."
"If you are looking for a book to cover the entire battle in 200 pages or so then this is your book."
"This book is the shortest one in total pages that I have read on the First Battle of Manassas (165 pages total/129 pages main) but it is the best of the bunch in my opinion for the following reasons: 1. This is the only volume I have read on the battle that can truly be considered a microtactical history of the events down to the regimental, battalion, battery, company, and section level. The book does not have a theater map, and this makes it hard to follow the troop movements upto the beginning of hostilities at Blackburn's Ford, but the book only has one chapter on the events leading upto the battle so starting in chapter two your there on the banks of Bull Run following the action, so it is really not that much of a problem. It is a shame, because all the elements that everybody raves about in their reviews of that publication can be found between the covers of this book!"
"Great overview of the battle itself."
Best Civil War Antietam History
For the sesquicentennial of Antietam and the Maryland Campaign, D. Scott Hartwig delivers a riveting first installment of a two-volume study of the campaign and climactic battle. "The first volume of this two volume set is so very well written and all-inclusive on the detailed facts of this Maryland Campaign that it looks like this two volume set just might be the very best ever written on this campaign and battle." (Harry S. Laver Civil War Book Review ). "By far the best work done on the Maryland Campaign, To Antietam Creek will set the standard for many, many years to come." (Thomas G. Clemens, Save Historic Antietam Foundation). "A new and monumental study of the origins and initiation of the Maryland Campaign of 1862... To Antietam Creek: The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 is a tour de force which will stand as the preeminent and final word on the subject... A must read for any serious Civil War student interested in the crucial events leading up to the Battle of Antietam.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I knew from day one that I wanted to write a review of this book. But I think my experience as a long time Antietam Battlefield volunteer and guide who has walked the battlefields of the Maryland Campaign, give me a different and useful perspective from the usual rank and file book reviewer. Like this book, I attempt to interpret the Maryland Campaign and Battle of Antietam objectively and factually. But the book's completeness, numerous insights, deep analysis and great stories will add a new richness and depth to my tours and programs that I would not otherwise have had I not read the book. I can now say unequivocally that this is the best book I have ever read on the Maryland Campaign. And I have read many books. And we learn that there were several very good Union cavalry regiments that fought well in the Campaign and they are not the ones who fought their way out of Harpers Ferry. You will miss out if you skip them. To some who would dismiss this book as just a story of the events up to Antietam, I would answer that this book is a necessarily foundation to understanding the tactical battle that Hartwig will treat us to when the second volume comes out. If you want to learn more about the Maryland Campaign than you can from any other book, you must move this one to the top of your reading list. If you have hesitated to get this book because of its massiveness, get over it and buy the book. From the first to the last, To Antietam Creek will reward you with the best-told story of the Maryland Campaign ever produced."
"To Antietam Creek: The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, D. Scott Hartwig, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012, 8 black and white images, 17 maps, 3 appendices, bibliographic notes, essay on notes, index, 794pp., $49.96. Both literally and figuratively, all other treatments of The Antietam Campaign may well stand in the shadow of Scott Hartwig's To Antietam Creek: The Maryland Campaign of September 1862. Tom Clemens of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation states "By far the best work done on the Maryland Campaign ."
"Although I do not count myself as a fan of George McClellan, I do submit that it is time to take a closer look at his tenure with the Army of the Potomac and, if merited, challenge the conventional wisdom that surrounds and informs the historical view of his generalship. However, Hartwig is not afraid to level criticism when it is due and McClellan (often), along with Burnside, Franklin, Hooker, Lee, Miles and others are rightly taken to task when the occasion warrants it. Furthermore, Hartwig led me to truly appreciate the outstanding performance of Lafayette McLaws in relation to Harper's Ferry and to grasp the extent that William Franklin's loss of moral courage helped to seal the garrison's doom. Finally, Hartwig's writing with regard to the eve of battle is a thing of beauty--it compares favorably to Bruce Catton's work in Mr. Lincoln's Army (to me thre is no higher praise) and paints a picture of a night of foreboding before that which was arguably the worst day in American history."
