D. Solid shot heated in a nace to set fires among w targets.
F. A road surface constru small tree trunks, laid d muddy or swampy areas.
G. An inferior wool that soon after issue, used in Union uniforms.
H. Soldiers incapacitated wounds or sickness but st duty.
I. An elevated area on th skirts of Fredericksburg,
J. A nickname for newspap respondents who traveled army.
Steve Davis is the Civil Book Review Editor. He can be contacted by em
A First-hand Account of the Dail Soldiers in the Army of Northern A South Carolina Upcountry Saga: The Civil War Letters of Barham Bobo Foster and his Family 1860–1863. Edited by A. Gibert Kennedy. Maps, photos, notes, index, 360 pages, 2019.
The Foster family first arrived in upstate South Carolina in the 1790s. By the 1820s the family owned a successful (and still-standing) inn and tavern i what is now Spartanburg (John C. Calhoun was a frequent guest) as well as a plantation in Cross Anchor, S.C. Barham Bobo Foster was born in the tavern in 1817. Twenty years later he was married and had settled down on a plantation near Glenn Springs, S.C.
and was a county treasurer. The letters start with the So Carolina Secession Convention in Charleston in December 1860 and are written primarily by Foster, who served as a lieutena colonel in the Confederate Army,
and by his sons Capt. Lewis Perrin Foster and Corporal James “Tony” Anthony Foster. They are arranged chronologically. In the earliest letters we se the sons training in Charleston and Columbia. As was typical of letters written in this very ear stage of the war, they are full bravado and optimism. Upon his
arrival in Virginia, Lewis wrote “I have never seen such soldiers than I have of the confederate army. Most of them volunteers for 2 years or the war. They see resolute and determined to do or
die. They never seem to doubt their success and I don’t think such men can be whipped at all.”
of nia of a female drill officer from a reasons. Tony was killed in action Zouave regiment. at the battle of Maryland Heights But as the war goes on, things on September 13, 1862, while did not go as well as the men Capt. Lewis Foster was killed in expected. Perhaps no other topic action at Fredericksburg. The last takes up more of the letters letters from Lewis read like they
than the subject of disease. were written by a different person The writers and/or the men in from the one who boasted about
their units contracted just about the Confederate army a year and every illness one could imagine: a half earlier; the grim realities the measles, mumps, typhoid, and uncertainties of war had set diphtheria, dysentery, etc., in. which took the lives of many of On the whole, this collection their comrades in arms. Also, of letters gives a fascinating and price gouging was a common interesting look into the Army occurrence, both at home and in of Northern Virginia in the war’s camp, while requests for clothes early years from the eyes of men and swords were frequent. Food living in camp. Anyone interestwas a constant problem as well. ed in life in the Confederate army Anyone looking for new in- should read this book. sight into any of the major figures of the war will be disappointed, Tom Elmore’s family has lived in though Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard’s South Carolina’s upstate for over name is constantly misspelled as two centuries, and it is very like “Boureguard.” that some of his ancestors knew The letters to home end on some of the people mentioned December 10, 1862, prior to in this book. Currently Elmore the battle of Fredericksburg. is studying the lives of Irish and Lt. Col. B. B. Foster resigned Scottish immigrants living in his his commission in late January- home town of Columbia during the early February 1862 for medical antebellum period.
A Long and Bloody Task The Atlanta Campaign from Dalton through Kennesaw Mountain to the Chattahoochee River May 5–July 18, 1864
Davis’ narrative history of the Atlanta Campaign is divided into two paperbacks from Savas Beatie’s Emerging Civil War Series. Volume One, A Long and Bloody Task, carries Sherman’s
forces from Dalton in northwest Georgia to the Chattahoochee River. There the
Confederate government was forced to relieve its army commander, Joseph E. Johnston, and replace him with Gen. John B. Hood. Paperback, 192 pages.
