40 Civil War News CIVIL WAR am thankful I was so fortunate a to have the opportunity to do so
Thompson acknowledged in his BOOK,___ 1879 introduction, realizing how the hand of fate had spared him. mv 11: For this work, Editor Mark A. Smith, a professor of history at Fort Valley State University B and the author of Engineering Security: The Corps of Engineers and Third System Defense Policy, Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely 1815–1861, has skillfully merged analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and the two seemingly disparate
whole. Passages from each work An Army of the Potomac Engi- that pertain to similar events o timeframes are presented togethe
neer’s Unique Diary & Memoir and clearly identified so as not confuse the reader. A key benefi
A Volunteer in the Regulars: upkeep as “dull business.” His is that by so doing, the reader The Civil War Journal and observations vividly described may understand how Thompson’s Memoir of Gilbert Thompson, the engineers’ efforts in building perspective evolved over the US Engineer Battalion. Edited roads, bridges, and field years. Smith has also added by Mark A. Smith. Photographs fortifications, as well as surveying his own editorial introduction, and drawings, maps, notes, the ground and then producing epilogue, annotations, a index, 501 pp., The University of maps needed by those assigned a whopping 109 pages of
Thompson’s boyhood writings. Reviewed by Paul Taylor upbringing in the utopian Gilbert Thompson al community of Hopedale, Mass., possessed some artistic skills. gave him a solid education and In addition to his splendid helped turn him into quite a wartime journal and postwar literate young man. His talent in memoir, this book is profusely portraying routine camp life in illustrated with 116 wartime both words and pictures resulted sketches by Thompson that in a journal containing numerous range from important figures artistic and literary references. to the mundane depictions of Not only did Thompson army life in a manner similar produce the expected battlefield to those in the classic Hardtack observations but he also offers and Coffee. Two modern maps acute insights into the ways and and a handful of Thompson’s habits of his fellow soldiers. maps round out the hand-drawn Thompson did not stop with illustrations. Collecting period his wartime diary, however. In photographs also happened to the years and decades following be a Thompson hobby. With a the war, Thompson turned to few clearly identified exceptions, his memory and added postwar the photographs included in recollections to his journal. Given this book were acquired by Unlike most young men who the relative paucity of Civil Thompson during or after the enlisted into their home state’s War primary sources written by war and contained in his original volunteer units following the start trained specialists, Thompson’s work. of the Civil War, twenty-two- keen engineer’s eye and This handsome hardcover book year-old Gilbert Thompson opted thoughtful insights give the reader features a printed case binding for the regular army when he a distinctive and uncommon rather than the traditional clothvolunteered in November 1861. eastern theater account that covered boards with dust jacket Thompson was soon assigned to covers the spring-summer 1862 which, so I am told, appears to the Army of the Potomac’s 100- Peninsula Campaign through be a cost-savings trend within man engineer battalion where the 1864 Petersburg siege. In the university press /Civil War he served for the next three counting up the battles, the author community. Sadly, this important
Publishers/Authors Paul Taylor is an award-winning author and editor of eight books
Send your book(s) for review to: pertaining to the Civil War era. Civil War News His newest book is “My Dear Nelly”: The Selected Civil War
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Unlike Anything That Ever Floated: The Monitor and Virginia and the Battle of
Hampton Roads, March 8-9, 1862. By Dwight Sturtevant Hughes. El Dorado Hills, California: Savas Beatie, 2021.
