The Ninth Corps – Burnside’s Favorite
Burnside’s Boys: The Union’s Ninth Corps and the Civil War in the East. By Darin Wipperman. Photos, maps, notes, bibliography, index. 510 pp., 2023. Stackpole Books. www.rowman.com. Hardcover. $34.95. Reviewed by Robert L. Durham
The IX Corps’ nucleus came from General Ambrose Burnside’s 1862 expedition in the Carolina Sounds. After this successful campaign, they and other regiments were formed into the IX Corps in time to join General John Pope’s Army of Virginia for the Battle of Second Bull Run. One of their most memorable battles occurred at Antietam where, as part of the Army of the Potomac, they suffered nearly 25% casualties at Rohrbach’s Bridge, now better known as Burnside’s Bridge.
They were actively engaged in the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg, where Burnside commanded the Army of the Potomac. The corps found itself again under the immediate command of Burnside in the Western Theater. The Ninth was called “a wandering corps” because they covered more ground than many. Since Wipperman’s book is concerned with the Civil War in the East, the Ninth’s Western experience is covered only briefly.
When the Ninth returned to the Army of the Potomac, they took part in the costly Overland Campaign, then the siege of Petersburg. The Battle of the Crater, a highly promising engagement that turned into a disaster, spelled the end of Burnside’s Civil War career.
Wipperman’s bibliography is extensive, and he skillfully lets the soldiers in the IX Corps tell of their experiences in battle, on the march, and in camp. The soldiers’ accounts bring an excellently recounted story to life. Burnside’s Boys belongs on every bookshelf of those with special interest in the campaigns and battles of the Army of Virginia and the Army of the Potomac.
Robert L. Durham is retired from the Defense Logistics Agency. He is a freelance writer who has had many articles published in numerous historical publications. A life-long history buff, he recently went back to college for his history degree.
From Antietam to Appomattox with Upton’s Regulars: A Civil War Memoir from the 121st New York Regiment, by Dewitt Clinton Beckwith. Edited by Salvator G. Cilella Jr. McFarland Publishers, https://mcfarlandbooks.com, 2023, paperback, $49.95.
Reviewed by Stephen Davis
In August 1862, the 121st New York Infantry Regiment was mustered into Federal service. It joined the Army of the Potomac just after Antietam, and served all the way to Appomattox.
Behind a regiment’s record, though are the vastly more interesting writings of its officers and men. One of them was Cpl. Dewitt Beckwith of Utica, New York. He enlisted in the 91st New York in November 1861 at the age of 15. Nine months later Beckwith joined the 121st and stayed with it throughout the war. Decades later, as many soldiers did, he wrote his memoirs, which were published in his hometown Herkimer newspaper, the Democrat, from July 1893 to July 1894.
Enter Salvatore Cilella of Atlanta, who discovered Beckwith’s memoir while writing Upton’s Regulars: The 12st New York Infantry in the Civil War (2005). He saw that it was worth publication, deeming it “colorful and entertaining.”
It is. In his Introduction, Cilella warns that “Beckwith’s thirtyyear-old memories are to be taken carefully.” Most of us know this about soldier reminiscences, whose value lies really in the charm of their composition and the value, including readerly interest, of their contents.
From On these criteria, Antietam to Appomattox with Upton’s Regulars shines. Soldiers’ memoirs are meant to be anecdotal, and Beckwith’s is chock-full of ‘em. Early in the war, when his regiment was stationed for a while at Key West, he describes the icky feeling when “one of those darting chameleon lizards would slip up your trousers leg” or a borer crab crawled over you at night.
Beckwith’s term with the 91st was limited, and he mustered into the 121st as corporal in August of ’62. “In these days,” he recalls, “our ranks were full, our uniforms bright, our faces clean and untanned.” But not for long. The regiment missed Antietam, but just barely; Beckham arrived on the battlefield before all of the dead were buried. “The weather being extremely hot,” he observes, “gases formed and the corpses swelled up to enormous proportions….eyes would bulge out from the sockets,” while among the bodies “many had burst.” Such was Beckwith’s first encounter with war: “everything seemed quite different to me from what it did when hearing the war speeches.”
