Foner begins with Lincoln's youth in Indiana and Illinois and follows the trajectory of his career across an increasingly tense and shifting political terrain from Illinois to Washington, D.C. Although “naturally anti-slavery” for as long as he can remember, Lincoln scrupulously holds to the position that the Constitution protects the institution in the original slave states. But the political landscape is transformed in 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska Act makes the expansion of slavery a national issue.A man of considered words and deliberate actions, Lincoln navigates the dynamic politics deftly, taking measured steps, often along a path forged by abolitionists and radicals in his party. Lincoln rises to leadership in the new Republican Party by calibrating his politics to the broadest possible antislavery coalition. As president of a divided nation and commander in chief at war, displaying a similar compound of pragmatism and principle, Lincoln finally embraces what he calls the Civil War's “fundamental and astounding” result: the immediate, uncompensated abolition of slavery and recognition of blacks as American citizens.Foner's Lincoln emerges as a leader, one whose greatness lies in his capacity for moral and political growth through real engagement with allies and critics alike. This powerful work will transform our understanding of the nation's greatest president and the issue that mattered most.

    The literal story of what happened on April 14, 1865, is familiar: Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Booth, a lunatic enraged by the Union victory and the prospect of black citizenship. Yet who Booth really was—besides a killer—is less well known. The magnitude of his crime has obscured for generations a startling personal story that was integral to his motivation. My Thoughts Be Bloody, a sweeping family saga, revives an extraordinary figure whose name has been missing, until now, from the story of President Lincoln’s death. Edwin Booth, John Wilkes’s older brother by four years, was in his day the biggest star of the American stage. He won his celebrity at the precocious age of nineteen, before the Civil War began, when John Wilkes was a schoolboy. Without an account of Edwin Booth, author Nora Titone argues, the real story of Lincoln’s assassin has never been told. Using an array of private letters, diaries, and reminiscences of the Booth family, Titone has uncovered a hidden history that reveals the reasons why John Wilkes Booth became this country’s most notorious assassin. These ambitious brothers, born to theatrical parents, enacted a tale of mutual jealousy and resentment worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy. From childhood, the stage-struck brothers were rivals for the approval of their father, legendary British actor Junius Brutus Booth. After his death, Edwin and John Wilkes were locked in a fierce contest to claim his legacy of fame. This strange family history and powerful sibling rivalry were the crucibles of John Wilkes’s character, exacerbating his political passions and driving him into a life of conspiracy. To re-create the lost world of Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, this book takes readers on a panoramic tour of nineteenth-century America, from the streets of 1840s Baltimore to the gold fields of California, from the jungles of the Isthmus of Panama to the glittering mansions of Gilded Age New York. Edwin, ruthlessly competitive and gifted, did everything he could to lock his younger brother out of the theatrical game. As he came of age, John Wilkes found his plans for stardom thwarted by his older sibling’s meteoric rise. Their divergent paths—Edwin’s an upward race to riches and social prominence, and John’s a downward spiral into failure and obscurity—kept pace with the hardening of their opposite political views and their mutual dislike. The details of the conspiracy to kill Lincoln have been well documented elsewhere. My Thoughts Be Bloody tells a new story, one that explains for the first time why Lincoln’s assassin decided to conspire against the president in the first place, and sets that decision in the context of a bitterly divided family—and nation. By the end of this riveting journey, readers will see Abraham Lincoln’s death less as the result of the war between the North and South and more as the climax of a dark struggle between two brothers who never wore the uniform of soldiers, except on stage.

    Conflict threatens to dissolve the country in bitter strife if North and South cannot peacefully settle their differences. The calm serenity of life at Oaklayne Plantation near Richmond, VA is suddenly replaced with passionate friction between family members, as each person struggles through perilous situations encountered by each of them during a very difficult time in our nation’s history. Colonel Adam Layne is devastated but remains strong in his loyalty to the Union, despite being banished from the plantation by his father and deserted by his fiancée. The balance of his family stands strong with their father's Southern allegiance. "Oaklayne, a Civil War Saga" is a historically accurate portrayal of a man struggling to serve both his family and his nation in a time when those things are in conflict. The sequel to this book entitled "Oaklayne, The Reconstruction", is now available for purchase in print or e-book version!