The March 1862 battle betwee ironclads at Hampton Roads is a familiar story to most students the Civil War. While it is cert an interesting story of seapowe and nineteenth century naval architecture and technological development, is there anything new to add to the story? Is the a need for another book on the battle? Well, the answer to the first question is probably no, the answer to the second questi is definitely yes. Unlike Anything That Ever Floated is another volume of th Emerging Civil War series. The author, Dwight David Hughes, is a Naval Academy graduate (1967) who served twenty years in the Navy before retiring as a Lieutenant Commander. He thus brings a wealth of sea experience to his retelling of the battle between Monitor and Merrimac/Virginia just as he did with his book A Confederate Biography: The Cruise of the CSS Shenandoah (Naval Institute Press, 2015). While the ground that Hughes covers has been plowed before, it still bears fruit with his approach, his presenta and his timing. Like previous
books on the subject, Hughes’s work begins with detailing and exploring the challenges the
U.S. and Confederate navies faced in building and utilizing
warships at the dawning of a ne age of naval warfare. These two
navies were not the first to us iron plating, high caliber guns
steam power, or any of the other innovations sweeping the navies of the Western world, but they
put these ideas and technologies to use in a great conflict with limited time and, in the case of the Confederacy, very limited resources. The author does an excellent job of presenting each vessel’s design, along with
its weaknesses and strengths. The J.M. Caiella illustrations
of cutaways, ship profiles, and cross-section diagrams invaluable and much appreciated; they give the reader an exquisit look into the vessels and their inner workings. In addition to presenting a history and description of the Monitor and Virginia, Hughes provides a fantastic account of the epic March 9, 1862, Monitor vs. Virginia clash and the preceding day’s Hampton Roads battle. What makes Hughes’s account so engrossing is that it is written in much the way as a novel. He skillfully weaves real dialogue and events from firsthand accounts into an exciting and entertaining story. Given th the Emerging Civil War books are purposely designed to be gateway books, his writing style is right on point. The book also contains an epilogue that describes the fate the two vessels after their hist battle, as well as three importa appendices. The first serves as a guided tour of sorts for the battle site today, the second is discussion of Civil War ironclad and the third an analysis of the USS Monitor preservation efforts at the Mariners Museum and Park in Newport News. In sum, while the book tells familiar story, Hughes manages to tell it with flair while prov the reader with a guide to discover even more of the story. Moreover, given that the militar history of the war is disappeari from traditional academic study of the conflict, books such as this are increasingly valuable as introductions to important subjects. This is an excellent work, as is his previous study o the CSS Shenandoah. Hopefully the author will continue to expl the naval history of the war.
John D. Fowler, Ph.D., is the author of several books and
articles on the Civil War Era. He is the author of Breaking
the Heartland: The Civil War in Georgia. He is currently a Professor of History at Dalton State College. November 2021
In recent years, modern Civil War historians have grappled with the issues of religion, morality, and death, and the very human responses to them. In 2006, Professor Harry Stout penned his Upon the Altar of th Nation: A Moral History of the Civil War (Penguin). It was soo followed two years later by Dre Gilpin Faust’s ground breaking This Republic of Suffering: Dea and the American Civil War (Knopf, 2008) and Mark Schantz’ Awaiting the Heavenly Country: The Civil War and America’s Culture of Death (Cornell, 2008 Joining that elite group is J Byrd’s A Holy Baptism of Fire & Blood: The Bible & The American
Rebel Salvation: Pardon and Amnesty of Confederates in Tennessee. By Kathleen Zebley Liulevicius, Map, appendix,
Brought Out Their Bibles Civil War. Byrd’s work is a follow on to his Sacred Scripture, Sacred War: The Bible and the American Revolution. It is a most worthy addition to that company as Byrd further illuminates the very human reaction to death and destruction on a level never witnessed before, particularly here in America. Byrd’s difference is his discourse on the everyday American’s reliance on the Christian Bible. As one progresses through Byrd’s wellresearched and crisply written work, one concept surfaces continually: “Understanding.” This is not to distill Byrd’s work down to one word, but that term seemed to flow seamlessly through his narrative connecting all the dots. In effect, the 19th century American strove incessantly to “understand” the war and its brutality as it was visited on the land through its varied interpretations of the bibl Setting the table is Lincoln’s Second Inaugural address, which is cited several times. Harry Stout, in his dust jacket blurb quotes it; Byrd’s publisher cites it on the jacket; and in the first paragraph of his introduction and countless times later in the book, Byrd reminds the reader that Lincoln said that “both sides read the same Bible and pray to the same God.” Byrd then proceeds to reveal before, during, and after the war, how Americans turned to the Bible for guidance, reassurance, and forgiveness. The King James Version was the “go to” catechism not just for the nation’s preachers, but its statesmen, soldiers, and civilians. North and South turned to the good book at every new The Last Shall index, chapter endnotes, and bibliography. 368 pp. Louisiana State University Press, Baton
