Stuart’s cavalry. General Stuart was greatly impressed by von Borke, reporting: “Capt. Heros von Borcke, a Prussian cavalry officer, who lately ran the blockade, assigned me by the honorable Secretary of War, joined in the charge of the First Squadron in gallant style, and subsequently, by his energy, skill, and activity, won the praise and admiration of all”. Major von Borcke’s friendship with Stuart plays a significant role in this book. His unique standing in the General’s life allows the reader to gain an insight into one of the most fascinating figures in Civil War history. Also serving under General Stonewall Jackson and General Robert E. Lee, von Borcke’s dealings with leading Confederate figures sets his autobiography apart from the average Civil War memoir. In addition to the detailed battleground accounts, von Borcke recalls the comradery of the Confederate army and revelry that often took place in their downtime. Written in 1866, Heros von Borcke’s Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence is one of the most important and enlightening memoirs of this tumultuous time in American history. “One of the most exhilarating of war memoirs”—Confederate Shop Heros von Borcke (1836–1895) served in the Confederate army and participated in numerous battles before being wounded at the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign. Prevented by injury from continuing in active service, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and sent by the Confederate Congress on a diplomatic mission to England. When the war ended in 1865 he remained abroad and returned to his native Prussia, where he later served with distinction in the Franco-Prussian War. He wrote his memoirs in 1866 and died in 1895.

    

    Commissioned major general the day after his twenty-seventh birthday, he was the youngest West Pointer to achieve that rank in the Confederate army. He later showed great skill as a divisional leader in the 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaigns before he was fatally wounded at Cedar Creek on 19 October of that year. Based on Ramseur's extensive personal papers as well as on other sources, this absorbing biography examines the life of one of the South's most talented commanders and brings into sharper focus some of the crosscurrents of this turbulent period.

    This two-volumes-in-one collection of 1,200 rare black-and-white photographs, gathered through the joint efforts of the National Historical Society and the Civil War Times, covers the leaders and the common soldiers, the compact of comradeship, the ideologies of the governments at war, the aspirations of the people who supported them and the devastation wreaked on the nation.

    Goen suggests that when Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist churches divided along lines of North and South in the antebellum controversy over slavery they severed an important bond of national union. The forebodings of church leaders and other contemporary observers about the probability of disastrous political consequences were well-founded. The denominational schisms, as irreversible steps along the nation's tortuous course to violence, were both portent and catalyst to the imminent national tragedy. Caught in a quagmire of conflicting purposes, church leadership failed and Christian community broke down, presaging in a scenario of secession and conflict the impending crisis of the Union. As the churches chose sides over the supremely transcendent issue of slavery, so did the nation.Professor Goen, an eminent historian of American religion, does not seek in these pages for the "causes" of the Civil War. Rather, he establishes evangelical Christianity as "a major bond of national unity" in antebellum America. His careful analysis and critical interpretation demonstrate that antebellum American churches - committed to institutional growth, swayed by sectional interests, and silent about racial prejudice - could neither contain nor redirect the awesome forces of national dissension. Their failure sealed the nation's fate.

    

    In this intensively researched and carefully detailed study, chosen by Civil War Magazine as one of the best one hundred books ever written about the Civil War, Joseph T. Glatthaar examines the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns from the perspective of the common soldiers in Sherman's army, seeking, above all, to understand why they did what they did. Glatthaar graphically describes the duties and deprivations of the march, the boredom and frustration of camp life, and the utter confusion and pure chance of battle. Quoting heavily from the letters and diaries of Sherman's men, he reveals the fears, motivations, and aspirations of the Union soldiers and explores their attitudes toward their comrades, toward blacks and southern whites, and toward the war, its destruction, and the forthcoming reconstruction.

    

    Their wardrobe of 36 authentic costumes offers realistic views of how people worked and played during the Civil War era. Extensive notes on apparel, fabrics, accessories, hairstyles, and other fashion elements provide fascinating period details.

    . . . It is the Confederate classic on this particular area of study."--Ed Porter, The Lone Star E-NewsletterDuring the Civil War, Southwest Virginia's resources were essential to the South's war effort, and its railroads were a lifeline to the rest of the Confederacy. The separation of West Virginia left the area vulnerable to invading Northern armies and led to continual invasions and battles.This area was vital in supplying salt to preserve Southern food and lead for Southern guns. Although Southwest Virginia originally voted to remain part of the Union, support for the developing Confederacy soon grew. Virginia elected to secede from the nation and greatly aided the South in the war.Walker presents a detailed account of the operations in Southwest Virginia. In gripping narrative, he relates the effects of the war on the individual soldier and the nation as a whole. Each major battle over the course of four grueling years is retold, and each strategic decision is examined so that the war itself turns into a human effort, an exhausting struggle to retain the lands in Southwest Virginia for the South.ABOUT THE AUTHORGary C. Walker has been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for more than thirty years and has been recognized by the State of South Carolina Legislature for his many accomplishments in Civil War history. Walker is a member of several historic and preservation groups and often participates in Civil War reenactments. He is the author of Civil War Tales, Hunter's Fiery Raid through Virginia Valleys, Confederate Coloring and Learning Book, A General History of the Civil War: The Southern Point of View, and Son of the South, a novel set in Civil War-era Virginia, all published by Pelican.

    "Regimental Losses" includes statistics and analyses detailing the number of men killed in particular battles, the regiments that lost the most men throughout the war, and in particular battles.

    The two-day battle that followed was one of the bloodiest, most confusing engagements of the Civil War. It also marked the first time during the war that Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee met on the field of battle. This account of that epic struggle takes a soldier's-eye view of the fighting on both sides and follows the shifting tide of battle with admirable clarity. In a new chapter for this revised edition, the author provides a concise analysis which demonstrates that the Battle of the Wilderness was more than a bloody, shapeless struggle in the Virginia woods, but one of the five major turning points of the Civil War.

    Interesting perspective of the Civil War

    John Richardson Liddell (1815--1870), a conspicuous combat leader in the Army of Tennessee, was an important eyewitness to the making of history. A prominent Louisiana planter, he also served on the staffs of P.G.T. Beauregard, William J. Hardee, and Albert Sidney Johnston during the conflict and traveled in the upper circles of the Confederate military and political high command. In 1866, disillusioned and embittered by defeat, Liddell penned his memoirs for his sons. More than a description of his wartime experiences, Liddell's Record is one man's judgment on why the Confederacy failed, offering blunt, often harsh criticisms of Confederate leadership and fellow soldiers rarely found in such personal accounts.