    Produced with the Smithsonian Institution and released in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the start of the war, "The Civil War" is the definitive visual history to one of the most defining moments in our country's history.Comprehensive timelines, revealing first-person accounts by soldiers and civilians, key political and military leaders, as well as examinations of broader topics, such as transportation, the economy, and the treatment of wounded soldiers, make "The Civil War" a must-have for anyone interested in the history of the Civil War.

    2013)Open the page of Carolina Rain and step on the streets of an era gone by. Carolina Rain is not just a read, but an experience. You will smell the magnolia trees, feel the sun on your face and taste the bittersweet tears of a beautiful young girl coming of age at the dawning of the Civil War. Theodosia Elizabeth Sanders, "Lizzie" was born October 6, 1842. Her open heart is filled with hope and a desire to love, but her innocence makes her a target for the less than trustworthy. Yet, underneath the layers of lace and petticoats, you will discover Lizzie to be a strong-willed and determined young woman.books in the Carolina Rain Series. Carolina Rain, Beyond Sandy Ridge, Lizzie after the War, Letters from Lizzie.See more books by this author: www.nancybbrewer.com

    For example, two thirds of Americans--including most history teachers--think the Confederate States seceded for -states' rights.- This error persists because most have never read the key documents about the Confederacy.These documents have always been there. When South Carolina seceded, it published -Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union.- The document actually opposes states' rights. Its authors argue that Northern states were ignoring the rights of slave owners as identified by Congress and in the Constitution. Similarly, Mississippi's -Declaration of the Immediate Causes ...- says, -Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery--the greatest material interest of the world.-Later documents in this collection show how neo-Confederates obfuscated this truth, starting around 1890. The evidence also points to the centrality of race in neo-Confederate thought even today and to the continuing importance of neo-Confederate ideas in American political life. The 150th anniversary of secession and civil war provides a moment for all Americans to read these documents, properly set in context by award-winning sociologist and historian James W. Loewen and co-editor, Edward H. Sebesta, to put in perspective the mythology of the Old South.

     2d Lieutenant Dobey Walls meets and bonds with veteran Corporal Jimmy Melton. As the Civil War begins, they leave to join the 8th Texas Cavalry in Houston, then take part in the first and the final charges of the Army of Tennessee. Between those events, they ride with Nathan Bedford Forrest, play an honorable role in the Fort Pillow Massacre, harass Sherman with Shannon's Raiders, and visit the second best brothel in Atlanta. As surrender looms, they're released to search for Dobey's long-missing family in the Texas Panhandle. Their efforts are hampered by destitute farmers, lonely widows, dangerous militia, freed slaves, and runaways, who increase their numbers and excitement. In the process, they save a quadroon and her daughter from Yankee deserters who have stolen a Union payroll. This act of mercy brings them romance but puts Pinkerton detectives and a renegade lawman on their trail.

    This work is a deeply researched examination of the recorded, practical effects of Freemasonry among Civil War participants on both sides. From first-person accounts culled from regimental histories, diaries, and letters, Michael A. Halleran has constructed an overview of 19th-century American freemasonry in general and Masonry in the armies of both North and South in particular, and provided telling examples of how Masonic brotherhood worked in practice. Halleran details the response of the fraternity to the crisis of secession and war, and examines acts of assistance to enemies on the battlefield and in POW camps. The author examines carefully the major Masonic stories from the Civil War, in particular the myth that Confederate Lewis A. Armistead made the Masonic sign of distress as he lay dying at the high-water mark of Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg.