All the Fighting They Want The Atlanta Campaign from Peachtree Creek to the City’s Surrender July 18–September 2, 1864 With the Yankee army five miles outside of Atlanta, Hood promised no to give up with city without a fight which is all President Jefferson Dav asked. Davis’ companion volume, All the Fighting They Want, describes Hood’s efforts to defend Atlanta. It fall in early September 1864 was a mortal blow to Confederate hopes for independence and a big boost to Lincoln’s hopes for presidential reelection. Paperback, 192 pages.
To order a signed copy from author Stephen Davis
Book with Three Stories About O Palmito Ranch: From Civil War Battlefield to National
Historic Landmark. By Jody Edward Ginn and William Alexander McWhorter. Maps, photos, index, bibliography, en notes, 116 pp., 2018. Texas A &
If asked, many Civil War buffs would say the last battle was fought at Appomattox Courthouse, but the final battl the epic struggle was fought on May 12 -13, 1865 on and around a hill overlooking a strategic in the Rio Grande River. In eig chapters authors Jody Edward Ginn and William Alexander McWhorter tell the stories of t battles and preservation effort this site, as well as settle on proper name of “Palmito Ranch” for the location which has been known as Palmito Hill, Palmetto Ranch and Palmetto Hill.
2. B.—An imitation gun 3. G.—Early Northern unifo 4. H.--Soldiers incapacita
5. I.—Fredericksburg heigh 6. A.—An 18-pounder. 7. F.—Road surface.
In 2001 Philip Thomas Tucker published The Final Fury:
Palmito Ranch, The Last Battle of the Civil War. Tucker’s work was the first book to deal exclusively with this subject, but according to the authors, Tucker’s groundbreaking work fell short from its lack of support for some assertions with primary evidence. In 2002 Jeffrey William Hunt authored The Last Battle of the Civ War, which was exhaustively researched and documented, and probably would have been the last word on the topic, except th Hunt did not have access to the John S. “Rip” Ford papers held at the Haley Memorial Library in Midland, Texas. Jody Edward Ginn and William Alexander McWhorter r searched the Ford papers and discovered that another, previously unknown battle had been fought at the site on September 6-12, 1864. This important and intriguing battle involved Union troops aided by Mexican artillery under command of Juan N. Cortina firing across the Rio Grande. The Confederates won the battle and captured some of Cortina’s Mexican troops. According to the authors, there are documents in the Ford papers to show that Juan Cortina’s soldiers were sent to a POW camp near Houston, Texas. Ginn and McWhorter aptly state the shortcomings in their narrative at the end of the chapter: “while far more research is necessary to fully understand thi battle and the forces that fought there, the work to date demonstrates the forgotten battlefield significance and how it adds to the nation’s understanding of the Civil War through its military,
multicultural, and international aspects.” This reviewer also felt a map showing the approximate positions and units during the bat tle would have been a big help. The May 12-13, 1865 battle involved the 62nd U.S. Colored Troops, 34th Indiana Volunteer Infantry and 2nd Texas Cavalry (US) vs. John Ford’s troops, predominantly consisting of Giddings’ and Carter’s battalions of Texas Confederate Cavalry, which included “Tejanos American Indians, Anglos Portuguese, Irish, Germans, Africans, and Danes” of military age. Ginn and McWhorter debunk many of the myths of the battle. They specifically address Colonel Barrett’s leadership of the 34th Indiana, Confederate flanking movements, the steadfast coverage of the Federal retreat by the 62nd U.S.C.T. They take particular notice of the Texans’ zeal and bravado in fighting for a cause that by then they knew was lost. Pvt. Ferdinand Gerring of Carter’s Texas Cavalry Battalion (who was mortally wounded) and Pvt. John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana are denoted as the final Confederate and Union casualties of the war. The third aspect of this book i the battle after the battle to sav the battleground, involving a number of government agencies, private landowners and various Texas state agencies. McWhorter and Ginn were integral parts of this process due to their association with Texas state agencies. They give amazing insight into the details of what it took to hav this long neglected and vandalized battlefield, which still reta its physical integrity, to be both preserved and interpreted. Those interested in battlefield preserva tion will find a great case study, complete with twists, turns and unexpected events, which could serve as a guide for future proj-
ects. There are plenty of color photos in this section, as well as pictures of some of the historical
markers and their locations from the past to the present, so reader who may not be able to travel to this remote location can get an impression of what it is like.