Studying the state of Tennessee provides readers a unique insight into the Civil War. Its motto, “Agriculture and Commerce” portrays America’s economy during this time. Additionally, it three distinct geographic regions: eastern, central, and western, evolved with different economic, cultural, and political beliefs. “The Volunteer State” was the last to join the Confederacy and the first to be readmitted into th Union. Dr. Liulevicius uses this
development and read into the tea leaves their consoling, often contradictory thoughts. After a battle, it behooved the victor to thank God for his good fortune but also reminded him of the sin of pride and, as the saying goes, “pride goes before the fall.” “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18, is the act wording. Before the war, the toxic mix of religion and public policy reached fever pitch with John Brown’s raiding. It was not lost on abolitionists that Brown saw his attack as a sacred crusade to free those in bondage, while Southern plantation owners saw it as an evil conspiracy designed to rob them of their property and perhaps open the door to mass murder of whites. When secession came, the new Confederate constitution placed God front and center in direct opposition to the “godless” Union constitution. In Confederate eyes Union loyalists had replaced God with their evil constitution. Whe war came, both sides struggled with the notion of a “just war.” In the South, the question was, did Lincoln unleash an “unholy war?” Americans wondered in their quest for “understanding” whether the Old Testament (“an eye for an eye”) or the New (“tur the other cheek)” provided a path forward. Battles brought out the bibles on both sides. Beyond battles, Byrd cites numerous examples of religious reactions to nearly eve major event. After First Manassas to take the most exceptional example, Southerners saw a parallel to Exodus, twisting the irst backdrop to analyze the initial trials, missteps, and execution of Reconstruction programs in Tennessee. She received her PhD in nineteenth century United States History at the University of Tennessee. Reconstruction is considered a federally sanctioned program, implying a top-down management approach, but that was not the case, especially in Tennessee. In fact, the opposite occurred. President Andrew Johnson did not have a clear vision regarding the planning and execution of Reconstruction policies. As a result, a bottomup management approach evolved. Dr. Liulevicius states in her introduction, “This book examines the improvised and unpredictable process of pardon
tale of freedom from slavery into a victory for slavery. Further, T Memphis Daily Appeal reminded readers that in the Old Testament “Manasseh” meant “making to forget.” In the Old Testament, Joseph had been put through many trials, including slavery at the hands of the Egyptians. When he became a father, he named his first born “Manasseh” “to forget” his youthful sufferings. When slaves began “understanding” Exodus, they saw it as a sign of eventual emancipation. When Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, a whole new round of bible reading produced pro and con arguments of its wisdom, north and south, free and slave. Byrd also cites several examples of the nation’s reactions to Lincoln as a “savior or a Moses leading his people out of desolation well before his death. His assassination sent Americans scrambling to their theology and bibles for “understanding.” He was shot on Good Friday, in a theater and by an actor, no less, died on Holy Saturday, forcing countless ministers, preachers, and priests to quickly re-write their sermons that Easter Sunday. The religious symbolism of Lincoln’s death was not lost on most Americans. To many, it was a hopeful sign that there was a hereafter and surely Lincoln had been lifted to heaven to dwell with the sainted Washington. Newly freed slaves saw their Moses taken away; some northern preachers lectured revenge. Some ministers viewed John Wilkes Booth as the American Cain. Others preached forbearance: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord”
and amnesty in Tennessee.” Her exhaustive researc includes records of more than 630 Tennessee petitione representing all social and economic backgrounds. She clearly defines pardon and amnesty, which ensures the reader gains a better understanding of the process. A pardon usually was granted for an individual where amnesty was provided collectively to a group of individuals. The prose is written with an anecdotal perspective giving readers insight on a variety of issues impacting each individual’s request. Some of these included: 1) political savv 2) economic and social status, and 3) honor and trustworthiness. Additionally, each soldier comes
(Romans 12:19). Booth, as he lay dying, couldn’t “understand” why God had forsaken him. After all, hadn’t he slain the tyrant? The most quoted biblical text used by Northern preachers, newspapers, and others was Acts 17:36, “and hath made of one blood all the nations of men to dwell on all the face of the ear and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bound their habitation.” It was a cita that proclaimed brotherhood. The Southern verse most quoted was Job 1:21, “the lord giveth and the lord taketh away.” Byrd thoughtfully provides an annex listing the most popular biblica citations by both sides. Byrd’s book is a gold mine of new insights that demand close reading. Thankfully the author writes in a clear, understandabl language that draws you in. It belongs on the shelf with Shantz, Faust, and Stout. After all, it adds immeasurably to our “understanding” of America’s most tragic era.