    The Complete Civil War collects every article written about the war from 1861 to 1865, plus select pieces before and after the war and is filled with the action, politics, and personal stories of this monumental event. From the first shot fired at Fort Sumter to the surrender at Appomattox, and from the Battle of Antietam to the Battle of Atlanta, as well as articles on slavery, states rights, the role of women, and profiles of noted heroes such as Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, the era comes alive through these daily first-hand accounts. More than 600 of the most crucial and interesting articles in the book? Typeset and designed for easy reading Commentary by Editors and Civil War scholars Harold Holzer and Craig Symonds More than 104,000 additional articles on the DVD-ROM? every article the Times published during the war. A detailed chronology highlights articles and events of interest that can be found on the disk. Strikingly designed and illustrated with hundreds of maps, historical photographs, and engravings, this book is a treasure for Civil War and history buffs everywhere."This is a fascinating and riveting look at the most important event in American history as seen through the eyes of an institution that was emerging as the most important newspaper in American history.   In these pages, the Civil War seems new and fresh, unfolding day after anxious day, as the fate of the republic hangs in the balance." --  Ken Burns"Serious historians and casual readers alike will find this extraordinary collection of 600 articles and editorials about the Civil War published in The New York Times before and during the war of great value and interest . . . enough to keep the most assiduous student busy for the next four years of the war's sesquicentennial observations." --  James McPherson"This fascinating work catapults readers back in time, allowing us to live through the Civil War as daily readers of The New York Times, worrying about the outcome of battles, wondering about our generals, debating what to do about slavery, hearing the words that Lincoln spoke, feeling passionate about our politics.  Symonds and Holzer have found an ingenious new way to experience the most dramatic event in our nation's history." -- Doris Kearns Goodwin "Harold Holzer and Craig Symonds have included not only every pertinent article from the pages of The Times, but enhanced and illuminated them with editorial commentary that adds context and perspective, making the articles more informative and useful here than they were in the original issues.  Nowhere else can readers of today get such an understanding of how readers of 1861-1865 learned of and understood their war." -- William C Davis The DVD runs on Windows 2000/XP or Mac OS X 10.3 or later.

    Knight's Valley Thunder is the first full-length account in more than three decades to examine the combat at New Market on May 15, 1864, the battle that opened the pivotal Shenandoah Valley Campaign, a strategically important and agriculturally abundant region that helped feed Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

    Lincoln, Stonewall Jackson, Grant, and Lee still stand as heroic ideals, as stirring to our national memory as were the legendary Achilles and Hector to the world of the ancient Greeks.  In their bestselling, action-packed and painstakingly researched Civil War series, Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen examine some of the great “what-ifs” of American history: Could Lee have defeated the Union Army at Gettysburg and led the South to triumph in the war?  For the first time ever The Gettysburg Trilogy combines all three books in the Civil War Series.  Gettysburg, the series’ first installment, opens in 1863 as General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia are poised to attack the North and claim the victory that could end the brutal conflict.  The soldiers in the line, Yank and Reb, know that this will be the great challenge, the decisive moment that will decide whether a nation will die, or be created, and both sides are ready and willing to lay down their lives for their Cause.  Grant Comes East continues the story of a Confederate victory at Gettysburg, as General Lee marches on Washington, DC, and launches an assault against one of the largest fortifications in the world.  At the same time, Lincoln appoints General Ulysses S. Grant commander of all Union forces. Grant, fresh from his triumph at Vicksburg, races east, bringing with him his hardened veterans from Mississippi to confront Lee.  Finally, Never Call Retreat concludes this tour de force story of true heroism and glory in America’s most trying hour with an epic, week-long showdown between Grant and Lee as each man struggles to bring victory to his name, his men, and his country.Also included are excerpts from the first two books in Newt Gingrich and William F. Forstchen’s Revolutionary War Series: To Try Men’s Souls and Valley Forge.

    It is based on the works of renowned historian and author, Gabor Boritt. Founder of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, for over thirty years he has given battlefield tours to luminaries ranging from Moses (aka Charlton Heston) to the President of the United States - and many others. Now this unique experience is brought to you by acclaimed actor Stephen Lang ( Colonel Quaritch in 'Avatar,' Stonewall Jackson in 'Gods & Generals,' Ike Clanton in 'Tombstone,' and George Pickett in 'Gettysburg'). It is written and produced by filmmaker Jake Boritt. For new visitors and buffs alike, Lang's stunning performance brings alive the story of the battle and Lincoln's nation-changing address unlike anything you have ever heard before.The Gettysburg Battlefield Auto Tour Features 3 CDs covering each day of the battle with 3 tour options ranging from 2 to 3 hours. The companion 72 page full color guide is packed with art, photos, text and more. The 14 full color maps are stunning, easy to understand and feature panoramic orientation guides to help visitors quickly get their bearings.

    Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia north of the Potomac River for the time as part of his Northern invasion, seeking a quick end to the war. Lee divided his army in three, sending General James Longstreet north to Hagerstown and Stonewall Jackson south to Harper's Ferry. It was at three mountain passes, referred to as South Mountain, that Lee's army met the Federal forces commanded by General George B. McClellan on September 14. In a fierce day-long battle spread out across miles of rugged, mountainous terrain, McClellan defeated Lee but the Confederates did tie up the Federals long enough to allow Jackson's conquest of Harper's Ferry.

    Marking the sesquicentennial of this epic struggle for America's soul, which began in 1861, For Us the Living features stunning paintings by acclaimed Civil War artist Mort Künstler paired with stirring text by Pulitzer Prize-nominated author James I. Robertson, Jr.No other Civil War book equals this breathtaking volume, which brings the crisis to life through eyewitness accounts and dramatic art. Robertson insightfully describes key events in each year of the conflict, weaving his words together with those of the people who lived through it-and Künstler's masterful paintings illuminate it all.For Us the Living will give readers the sense of being there at this critical moment in American history.

    Marshall traces the development of a Confederate identity in Kentucky between 1865 and 1925, belying the fact that Kentucky never left the Union. After the Civil War, the people of Kentucky appeared to forget their Union loyalties and embraced the Democratic politics, racial violence, and Jim Crow laws associated with former Confederate states. Marshall looks beyond postwar political and economic factors to the longer-term commemorations of the Civil War by which Kentuckians fixed the state's remembrance of the conflict for the following sixty years.

    Union troops now occupied the city, and throughout the rest of the war, Williamsburg residents, who had enthusiastically supported the Confederacy, were forced to endure the indignities of living under Union military government. "Civil War Williamsburg" recounts the tragic, comic, and mundane events that made up life in Williamsburg during occupation.

    The Civil War has begun, and Confederate Lieutenant John Pelham, formerly of the West Point Class of 1861, is about to confronthis former classmates in the First Battle of Bull Run.The confident Pelham bears little resemblance to the seventeen-year-old who journeyed alone five years earlier from Jacksonville, Alabama, to West Point, New York, to enter the UnitedStates Military Academy. As the class begins its final year, Pelham meets Clara Bolton, a Philadelphian belle who captures his heart. In the months that follow, Pelham and his classmates witness the unraveling of the Unionand the birth of the Confederacy, against the political backdrop of slavery and states' rights, the Democratic and Republican Parties, the fire-eaters of the South and the abolitionists of the North.

    With a foreword by Manhunt author James L. Swanson.

    Though far from the battlefields, the war was ever-present on campus, as Notre Dame witnessed fisticuffs among the student body, provided a home to the children of a famous general, responded to political harassment and tried to keep at least some of its community from the fray. At war's end, a proud Notre Dame welcomed back several bona fide war heroes and became home to a unique veterans' organization.