In camp the men drank “dirty, muddy and polluted water” and soon succumbed to dysentery and diarrhea, which proved deadly. “The romance of war had departed forever,” he declares, with understatement.
Thinned by disease and desertion, the 12st did not charge at Fredericksburg, but was heavily engaged on the third day of Chancellorsville (97K/ MW of 453 men). Beckwith avoids critiques of McClellan, Burnside and Hooker, but is sort of snarky when he writes that Stonewall Jackson was killed at Chancellorsville while “cruising around to find an opening to make another of his slapdash movements.” He is able to slough off Hooker’s defeat, although of the XI Corps’ skedaddle on May 2, he quips that the Germans could claim that they “runs mit Howard and fights mit Sigel.”
The New Yorkers saw no action at Gettysburg, but were bloodied at Rappahannock Station, November 7. (“I heard a number of our men say that they were not particularly anxious to get into another such scrape.”)
I couldn’t help thinking of Kat, the cagey old veteran in All Quiet on theWestern Front, and his advice to young Baumer when I read how Col. Emory Upton, Beckwith’s brigade commander, upbraided his men for squirming under shellfire: “Stop that ducking, it’s foolish. The shot that strikes you you will never hear.” By this time, Beckwith was a vet, to the point of knowing that a blanket roll across the chest “afforded some protection, because a bullet would not have much force after passing thro’ it.” And by this time, veterans knew as much about tactics as their officers, as evidenced by Beckwith’s disgust with orders which called for “the old result over again, no doubt, of assaulting fortifications manned by veteran troops, skilled in their defense.”
The 121st was part of Upton’s famous charge at Spotsylvania, May 10, 1864. With losses of 49 killed, 106 wounded out of 346 muskets, “a splendid regiment had been nearly destroyed,” he judges. Yet on they fought, under Sheridan in the Valley. Beckwith was at Cedar Creek and witnessed his comrades’ flight from Early’s surprise attack (“They were simply insane with fear”). During the winter the unit was transferred to the Petersburg trenches, from whence the New Yorkers marched on to Appomattox. Upon word of Lee’s surrender, Beckwith saw “grave and dignified General officers behave like mad men, and cut up antics that would have made a reputation for a circus clown.”
Cilella’s endnotes add even more value to the Beckwith’s remembrances, confirming them when factually correct, but calling them out when they’re not. Subjects can be both big and small. When the corporal was cutting brush for an open-air bed, “I felt a burning sensation run up my left arm. I let go the bush to see what was the trouble and saw it was swarming with large, black pismires.” (Editor’s note: ants.)
Beckwith was with the 121st when it was mustered out on July 4, 1865. During the course of the war the regiment had enrolled 1,426 men; of them 347 died. As for the lucky survivors, Beckwith concludes by sagely commenting, “there is a mystic bond between soldiers, men who have shared battle, privation, and hardship together, not to be found in any other association.” You can almost feel that “mystic bond” in the cover photograph of Cilella’s fine new work. When they held a regimental reunion at Gettysburg in 1893, Dewitt Beckwith was there, as he is pictured with Van Dyke beard, top hat, walking stick and all. He had not only survived the war; he had prevailed.
Stephen Davis, of Cumming, GA, has been writing on the war for decades. His latest work is an edition of Georgian Eliza “Fanny” Andrews’ memoir (Mercer, 2023).
November 2023 Another Home Run from
Charlie Harris & Butch Holcombe
Civil War Relics of the Western Campaigns & Beyond: 1861-1865, by Charles S. Harris & Butch Holcombe. Greybird Publishers, 245 pages. Hardbound, $60.
Reviewed by Jack W. Melton Jr.