Salvatore Cilella is the retired CEO of the Atlanta History Center. Between 2001 and 2006 he served as President and CEO of the Indiana Historical Societ He is the author of Upton’s Regulars, A History of the 121st New York Volunteers in the Civil War, University of Kansas Press, 2009; editor of The Selected Correspondence of General Emory Upton, 2017, University of Tennessee Press and Till Death Do us Part, The Letters of Emory and Emily Upton, 1868–1870, University of Oklahoma Press, 2020.
to life through the information he provided in his request. Some admitted treasonous actions whil others denied doing anything wrong. This work is an excellent reference tool describing the missteps, trials, and successes that occurred while charting a path for reconciliation and futu race relations. Dr. Liulevicius’
tag. I give this tome high marks for a superb appendix including the petitioner records used, an excellent bibliography, and a comprehensive index.
Richard J. Blumberg ha reviewed books for Civil War News for nearly twenty years. Several of his articles have bee
Deals With a Wide Range of Slavery Topics and Trade Slavery Interpreting American History, edited by Aaron Astor and Thomas C. Buchanan, Kent State
This book has a lot going aga it. First, no matter how good th concept sounds when you’re reading the publisher’s brochure anthologies often disappoint. It hard to keep a tight focus and a consistent quality; then, any historiography, the study of how historians’ treatment of a subje has changed over time, is always hard to pull off. Finally, tryin to deal in an academic fashion with an issue that is the subjec of impassioned political debate always perilous. That being said, Astor and Buchanan succeed nicely with this project. Astor contributes a solid overview chapter that summarizes the book’s themes and another on emancipation, while Buchanan co-authors (with Kelly Birch) a chapter on free African Americans. But they
392 page, full-color book Civil War Artillery Project The Half Shell Book.
For more information and how to order visit the webs
also curate a set of six chapters dealing with a wide range of topics such as slavery and the economy, politics, and resistance In the introduction, the editor note the political background tha has made this topic so timely, an dangerous, notably the growth of white supremacy, the convulsions set off by the death of George Floyd, and the 1619 project and the controversies it triggered. They then go professionally about their business and avoid getting ensnared in these present day controversies. The treatment of the economy (by Calvin Schermerhorn) provides an example of the book’s approach. Schermerhorn notes that for many years, historians viewed the institution of slavery in primarily societal terms and considered the slavelabor-based plantation economy to be backward and inefficient. Along with many slaveowners and politicians at the end of the 18th century, many historians of that era thought slavery was an anachronistic institution that would soon die out. Historians writing from an abolitionist perspective, startin in the 1830s, actually provided the most accurate economic analysis of slavery, correctly noting the economic importance of the internal slave trade and t widespread dependency of large sectors of the economy (bankers, manufacturers, shippers, and others) on the profits derived directly or indirectly from the labor of slaves. Schermerhorn writes, “After the war, pro-Confederat apologists like Edward Pollard revived the script of slavery as benign, organic social institutio viewing the prewar past through a mnemonic fog. Pollard contended that slavery was a blessing for
the South and the nation.” Both Pollard and emancipationist historians continued to assert that economically, slavery was an economic dead end. W.E.B. DuBois was the first historian to link the development of the cotto south with broader worldwide industrial developments, such as industrialization in England, but even DuBois thought the development of the single-staplecrop-dependent economy stifled development. This view prevailed well into the 20th century with the work of the enormously influential Ulrich Phillips. The Phillips school cam under assault in the 1950s with the work of Kenneth Stampp and other revisionists, who argued that plantations were market institutions and business entitie that fully participated in a glob economy. With time, the view of slavery as an institution totally linked in with the international economy, with territo expansion, and an expansionist foreign policy has been fleshed out by many historians and a more sophisticated view of the economics of slavery has begun to emerge. This book isn’t light reading, but it’s essential. Anyone approaching the curr discussions of the role of slaver in our society as a matter of inquiry rather than as a cudgel in present-day political debates must read this book to understand how the institution affected out politics and economics, and how historians’ views of this have changed over time.