    But if we are ever to learn the full and honest truth about the conflict, then exposed they must be.In Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner! award-winning historian and author Colonel Lochlainn Seabrook sets the record straight in this easy-to-read, well documented handbook that confronts the North's many falsehoods about the American Civil War - important facts the anti-South Movement has been supressing for 150 years! Divided into convenient chapters, such as "Cause of the War," "Secession," "Slavery," "The Abolition Movement," "Jefferson Davis," "Abraham Lincoln," "The Emancipation Proclamation," "The Union and Blacks," "Yankee War Crimes," "Prisons," and "The Confederate Flag" (among many others), this bestselling expos� of Yankee anti-South propaganda has the power to heal hearts and change minds. For in reeducating the world about Lincoln's War it will give Northerners a better understanding of the conflict itself, while making Southerners, of all races and political persuasions, proud to be Southern.Read the politically incorrect, international blockbuster that everyone's talking about - the book that totally blows the lid off Yankee mythology - and learn the Truth for yourself, from Dixie's perspective. You will never completely understand the conflict until you do. Contains over 1,000 endnotes and a 700-book bibliography, and is endorsed by Dixie Outfitters, the Southern National Congress, League of the South, and numerous other pro-South organizations and individuals - and even by many Yankees. The Foreword is by noted African-American educator and Sons of Confederate Veterans member Nelson W. Winbush, M.Ed., the grandson of Private Louis Napoleon Nelson, just one of the hundreds of thousands of black Confederate soldiers who fought for the South.Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner! has become required reading in homes and schools all over the world and is available in paperback, hardcover, and large print. Blurbs are by Thomas Moore (Chairman, Southern National Congress), Ronny Mangrum (Adjutant, Roderick, Forrest's War Horse Camp 2072, Sons of Confederate Veterans), Timothy D. Manning (Executive Director, The Southern Partisan Reader), J. T. Thompson (Executive Director, Lotz House Museum, Franklin, TN), Scott Bowden (nine-time award-winning historian and author), and Barbara Marthal, B.A., M.Ed., (African-American educator, lecturer, and Civil War reenactor).Neo-Victorian Civil War scholar Lochlainn Seabrook, a descendant of the families of Alexander H. Stephens, John S. Mosby, Edmund W. Rucker, and William Giles Harding, is the most prolific and popular pro-South writer in the world today. Known by literary critics as the "new Shelby Foote" and by his fans as the "Voice of the Traditional South," he is a recipient of the prestigious Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal and the author of over 50 books that have introduced hundreds of thousands to the truth about the War for Southern Independence. A 7th generation Kentuckian of Appalachian heritage and the 6th great-grandson of the Earl of Oxford, Colonel Seabrook has a 40-year background in American and Southern history, and is the author of the runaway bestseller Everything You Were Taught About American Slavery is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!

    Divider. Defender of slavery. This damning portrayal of Robert E. Lee has persisted through 150 years of history books. And yet it has no basis in fact.In the spirit of bold restoration, "Lee: A Life of Virtue" reveals the true Lee--passionate patriot, caring son, devoted husband, doting father, don't-tread-on-me Virginian, Godfearing Christian.Weaving forgotten facts and revelations (Lee considered slavery a moral outrage) with striking personal details (for years he carried his weakened mother to and from her carriage), biographer John Perry crafts a compelling treatment of the virtuous warrior who endured withering opposition and sacrificed all to stand for Constitutional freedoms.

    In this beautiful book, over 180 stereo photographs come alive and readers wearing the enclosed 3-D glasses will feel as if they can step into the Lincoln presidency. Civil War photography experts Bob Zeller and John J. Richter have exploited the full potential of the Library of Congress's remarkable 3-D negative collection, while also tapping into exclusive private collections for rare images, some never previously published. With a prologue by renowned Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer, Lincoln in 3-D provides a unique window into a time long past.

    Refugees and armies alike tramped across the landscape foraging for food, shelter, and fuel. Wild plants and animals formed barriers for armies and carried disease, yet also provided medicine and raw materials necessary to implement war, greatly influencing the day-to-day life of soldiers and civilians. Of the thousands of books written about the Civil War, few mention the environment, and none address the topic as a principal theme. In Flora and Fauna of the Civil War, Kelby Ouchley blends traditional and natural history to create a unique text that explores both the impact of the Civil War on the surrounding environment and the reciprocal influence of plants and animals on the war effort. The war generated an abundance of letters, diaries, and journals in which soldiers and civilians penned descriptions of plants and animals, sometimes as a brief comment in passing and other times as part of a noteworthy event in their lives. Ouchley collects and organizes these first-person accounts of the Civil War environment, adding expert analysis and commentary in order to offer an array of fascinating insights on the natural history of the era. After discussing the physical setting of the war and exploring humans' attitudes toward nature during the Civil War period, Ouchley presents the flora and fauna by individual species or closely related group in the words of the participants themselves. From ash trees to willows, from alligators to white-tailed deer, the excerpts provide glimpses of personal encounters with the natural world during the war, revealing how soldiers and civilians thought about and interacted with wild flora and fauna in a time of epic historical events. Collectively, no better sources exist to reveal human attitudes toward the environment in the Civil War era. This one-of-a-kind reference book will spark widespread interest among Civil War scholars, writers, and enthusiasts, as well as environmental historians.