This book is an exemplary tome that serves as a magnum opus for enthusiasts, historians, and relic hunters with a keen interest in the Civil War. Harris, a seasoned authority in the field, masterfully presents an all-encompassing examination of artifacts left behind during the tumultuous years of the Civil War, focusing on the less commonly covered Western Campaigns. The scholarly precision and attention to detail make this book a remarkable addition to the historiography of the American Civil War. From the onset, the book delves into the provenance and historical significance of relics ranging from firearms, uniform accouterments, and personal items to ephemeralike letters and diaries. Harris and Holcombe deploy a chronological framework, tracing the path of battles and skirmishes through the Western front. The timeline not only lends context but allows the reader to follow the war’s progress and its corresponding material culture coherently. While many books about the Civil War focus on the battles or the leaders, Harris’ work shines a light on the very personal aspects of the war, captured in the relics that have survived. He eloquently bridges the temporal gap, offering readers a tactile link to the past. The quality of the accompanying photographs is striking, allowing even the most minute details to be observed. The cataloging of each relic, replete with its historical context, is executed so meticulously that one might feel as though they are
November 2023
experiencing a curated museum exhibit through the book’s pages. What sets this book apart is Harris’ inclusion of ‘Beyond’ in the title. Not content with merely showcasing artifacts, the book delves into their post-war journey, exploring how they have been discovered, preserved, and even manipulated in some cases. This provides a fascinating layer to the narrative, contributing to ongoing discussions about historical memory and the ethics surrounding relic collection. The textual content is enriched by first-hand accounts, military dispatches, and diary entries, making the narrative factual and emotionally resonant. As a reader, you aren’t merely observing a collection; you are engrossed in the lives of those who once possessed these items. One cannot underestimate the value of such a perspective in understanding the profoundly human aspect of a conflict that has defined America’s collective memory. The prose is both articulate and accessible, appealing to a broad audience. The author avoids the pitfall of academic jargon, ensuring that the book is inviting for amateur historians and experts alike.
In conclusion, Civil War Relics of the Western Campaigns & Beyond: 1861-1865 is more than just a catalog; it’s a narratively compelling, visually stunning, and rigorous exploration of the Civil War’s material culture. Co-authors Charles Harris and Butch Holcombe have crafted a masterful book that serves as both a historical record and a tribute to the lives impacted by the war. This book deserves a spot on the shelf of anyone who seeks a comprehensive and deeply engaging study of Civil War artifacts, particularly the lesser-explored aspects of its Western Campaigns.
Melton is an avid collector and the publisher of specialized periodicals such as Civil War News,The Artilleryman Magazine, the Military Antique CollectorMagazine, and the Colt Collectors Association’s The Rampant Colt Magazine. Additionally, he has authored three books on Civil War artillery projectiles, including his latest 392-page, full-color volume, Civil War Artillery Projectiles: The Half Shell Book. Melton’s work is a comprehensive resource for scholars, collectors, and history enthusiasts alike.
General Grant and the Verdict of History: Memoir, Memory, and the Civil War. By Frank P. Varney. Maps, photographs, appendices, footnotes, bibliography, index. 226 pp., 2022. Savas Beatie, LLC. www.savasbeatie.com, hardback. $32.95.
The book under review is the second volume of a twopart work by Frank Varney. It follows General Grant and the Rewriting of History, published by Savas Beatie in 2013. Volume I examines the military record of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans and discusses history’s view of this record, a generallynegative view largely shaped by the memoirs and other writings of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. This negative view is unwarranted. Varney argues with evidence from various sources, especially Grant’s dishonest accounts of Rosescrans’ actions at Iuka, Corinth, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga.
In General Grant and the Verdict of History, Varney picks up where he left off and considers Grant’s treatment of three other officers. Joseph Hooker, George H. Thomas, and Gouverneur K. Warren were all major generals who, like Rosecrans, served part of the war under Grant and who, Varney asserts, were all victims of Grant’s malice.
The portrait of Grant painted by Varney is that of a man who held grudges, hogged credit for himself, dismissed and belittled the accomplishments of others, blamed others for his own mistakes, and tailored his accounts of successful operations so as to leave the impression that all went according to his masterful plan.