William Bozic is currently a seasonal employee of the National Park Service assigned to Minute Man National Historical Park. He is in the final stage of researchi
for his book Indianola Incidents: The Union Occupation of Indianola Texas 1863-4. William and his wife Julissa are the parents of four ch dren and owners of one Labrador/ Husky with a severe case of ADHD.
Slaves, Slaveholders and a Kentucky Community’s Struggle Toward Freedom. By Elizabeth D. Leonard. Notes, bib liography, index, 178 pp. 2019. University Press of Kentucky,
Holt’s Bottom, Breckenridge County, Kentucky produced both Joseph Holt, Abraham Lincoln’s Adjutant General, and Sandy Holt, one of the Holt family slaves. Using the lives of these two men, Elizabeth Leonard attempts to use Holt’s Bottom as a microcosm for viewing Joseph Holt’s transformation fr an aristocratic slaveholder in Kentucky’s elite class to an ardent abolitionist—a proponent of the Union and full citizenship a equality for Black Americans. Sandy Holt is the runaway slave of the Holt family who joins the 118th U.S.C.T. and fights as a p vate for his freedom throughout
the war. Joseph Holt’s ardent attachment to the Union and his evolv-
ing hatred for secessionists and slavery propel him into a high profile and influential role as
opponent of both slavery and white supremacy. While this position ingratiated him to Abraha Lincoln and Radical Republicans in Congress, it alienated him from his family, his roots and even his early views on slavery. Sandy Holt’s story is characterized as a representative struggl for freedom for all blacks. His military service included the ba
tle of Dutch Gap, Va. as well as various assignments guarding railroads and fortifications whi battling disease and squalid liv ing conditions. After the Civil War, Joseph
Holt remained Adjutant General until his retirement in 1875. He then continued as an advocate for full citizenship rights for Black Americans and their protection from discrimination. He employed several of his former slaves and even purchased homes for them. Conversely, Sandy Holt, after his discharge in February 1866, returned to Breckenridge County, resumed farm labor, married and started a family. In 1885 he began applying for a disability pension due to war-relate illnesses. The pension was finall granted in 1896, three weeks afte his death. Sandy’s widow, Sarah, was left indigent and survived on a widow’s pension until her death three decades later. Elizabeth Leonard uses the sto ry of these two men to focus on the different paths their lives t before, during and after the war. The essence of the book’s message is thus how white America needed to adjust to a new world of black equality and how tension between these two communities intersected and needed to be resolved. While thoroughly researched, this book fails to fulfill its ai explaining how Kentucky struggled to reconcile these differenc es. Short biographical snippets of other members of the 118th U.S.C.T. never go beyond family data to address the complexities of reconciliation. For a mor thorough understanding of the aftermath of the war on Kentucky, two books are highly recommended: Anne E. Marshall’s Creating a Confederate Kentucky (2010) and Marion B. Lucas’ A History of Blacks in Kentucky: From Slavery to Segregation
(2003). Additionally, Leonard flirts with fictional writing whe she hypothesizes what the char-
acters thought, meant and felt without any historical evidence to support her conclusions. Leonard’s book is a welldocumented look into the two intersecting lives of Joseph and
would be justified only for those specializing in regional history.
Wayne L. Wolf is Professor Emeritus at South Suburban
College in Illinois and the autho of numerous books and articles on the Civil War. He currently is seeking previously unpublished letters and diaries that tell the story of the common soldier.