Leon Reed is a former U.S. Senate aide and U.S. history teacher. He lives in Gettysburg and is the author of No Greater Calamity for the Country: NorthSouth Conflict, Secession, and the Onset of Civil War (2019).
A Southern Sympathizer Spy Rose Greenhow’s My Imprisonment: An Annotated Edition. Edited by Emily Lapisardi. Illustrated, photos, notes, index, 398 pp., 2021. Winston Lewis Publishing,
Since the Civil War, historia have studied the arms & equipment and the hardtack & coffee minutiae of soldier life, it is by highlighting the battle leaders that most people come to understand the bigger picture and overall chronology of this primarily military event. As suc the subject of women’s roles and involvement in the Civil War sometimes encounters a big “so what”? It’s widely acknowledged and easily proven that women provided logistical, mor medical, monetary, mourning, memorial, social, spirit and psychological support for the war effort. So what? In evaluating the importance or impact of women’s roles the most legitimate criteria seems to be whether the soldiers themselves
credited the women with making a positive impact on their abili
to fight. Fortunately, thousands contemporary accounts describe the importance and impact of
women’s role on soldiers and on units. Historians have found it much more challenging to find similar contemporary accounts documenting roles in which women made a significant difference in a battle, much les
an entire campaign. In an effort to write women
back into Civil War history, som modern historians celebrate the
spouses of military and civilian leaders, but are unable to show many, or any, would have made a similar impact in the absence of their having a personal relationship with the leader. Oth historians highlight individual women who served as soldiers, lauding them as prescient supporters and promoters of modern views of feminism. Still others think it remarkable that a few identifiable women in that period might have understood political situations to the point of making insightful, if caustic, comments about personalities and events. Even the most fervent of these historians struggle to find incidents where any of these women made a greater difference to battles or campaigns than to the women themselves. Finally, when historians have found evidence that a woman provided advice that was later followed by military leaders, they struggle to find evidence th the military or political leaders of the time appreciated, much less implemented, advice from a woman. There is, however, one woman who is a notable exception. Rose O’Neal Greenhow was a southern sympathizer and a self-identified spy. She admitted that she ‘used every gift God gave me’ to befriend and charm military and civilian sources in Washington, D.C. Starting in 1861, she arranged to pass valuable and actionable intelligence about plann military and political actions to southern contacts. The efficacy of her clandestine operation was acknowledged during the war, and by the civilian and military leadership of both sides Rose O’Neal Greenhow made a difference to battles, leaders, and campaigns, and did so as a completely independent woman. Some have asserted that
General P.G.T. Beauregard, President Jefferson Davis, and members of his cabinet, including Judah Benjamin and Stephen Mallory, were simply being polite
when they praised her efforts as Southern spy. The same cannot be said of civilian and military leaders on the Union side, including General McClellan,
Alan Pinkerton, William H. Seward, and Edwin M. Stanton,
all of whom considered her a most dangerous person, and testified to her effectiveness. In 1861 General McLellan November 2021
change his plans for the campaig that ultimately resulted in the Battle of Manassas. Officials in
the Lincoln cabinet, including Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and command structure, such as General George B. McClellan, feared she would continue her espionage even if exiled to the South, so they instead took the extraordinary action of imprisoning her in Washington, D.C., for nine months. When she was eventually released, Jefferson Da personally thanked her for her efforts, and endorsed her select as a semi-official emissary to undertake a diplomatic mission to Europe on behalf of the Confederate government. During her overseas mission, she met wi high-ranking officials in Englan and France. As noted in the Introduction to Rose Greenhow’s My Imprisonment: An Annotated Edition, Greenhow’s biographer, Ann Blackman, argues that her mission as a female governmental emissary foreign soil was unprecedented. In France, Emperor Napoleon III granted her a private audience. England, Edward Smith-Stanley, three times prime minister of the UK, declared her the best diplomatist he had ever seen. While in Europe, Rose published an account of her imprisonment as part of her efforts to encour England and France to support