Let us start with Hooker and Thomas at the Battle of Chattanooga. If you think that Hooker’s assault on Lookout Mountain was a difficult thing to pull off and one that contributed to the Federals’ success, you need to listen to Grant. In an interview, he said, “There was no such battle, and no action even worthy to be called a battle on Lookout Mountain.”
Did Grant order the assault on Missionary Ridge? Most accounts say that after taking the rifle pits, as ordered, the men in Thomas’s Army of the Cumberland charged on their own accord. Not in Grant’s version. He wrote that they were “effectually carrying out my orders of the 18th for the battle and of the 24th for this charge.”
Was Thomas slow, always slow, Grant said so again and again. Thomas’s refusal to attack at Nashville until he was ready was not due to atrocious weather and supply problems. It was just the general’s dilatory habits. Grant planned to fire him but could not very well do that after Thomas’s smashing victory in a battle that all but destroyed the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
Warren paid the heaviest price for earning Grant’s disfavor. After his corps helped win the Battle of Five Forks, Warren was stunned to find himself abruptly stripped of command. No court of inquiry was convened until 1879. The discussion of this court is, perhaps, the most interesting part of Varney’s book. Lieut. Gen. Philip Sheridan, who “was doing Grant’s bidding” when he axed Warren, testified, as did President Grant, two years or so out of office. Grant’s testimony was less interesting than Sheridan’s. The ex-president was evasive, repeatedly using phrases like “I do not recollect.” Sheridan was less evasive and attempted to defend the decision to dismiss Warren. He was not persuasive. The officers on the court determined that the action Sheridan took in
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removing Warren from command was not justified. The members of the court knew that Sheridan was in line to succeed Sherman as Commanding General of the U.S. Army. He did so in 1883.Warren never learned that he had been exonerated. He died before the court’s decision was published in 1881.
Frank Varney does not pull his punches. Regarding Grant’s various statements and actions, the author uses phrases such as “disingenuous,” “false legend,” “patently untrue,” and “pattern of deceit.” He discusses the historiography as well as the history and points out instances in which historians should have examined Grant’s writings with a more critical eye.
Varney presents arguments based on government records and accounts written by the principal actors and others who were present and wrote about what they did, heard, and observed. The notes are where they belong, at the foot of the page, for the convenience of the careful reader. Moreover, the book ought to be read with care. It is not for the novice, but for readers who already know the plot and the characters in the drama.
American Civil War 1861-65: Combat, Union Sharpshooter versus Confederate Sharpshooter. By Gary Yee. Photos, illustrations, maps, notes, select bibliography, index. 80 pp., 2019. Osprey Publishing. www.ospreypublishing.com. Paperback. $22.00.
Reviewed by Robert L. Durham
Gary Yee’s book is one in an Osprey Combat series evaluating British infantrymen versus Zulu warriors, Continental versus Redcoat, and others. Prior to this, I read one comparing Confederate versus Union cavalrymen, which I found compelling. I also found this contrasting study of Civil War sharpshooters to be of great interest.
Yee describes the origins of sharpshooter companies and battalions and their recruitment and training. His book contains copious notes on the various types of rifles and scopes used by sharpshooters on both sides. Officers in the Union army were the first to see the value of dedicated sharpshooters, such as Berdan’s 1st and 2nd US Sharpshooters, the 1st and 2nd Andrew Sharpshooters, and Birge’s Western Sharpshooters. Unlike the Union, Confederates
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did not raise sharpshooter battalions at the beginning of the war, instead relying on the flank companies as skirmishers. However, calling on the same companies to serve as skirmishers tended to tire the men. Skirmishers did not fulfill the need for men devoted to the duty of sharpshooting. It was not until May 1862 that the Confederate Congress mandated that each brigade raise a sharpshooter battalion.