James Riley Weaver’s Civil War: The Diary of a Union Cavalry Officer and Prisoner of War, 1863–1865. Edited by John T. Schlotterbeck, Wesley W. Wilson, Midori Kawaue and Harold A. Klingensmith. One appendix, notes, select bibliography, index, biographical chronology, 352pp., 2019. Kent State
James Weaver, son of a Pennsylvania farmer, fervent Methodist and educator, enlisted as a private in the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry in October 1862 on his twenty-first birthday This brave man was quickly promoted to sergeant major, second lieutenant and first lieutenant. Every evening from June 1, 1863 to April 1, 1865, Weaver wrote an account of his day in his leather diary, with observations on activ ities, people, and the state of h health and mind. He thus provides 666 days of diary entries that document the life of a Union officer during the conflict, in whi he was held in seven Confederate officers’ prisons, including Libb Prison in Richmond. Captured on October 11, 1863 at Brandy Station, Weaver was sent to Libby. While officers received better treatment than privates, they also suffered the psy chological and physical consequences of lengthy confinement. Publishers: Send your book(s) fo CWN Book Review Editor, Ste 3670 Falling Leaf Lane, Cumming
In his accurate and detailed jour nal, the well-educated soldier tells the story with poignant vignettes of anguish and death. Weaver records war news, exchange rumors, civilian visitors, escape plots, comments on prison guards, mock elections and social pleasures. Libby Prison, however, was but the initial and the lengthiest (October 1863-May 1864) of Weaver’s seventeen months as a POW. This time included Danville, Virginia (May 1864); Macon, Georgia (MayJuly 1864); Charleston, South Carolina (July-October 1864); and Columbia, South Carolina (October 1864-March 14, 1865; released from Camp Asylum). He offers detailed explanations of the landscape of incarceration at each location. He tells fascinating stories of new prisoners and recaptured escapees. Even brief moments looking at the free countryside through windows of railroad cars revealed a little o the outside world which helped Weaver to survive. His diary ends with his conditional release in March 1865, his repatriation and measured transition from soldier to civilian. A fascinating first-hand account of pure hell, James Riley Weaver’s Civil War tells how one man survived it. It is moving, in formative, detailed and vivid. A real plus is the book’s twenty-se en illustrations Additionally, readers will gain from reading th appendix: Weaver’s “A Phi Psi’s Christmas in Libby.” There are many books on the horrors of the Confederate prisons, but James Weaver’s diary stands out for its graphic detail of what he suffered. This intense, eloquent account based on Weaver’s prison diary is pricey, but a must-read for students of the subject.
David Marshall has been a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade school district for the past thirty-two years. He president of the Miami Civil War Roundtable Book Club.
The Iron Horse: Lincoln’s Long New York and the Lincoln Specials. By Joseph D. Collea.
Illustrations, maps, appendice chapter notes, bibliography,in dex, 295 pp., 2018. McFarland,
After completing his term in Congress, Abraham Lincoln returned to his Illinois law fir Tired of being a junior partne without much hope of career ad vancement, Lincoln asked his partner William Herndon to joi him in private practice. In th ly 1850s, Lincoln focused on r road case law. During the midd
to the end of the 1850s, Lincoln was regarded as one of Illinois’
premier railroad attorneys. In addition to case law, rail roads played a significant role throughout Lincoln’s life. He traveled by rail from Springfiel Ill. to Washington to assume the presidency. After the first batt Manassas, Lincoln accurately assessed railroads as a strategic tical and logistical tool of war that would directly affect the c duct of the Civil War. Ultimatel the railroad would transport him back home for burial. Collea’s work is unique. It d uments two special train rides that Lincoln took through the state of New York. Although this work has a very narrow focus, it achieves its goal of comparing and contrasting two presidential rail trips. The first trip, a 1,631-mile, stop journey from Springfield to Washington, enabled Lincoln to accept the presidency. It was filled with joy, anticipation an exhilaration. Collea provides background information on logistical issues and crowd responses at the various towns where the train stopped. The second trip was the funer al train taking Lincoln back to Springfield from Washington. It was full of sadness and mourning
as the great leader was being escorted to his final resting place Details about both trips were gleaned from a variety of newspaper accounts, diaries, memoirs and other primary sources. Collea’s use of illustrations and maps is very effective. He provides his readers with an inside view of what it was like to be a passenger on these trains, or the local citizens awaiting the train arrival at the various stations. Railroad enthusiasts will enjoy the detailed narratives about railroad operations, logistics an security issues. The Empire State is an interesting choice to focus on since New York made significant contributions to the Civil War in both men and materiel. Additionally, the state was a hotbed for abolitionist activitie and the location of several terminal points of the Underground Railroad. This reviewer is not aware of any other work similar to this on and Collea’s extensive research makes this work compelling.