the Confederacy. Rose drowned during her 1864return trip to America and was given a funeral with full military honors. Why, you may ask, does she not top every list of the most important /most significant / most honored women of the Confederacy? In large measure it is Rose’ own fault. Hundreds of women wrote diaries, journals, and memoirs focused on their lives and accomplishments; they rightly lauded for their war-tim activities. A small number even gave presentations after the war publicizing their activities. If Rose had named names, she might have had a best seller, bu instead she wrote and published an account focused on exposing the wrongs of the Federal government. Her published work was an extension of her mission to generate support in Europe fo the south. Rose published her account in England, directing it to a
Deadlines for Advertis Submissions is the 20th
European rather than American audience. Far from being widely
book until digitized and publishe online by the University of North
Carolina. Even then, any juicy an informative bits were virtually inaccessible as Rose peppered her account with so many biblical and classical references, foreign phrases, and allusions to politic and military events that the document is extremely difficult t read, much less fully understand. Enter Emily Lapisardi. Emily has studied Rose Greenhow for twenty-four years, immersing herself in Rose’s life through reading, research, and travel. Sh has also portrayed Rose Greenhow for museums, historical societies round tables, and educational institutions throughout the U.S., including the International Spy Museum, several National Park Service sites, the Surratt Societ and book launching events for Ann Blackman’s biography, Wild Rose. Emily is currently serving as the Director of Musical Activities for the Catholic Chape at the United States Military Academy. After spending two decades studying Rose Greenhow’ life, Emily spent three years editing and annotating Rose’s account of her Imprisonment. Emily has made Rose’s account not only readable but also understandable. She uses clear and concise footnotes to explain each of hundreds of references to biblical, classical, and forei words and phrases. In addition, she identifies people Rose has mis-named, mis-identified, or failed to identify by name at all Emily’s encyclopedic knowledge of Rose’s world, neighborhood, and personality enabled her to provide backstories of people, places, and events that would be entirely lost to most modern readers. In so doing, she reinforces the story of Rose as someone who not only observe analyzed, and made caustic comments about political and military events, but also took actions supporting her beloved Confederacy. Her espionage network was so effective she was considered an ongoing threat by the highest-ranking general in the Union Army. The Confederacy considered her services so valuable she was compensated considerably more than other spies, the equivalent
she was a valued and respected Confederate asset. The military and civilian leaders of the US
government considered her so dangerous that they arrested her
on August 23, 1861, and put her under house arrest. Since she continued her espionage while under house arrest, in January 1862, they moved her to the Old Capitol Prison, a building where she spent part of her childhood. They kept her imprisoned there for an additional five months until she was released and “exil to Dixie” May 31, 1862. Perhaps they expected her to follow their order to remain in Dixie. She did not. In 1863, Ros embarked on the semi-official diplomatic mission to Europe where she tried to generate support for and public recogniti of the Confederacy and published My Imprisonment. On her return voyage, the blockaderunning Condor ran aground a few hundred yards off the North Carolina coast. Rose drowned when she tried to escape capture She is the only woman granted a funeral with full military honors during the war by the Confederacy. In the study of women’s roles in the Civil War, Rose Greenhow stands alone as an independent woman whose successful espionage efforts wer acknowledged by the civilian and military leaders of both sides a as the first independent woman sent on a diplomatic mission by an American president. We owe a debt of gratitude to Emily Lapisardi for making Rose Greenhow’s account of her wartime activities both readable and understandable. Emily’s book and Rose’s account give us, at long last, an example of independent woman who made a significant difference to the ‘battles and leaders’ of the Civ War. This book is a must-have and must-read for anyone interested in women and their roles in the Civil War.
Reviewer Juanita Leisch Jensen is a Fellow and former Governor of the Company of Military Historians, and a past president of the Society for Women and the Civil War. She is the author of Who Wore What and An Introduction to Civil War Civilians.