Sharpshooter versus Sharpshooter uses the battles of Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, and Battery Wagner to show the values and practices both sides placed upon sharpshooters pitted against each other. Battery Wagner saw the most sophisticated use of sharpshooter battalions. The Southerners were armed with Whitworth rifles, imported from England through the blockade. Their efficiency hindered Federal siege operations and obliged them to establish their own sharpshooter companies.
The Union soldiers were armed with Springfield rifle muskets, significantly inferior to the Whitworth at longer distances. However, as the Yankee trenches grew closer to the Battery Wagner defenses, the Whitworth lost much of its advantage. The Whitworth had a slower rate of fire, so, in the end, most were sent to the rear and replaced with Enfields.
Yee’s book is well done and highly informative, with the excellence of the other books in the Combat series.
Robert L. Durham is retired from the Defense Logistics Agency and is a freelance writer with many articles published in numerous historical publications. A life-long history buff, he recently returned to college for a history degree.
A Brief Moment in the Sun: Francis Cardozo and Reconstruction in South Carolina. ByNeil Kinghan. Photos, notes, index, 272 pp., 2023. Louisiana State University Press, lsupress. org, hardbound, $45.
Reviewed by Jonathan A. Noyalas
At the time of his death in 1903, Francis Cardozo was lauded for his many contributions to African American education and efforts to ameliorate conditions for blacks during Reconstruction in South Carolina. A newspaper in the nation’s capital noted in mid- June 1903 that Cardozo possessed “unselfish devotion to duty” and a “genuine love for humanity, as well as an unyielding purpose to make the world better.” While Cardozo is not a figure foreign to historians of Reconstruction, his is certainly not a household name. Fortunately, Neil Kinghan’s elegantly crafted and deeply researched biography rescues Cardozo from obscurity and places him among his rightful place as an important figure in the postwar era.
A free black, born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1837, Cardozo lived a life uncommon for most mid-nineteenth century African Americans. In 1858 Cardozo departed the United States to study at the University of Glasgow. Over the the next six years, in addition to Glasgow, Cardozo’s educational pursuits took him to Edinburgh and London. When he returned to the United States in 1864, he became minister at the Temple Street Church in New Haven, Conn. While Cardozo could have remained in New Haven, the author argues that Cardozo was not content in the Civil War’s aftermath to remain in Connecticut when he believed he could better serve his race in the state of his birth.
The book’s core focuses on Cardozo’s time in South Carolina during Reconstruction. Initially, Cardozo’s desire to aid in educating Palmetto State African Americans prompted him to apply to the American Missionary Association for a teaching position. When he arrived in South Carolina in the summer of 1865 as principal of the Saxton School, Cardozo confronted the same challenges anyone associated with most Freedmen Schools. The author does a remarkable job detailing how Cardozo created a stable learning environment, expanded the Saxton School’s enrollment, and attempted to win support for his school among the local white population. The author rightfully concludes that the key to Cardozo’s success was his pragmatism. Although Cardozo personally desired immediate integration of public schools, he understood it might deepen animosity among whites. Instead, Cardozo believed that prejudice could be effectively rooted out if young children of various races, ages five to six, were encouraged to mingle with each other. Over time Cardozo believed this practice would end racial animosity.
Cardozo’s leadership in education quickly caught the attention of Republicans and catapulted him, in the election of 1868, to become South Carolina’s secretary of state. Cardozo’s victory marked him as the first African American elected to state office in the nation. While the author details Cardozo’s time as secretary of state and state treasurer, following his victory in the election of 1872, Kinghan clearly demonstrates Cardozo did not seek positions in government for selfish reasons, but rather to aid African Americans and to do all humanly possible to eliminate corruption from the state’s government.
Despite all that Cardozo achieved, the author illustrates “the destructive effects of racism and white supremacy” in South Carolina, particularly following Wade Hampton’s victory in the state’s 1876 gubernatorial election. Hampton’s redemption not only meant undoing gains made by South Carolina African
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Americans since 1865, but also brought vengeful actions against African American politicians, including Cardozo. Hampton’s government erroneously charged Cardozo with fraud, the very thing which Cardozo fought while in office. A court found Cardozo guilty.