Richard Blumberg, of Spring Tex., is entering his eighteenth year a His current research focuses on the contributions of music during the Civil War.
“Hidden Civil War Artille Projectiles – The Half Shell Book. By Jack W. Melton Jr. Full color photographs, glossary, bibliography, selected paten index, 392 pp., 2018. Historical
What immediately strikes the reader opening this fabulous book is the graphics on virtually any page. The illustrations are large, sharp, clear, detaile
ce, a look inside” and most importantly, highly informative. At the same time they are almost works of art and are the best yet in any artillery boo What is amazing is that the majority of the photographic illustrations consist of artillery pro jectiles expertly cut in half sho ing the working contents of the mean part of the artillery weapons system, a subject one might have presumed to be somewhat boring. Not so, and certainly not so after reading this book. The projectile is the real working part of artillery. To the uninformed viewer, from the outside most Civil War-era projectiles look pretty much the same—stained brownish-black balls or pointed cylinders with maybe a fuse opening, a joint line, and some other odd bits and markings. Cleanly bisected, one can see how complicated these projectiles were, thus providing real insight into not only how artillery works, but the material design and manufacturing science of mid-19th century America. It shows the amazing variety of products and ingenuity of American (and some European) inventors to increase the
efficiency of an artillery system designed to control the battlefie with firepower. The focus here is on what is inside the projectile, especially the all-important payload. This information clearly validates the book’s promotional tag line that is no puffery: “hid evidence, a look inside.” Usually, each projectile gets page with one or more illustrations and text; however, the more important projectiles receive sev eral pages with multiple illustra tions, lengthier text, and a copy of the original patent filed with the government as appropriate. The late Cleveland “Corky” Huey of South Carolina cut most of the projectiles over a twentyyear span. He used a band saw and very, very carefully cut the projectiles in half, sanded, and then coated the exposed surfaces to protect them. His machine
as shown by photographs. As author Col. John F. Biemeck (Ret.) warned repeatedly in his massive multi-volume Encyclopedia of Black Powder Projectiles, dissecting or playing with loaded projectiles is extremely dangerous and should be undertaken
with only the greatest caution. Many people are deservedly credited with advancing the study of these projectiles, but Jack Melton has brought it all together. There are a total of 850 moder and historical photographs, drawings, radiographs and original patents. The author, and his indefatigable wife Peggy, took the photographs with studio-quality
quality. The photographs, with their captions and tags, impart abundant information about the projectiles; the accompanying text adds more. The primary source material for this book is its subject: the tual shot, shell, fuses and assoc ated implements. Second, copies of the original patents are used enhance and explain the projectiles. Third, published accounts including manuals, official reports and histories of the design ers, manufacturers and end-users add further detail. Finally, some battle histories and secondary sources round out the story. All of this is reflected in the exten sive footnoting and bibliography. Full disclosure must be made
by this reviewer, who assessed the book’s extensive bibliography prior to publication. Jack W. Melton Jr., author of The Half Shell Book, publishes Civil War News and The Artilleryman magazine. The author modestly entered the artillery projecti writing business with Melton & Pawl’s Guide to Civil War Artillery Projectiles (1996) by Jack W. Melton Jr. & Lawrence E. Pawl, along with their earlier Introduction to Field Artiller Ordnance, 1861–1865 (1994). This new work clearly surpasses the earlier ones in both detail a weight of material. This large-sized and weighty (literally) work is printed on glossy paper, further insuring high-fidelity reproductio of photos and artwork. The Half Shell Book is essential to anyone interested in Civil War-era artillery or armament engineering. It raises the bar for serious illustrated military reference works.
Peter A. Frandsen, of Silver Spring, MD, writes the regular co umn “The Artillery Bookshelf” for The Artilleryman Magazine.