Best Civil War Gettysburg History
James M. McPherson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom , and arguably the finest Civil War historian in the world, walks readers through the Gettysburg battlefield -- the site of the most consequential battle of the Civil War. Hugh McAloon, formerly at Prince William County Public Library, VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book gives both the guide and also the battle."
"very well thought out and written with great historical value."
"A quick and accessible read about the Battle of Gettysburg."
"McPherson is a great historian."
"So simple, yes so eloquent."
"Possible rival candidates are Lexington and Concord, Yorktown, or Omaha Beach -- but more Americans visit Gettysburg each year than any of these other battlefields, probably more than all of them combined. In addition to providing an overview of the first three days in July 1863, McPherson sprinkles in interesting anecdotes concerning the Battle itself as well as various efforts to commemorate aspects of it. One example: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is now (rightfully) famous for his leadership of the 20th Maine in holding the left flank of the Union line at Little Round Top the night of July 2nd. Another example: Pickett's Charge, a frontal assault on the entrenched and formidable Union line, is popularly regarded (especially in the South) as one of the most valiant events in military history. For example, in the quoted sentence, the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and the stone wall could be designated "A" and "B" in parentheses, and the reader could easily locate them on the map by the corresponding letters "A" and "B"."
Best Civil War Appomattox History
Foote's comprehensive history of the Civil War includes three compelling volumes: Fort Sumter to Perryville, Fredericksburg to Meridian, and Red River to Appomattox. "Anyone who wants to relive the Civil War, as thousands of Americans apparently do, will go through this volume with pleasure.... Years from now, Foote's monumental narrative most likely will continue to be read and remembered as a classic of its kind." "I have never read a better, more vivid, more understandable account of the savage battling between Grant's and Lee's armies.... Foote stays with the human strife and suffering, and unlike most Southern commentators, he does not take sides. “Here, for a certainty, is one of the great historical narratives of our century, a unique and brilliant achievement, one that must be firmly placed in the ranks of the masters.”—Van Allen Bradley, Chicago Daily News “A stunning book full of color, life, character and a new atmosphere of the Civil War, and at the same time a narrative of unflagging power. Years from now, Foote’s monumental narrative most likely will continue to be read and remembered as a classic of its kind.”— New York Herald Tribune Book Review “To read this great narrative is to love the nation—to love it through the living knowledge of its mortal division. Whitman, who ultimately knew and loved the bravery and frailty of the soldiers, observed that the real Civil War would never be written and perhaps should not be.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is extremely rare to find a book so compelling you can't wait to get back to it and I spite of knowing the ending the tears for all concerned won't stop flowing."
"Shelby Foote is a great story teller and does an excellent job of bring the civil war to life."
"Each time I read the trilogy I came away with a greater appreciation of the literary genius of Shelby Foote."
"Very detailed and informative!"
"Son was overjoyed to receive book 3."
"Devil's in the details, and this compilation has so much detail your brain will explode with historical references."
"Mr. Foote has been able to capture like noone else I have ever read, the tedium and the terror; the honor and the bravery; the reason and the reluctance; the endlessness and the necessity of our civil war."
Best Civil War Fredericksburg History
A 3-volume, softcover set of books by Shelby Foote dealing with the Civil War.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is extremely rare to find a book so compelling you can't wait to get back to it and I spite of knowing the ending the tears for all concerned won't stop flowing."
"I just only received this box set a few days ago, so I haven't had a lot of time to read any of it extensively."
"This background will prove invaluable when you read other shorter books or books on narrower topics, like individual battles or persons. This is a good book for the casual reader or second book after (or maybe before) Foote."
"Each time I read the trilogy I came away with a greater appreciation of the literary genius of Shelby Foote."
"Very detailed and informative!"
"Son was overjoyed to receive book 3."
"A classic always wanted to purchase the 3 book set looking forward to reading this winter."