Despite the verdict and imprisonment Kinghan reveals Cardozo’s resiliency. While the author illustrates, and understandably so, that this marked “one of the lowest points of his life,” Cardozo moved to Washington, D.C., with his family, and started anew after being pardoned by Governor William Simpson on April 23, 1879. After working in the United States Treasury Department until 1884, Cardozo returned to his roots as an educator and enjoyed a modicum of success throughout the remainder of his life in various positions including principal at D.C.’s M Street High School.
While Kinghan’s biography vividly chronicles Cardozo’s life, one guided by the importance of service to others, this volume offers more than a recounting of how one man attempted to ameliorate the lives of so many while assuming great personal risk in the process. Kinghan’s masterful study offers much insight into South Carolina’s Reconstruction and the unimaginable challenges African Americans confronted there after 1876.
This outstanding book, one I highly recommend, indeed gives Cardozo the recognition he deserves and is a must for any student of Reconstruction.
Jonathan A. Noyalas is director of Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute in Winchester, Virginia, a professor in Civil War Era Studies at Shenandoah University, and founding editor of Journal of the Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era. He is the author or editor of fifteen books including most recently Slavery and Freedom in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War Era, published by the University Press of Florida.
Nashville 1864: From Tennessee to the Cumberland. ByMark Lardas (author) and Adam Hook (illustrator). New York: Osprey Publishing, https://ospreypublishing.com, reprint of 2017 edition. 96 pp. $24.00.
The fall of Atlanta in September of 1864, along with the Union capture of Mobile Bay the previous August and the burning of the Shenandoah Valley (August-October), convinced a war-weary Northern populous that the United States could and would defeat the Confederacy and subsequently propelled Abraham Lincoln to a second term as president. Lincoln’s victory, for all intents and purposes, ended the Confederacy’s only real remaining hope for a negotiated peace and independence. Still, while Robert E. Lee’s veterans held on to Richmond and Petersburg, Confederate General John Bell Hood sought to regain the initiative in the Western Theater and recapture Middle Tennessee.
Hood’s campaign to retake Middle Tennessee, especially the key city of Nashville, is the subject of Mark Lardas’s and Adam Hook’s volume for the Campaign Series of Osprey books. Anyone familiar with Osprey Publishing knows that they are a premier publisher of short yet well-written and profusely illustrated works on a variety of military subjects. This volume is no exception.
The author and illustrator are skilled veterans, and their expertise shows in this excellent work. Lardas, a naval engineer by training, has written extensively about aircraft and warships and authored over 50 books on military, naval, and maritime history. He has been deeply involved in the U.S. space program, having worked as a navigation engineer on the shuttle program. He is currently working
on the Lunar Gateway program at the Johnson Space Center.
Adam Hook studied graphic design and has been an illustrator since the 1980s. He specializes in detailed historical reconstructions and has illustrated numerous Osprey titles. His work is featured in exhibitions and publications throughout the world.
This work is actually a reprint of their 2017 volume; only the cover art appears to have changed. The text and the internal diagrams, maps, and artwork remain the same. Like most Osprey books, the writing style is clear and concise, and the illustrations, maps, and charts are abundant. Also, like most Osprey books, especially in their campaign series, the campaign is placed in a historical context, which means that readers are exposed to a wealth of information on the military/political situation in the conflict prior to the start and after the end of the subject campaign.
Nashville 1864 begins with a look at the campaign’s origins and then provides a detailed chronology of events. The opposing commanders, forces, and plans are examined in detail. The bulk of the book is, of course, Hood’s campaign for Nashville. This section covers Hood’s initial movements in Georgia and Alabama, Nathan Bedford Forrest’s movements and subsequent joining of Hood’s advance into the Volunteer State, and the battles of Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville.