They All Wore a Star: In the Fight for the Four-Gun Battery During the Battle of Resaca, Georgia May 15, 1864. By Robert G. Miller. (Mauvaisterre Publishing, 2020) Second edition, 567 pp, bibliography,
For the historian, first-hand accounts of events, whether important or mundane, are of great value. Letters and diaries are more useful than after-thefact reminiscences because they represent a record of what an individual saw, felt, and though at a particular moment without any time lapse that will inevita alter perspectives and memories. In They All Wore a Star, Robe G. Miller attempts to use the first-hand accounts of Civil War soldiers to paint a picture of their experiences and thus provide readers with a better understanding of the men who fought in that great national tragedy. After condu genealogical research to uncover more about his great-greatgrandfather Joseph Peters, who fought at the battle of Resaca, author decided to tell the story of the 129th Illinois Infantry. On the positive side, the author uses myriad letters, diaries, newspapers, and even regimental histories to sketch a portrait o the regiment’s men. He also attempts to cover their story fr enlistment through the battle of Resaca. The use of such sources is critical if one is to create examination of a regiment, but i is an old-fashioned regimental examination. On the negative side, the
Service Records or any materials on the regiment available at the National Archives. The
CSR could help with a detailed discussion of sickness, wounds, desertion, etc. Also missing is t census data of the men. This data would allow an examination of myriad items such as wealth and occupation, household proximity, and kinship patterns for the regiment’s soldiers. These two resources in particular are cruci to any comprehensive regimental study. They can provide an invaluable trove of information on the men’s background as well as each soldier’s individual military experience. Finally, the author attempts t present the experiences of his ancestor and his comrades in a personal, storytelling style. Thi leads the reader down several roads that stray from the history of the regiment. Some will like this folksy style, full of litera quotes and musings, but others who are used to more traditional or academic writing might find it disjointed and disorganized, something akin to a long search through an attic full of related and unrelated items. While many readers will consider the book far too long because of this, however, the author is clear in the beginning that this is the st he has chosen. He did not intend the volume to be a narrative unit history or a modern study. Rather it is a chronologically arranged collection of material through which the reader must sift. This book was clearly a labor of love. It will certainly find a audience, but it could have had a much broader one had it been edited in a traditional fashion; if it had attempted to place the regiment in context of other unit for Illinois, the Union Army, etc if it had contained greater prewar and post-war information on the men; and if it had focused on some of the larger issues of the war.
John D. Fowler, Ph.D., is the author of several books and articles on the Civil War Era. He is currently a Professor of History at Dalton State College.
Yank and Rebel Rangers: Special Operatives in the American Civil War. By Robert W. Black. Pen & Sword Books Limited, 327 pp. Softcover.
It has long been my opinion that the Civil War was a moder war in many more ways than most even realize. Because of personal interest in the Zouav infantry drill, the subject of
Robert Black’s book is of particular interest to me. He
carefully explains the differe between Confederate and Union
partisan forces, explaining th Confederates were much more often willing to go outside th rules to achieve their ends. A of this, Confederate Major Joh Scott, one of the famed Black Horse Cavalry founders, wrote the Partisan Ranger Act in 186
The act spelled out authorizat for the army to “form bands of
partisan Rangers in companies, battalions, or regiments, eith infantry or cavalry….” Althoug this act should have positivel affected partisan groups, few
The Beginning of Special Ops gave it much consideration. Instead, they used it to cover marauding. Both the Union and Confedera used small forces of fearless, highly motivated soldiers for special operations behind enemy lines. Skilled in infiltration, men scouted deep into enemy territory, captured essential personnel, and disrupted lines of communication and logistics. Their lack of consideration for life, gender, age, or physical condition sowed confusion and fear among the civilians of bot sides. Sometimes wearing the uniform of the enemy, they face execution as spies if captured. The first half of Yank and Rebe Rangers focuses on operations in mountainous West Virginia and the lush Shenandoah Valley. The importance of these areas to the war was tremendous. In addition, the rural settlement the population therein made it easier for Rangers, also known as bushwhackers, guerillas, and partisans, to operate with much secrecy. It is generally acknowledged that these groups
were considered to be terrorist especially those led by William
Clark Quantrill, John Hanson, Jesse McNeil, Nathan Bedford
Forrest, John Singleton Mosby, Alfred Pike, and John Hunt Morgan. Morgan, Forrest, and Mosby are not covered in this book. They are, however, the subjects of the author’s Black’
Ghost, Thunderbolt, and Wizard. There are single chapters on
such well-known Confederate partisans as the Hatfields and
McCoys, John Imboden, Turner Ashby, and Harry Gilmore. Additionally, groups like the
Moccasin Rangers from West Virginia, the mountain clan of
the Thurmond brothers (who sent seven sons to the Confederate army), the Iron Scouts (rangers who were part of J. E. B. Stuart’s famous ride around the Union Army in 1862), and the independent unit of Elijah Whit which “pitched a fit” when it was mustered into regular Confederate service in late 186 are covered Finally, there are separate chapters on the famous St. Albans Raid and Confederate Ranger Robert Martin’s plan to burn New York City on November 25, 1864. The second half highlights the northern partisans. In a charming opening chapt the author discusses Abraham Lincoln’s experience as a range Apparently, his experiences in the Black Hawk War qualify him as such. As a result, Lincoln’s name is inscribed in the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame because, “Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger.” As a member of Captain Elijah Isle’s compan of Independent Rangers, Lincoln qualified. Union army units suc as the Loudon Rangers, the Jess
Scouts, the Snake-Hunters, the Swamp Dragons, and the Blazer
Scouts are covered in depth, no matter how obscure they may
seem at first. Ranger groups who worked as scouts for the Union army are given a chapter, as are rangers who worked farther west with the military control violence between Native
Americans and settlers. “Grant’s Ranger,” C. Lorain
Ruggles, is one of the more interesting men individually
featured. He was based at the Union camp at Bolivar, Tennessee, and acted as a spy.
He could easily pass for a Southerner and did—quite often.
The information he was able to readers”-let the readers make deliver to Grant gave the general up their own minds about the the advantage many times. moral implications of the actio Ruggles was quite the character. of these groups and individuals Author Robert W. Black is a Because Black is so fair, I decorated U.S. Army Ranger recommend Yanks and Rebel colonel who fought in the Rangers to anyone interested in Korean and Vietnam Wars. In partisan warfare in general and 1966 he was assigned to Military Civil War partisans specificall Advisory Command, Vietnam (MACV). Together with his Korean War experience, Colonel Meg Groeling received her Black saw combat actions in Master’s degree in Military eight campaigns. Twice awarded History, with a Civil War the Combat Infantryman Badge, emphasis, in 2016, fr he holds the Silver Star, three American Public University. Bronze Stars (two for valor), the Savas Beatie published her firs Legion of Merit, the Air Medal, book, The Aftermath of Battle: the Joint Service Commendation The Burial of the Civil War Dea Medal, two Army Commendation in the fall of 2015, and she ha Medals, the Vietnam Cross of written First Fallen: The Life Gallantry, and the Vietnam Cross Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, which of Honor. Perhaps because he Savas Beatie will also publish. truly understands the role of In addition, she is a regular irregular warfare, Black makes contributor to the blog Emergin no value judgments concerning Civil War. She and her husband any of these partisan groups. live with three cats in a 1927 Instead, each is presented California bungalow covered clearly and without prejudice- with roses on the outside and reword “prejudice; he lets the books on the inside.
of the Confederacy CSA National Defense Medals
1 Smithbridge Rd., Unit 61, Chester Heights, PA 19017 Middle TN (Franklin) Civil War Show MK Shows presents the 34th Annual Middle Tennessee Civil War Show and Sale at the Williamson County Ag Expo Park, 4215 Long Lane in Franklin. The nation’s largest Civil War show, featuring 800 tables of antique wea artifacts and memorabilia from top dealers and collectors around the cou and encompassing all eras of military history from the Revolutionary War through World War II. Appraisers are always on hand to help you identify and value your mili collectibles at no cost. Hours are 9-5 on Sat., 9-3 on Sun., parking is
This will be a sold out show so make your table reservations early.