The aftermath of the campaign for Nashville is covered, as is a short overview of the various battlefields. Finally, a very nice “further readings” section is provided. This Osprey book, like others in the collection, serves a myriad of functions. Battlefield visitors and casual readers will appreciate the text, maps, and general overview. More serious historians will appreciate how this volume fits with other Osprey American Civil War volumes to form a mosaic of the war. Wargamers and military history buffs will enjoy the battle maps and the artwork, especially the color illustrations.
In truth, there is much here for anyone interested in the Nashville Campaign.
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.
Black Sailors in the Civil War: A History of Fugitives, Freemen, and Freedmen Aboard Union Vessels. By James H. Bruns. Illustrated, notes, bibliography, index, McFarland & Co., Publishers, https://mcfarlandbooks.com, 2023, 238 pp., softcover. $39.95. Reviewed by Wayne Wolf
James H. Bruns does an excellent job of tracing the contributions of black naval recruits from the manning of the blockade of Southern ports to the Mississippi River patrols. By the spring of 1863, black sailors had become essential for naval operations. In the navy, the black recruits were accepted as equals, with integrated crews being the rule rather than the exception. By early 1865, the Union Navy’s composition approached 35% African American. White officers frequently lauded their black crew as being obedient to orders, accepting shipboard discipline, being self-reliant, having exceptional endurance, and fighting like the devil. In total, 18,000 black sailors fought for the Union, most enlisting from the mid-Atlantic states, and most eager to fight for their freedom.
The Union Navy constantly needed new recruits as the blockade expanded and Mississippi River operations began. These new recruits were gleaned from free blacks, contrabands, army transfers, and young boys hoping to escape strict homes and seek their glory and riches. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, an ardent abolitionist, welcomed their service and appreciated their onboard work and the crucial information they supplied as to Confederate troop placements, ambushes, and water obstructions so useful to protect Union shipping. Blacks would thus participate in all major naval actions, including blockading harbors at Charleston, Savannah, and Wilmington. They also fought in the Peninsular Campaign at Vicksburg, Island No. 10, Port Hudson, and Forts Henry and Donelson. Individual black crew members achieved prominent positions such as pilot, and even one, Robert Smalls, became the first African American to command a U.S. naval vessel. In fact, some naval vessels were almost entirely manned by black sailors, e.g., the USS General Grant, the USS Red Rover, the USS Cricket, and the USS Osage. Admiral Porter once boasted that the over 600 contrabands in his naval units on the Mississippi provided the crucial edge for victory. This ultimate Union victory allowed these black sailors to take advantage of the March 1865 Congressional Act, which granted freedom to their wives and children and along with their government pensions, begin a new life in freedom.
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The Truth about the Battle of South Mountain
All other authors who have written about Confederate BG John Bell Hood misplaced his location by approximately one half-mile.
“This is a must-read for anyone interested in one of the Civil War’s pivotal campaigns.” – Scott L. Mingus Sr., coauthor of Unceasing Fury
This book is exceptionally well-written, using voluminous personal accounts, primary service records, and sailor narratives to tell of their service to the Union. It covers major naval operations comprehensively and how black sailors became an indispensable Union ingredient for success on the water. It is highly recommended for any historian interested in naval operations during the Civil War, the crucial role of black sailors, and the political, social, and economic impact of naval warfare on the defeat of the South.
Dr. Wayne L. Wolf is Professor Emeritus at South Suburban College and Past President of the Lincoln-Davis Civil War Roundtable. He has authored 23 books dealing with the war and numerous articles, including The Last Confederate Scout and Two Years Before the Paddlewheel. He is a frequent speaker on the lecture circuit.
The Artilleryman is a quarterly magazine for collectors, competition shooters and those interested in ordnance from the Revolutionary War to World War II, primarily focusing on cannon, implements, projectiles and related artifacts from the American Civil War.
This full color magazine features articles on cannon safety, artillery history, projectiles, fuses, places to visit, book reviews, competition events, and so much more. The annual quarterly subscription price is just $37.95.