    It takes a fresh look at the war through little-known tales, seldom-seen documents, and unusual perspectives.

    The defeat at Chancellorsville has left General Hooker wounded while he strives for positive reinforcement from Washington. It is known the Army of Northern Virginia has invaded the north and the high command does nothing. In the Army of Northern Virginia, the only defeat suffered is the death of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. His last request was to take the army to the north, and north they would go. At Gettysburg, the two great armies would clash and in three days; more men would die than in the entire Vietnam War. This volume describes the movements of both armies to that fateful town and the bright early hours of July 1st, 1863. Here, in Gettysburg, the world will watch in horror.

    Approximately eleven thousand Georgians were killed and the state suffered more than one hundred thousand in total casualties. Georgia was extremely influential in this nation’s most tragic conflict, and the war touched every corner of the state. Based on a comprehensive survey of sites identified by the Georgia Civil War Commission in 2000, Crossroads of Conflict covers 350 historic sites in detail, bringing the experience of the war to life. Written by Georgia Civil War Commission staff members Barry L. Brown and Gordon R. Elwell, this full-color edition of Crossroads of Conflict is an updated and significantly expanded version of the guide released by the state of Georgia in 1994. Crossroads of Conflict is arranged geographically, separating the state into nine distinct regions. Beginning in northeast Georgia, sites are followed west to east, north to south. Detailed maps of each region are supplemented by inset maps of urban areas. For each site, the guide provides a detailed history, driving directions, online resources, and GPS coordinates. Color photographs and period images document the locations, which include battlefields (major and minor), POW camps, hospitals, houses, buildings, bridges, cemeteries, and monuments. The war experiences of all Georgians, not just soldiers, are addressed within the guide’s informative text, and a detailed chronology is included.

    Even in the midst of the war's shocking violence, the intensity of the prisoners' suffering and the brutal manner of their deaths provoked outrage, and both the Lincoln and Davis administrations manipulated the prison controversy to serve the exigencies of war. As both sides distributed propaganda designed to convince citizens of each section of the relative virtue of their own prison system--in contrast to the cruel inhumanity of the opponent--they etched hardened and divisive memories of the prison controversy into the American psyche, memories that would prove difficult to uproot. In Haunted by Atrocity, Benjamin G. Cloyd deftly analyzes how Americans have remembered the military prisons of the Civil War from the war itself to the present, making a strong case for the continued importance of the great conflict in contemporary America.Throughout Reconstruction and well into the twentieth century, Cloyd shows, competing sectional memories of the prisons prolonged the process of national reconciliation. Events such as the trial and execution of CSA Captain Henry Wirz--commander of the notorious Andersonville prison--along with political campaigns, the publication of prison memoirs, and even the construction of monuments to the prison dead all revived the painful accusations of deliberate cruelty. As northerners, white southerners, and African Americans contested the meaning of the war, these divisive memories tore at the scars of the conflict and ensured that the subject of Civil War prisons remained controversial.By the 1920s, the death of the Civil War generation removed much of the emotional connection to the war, and the devastation of the first two world wars provided new contexts in which to reassess the meaning of atrocity. As a result, Cloyd explains, a more objective opinion of Civil War prisons emerged--one that condemned both the Union and the Confederacy for their callous handling of captives while it deemed the mistreatment of prisoners an inevitable consequence of modern war. But, Cloyd argues, these seductive arguments also deflected a closer examination of the precise responsibility for the tragedy of Civil War prisons and allowed Americans to believe in a comforting but ahistorical memory of the controversy. Both the recasting of the town of Andersonville as a Civil War village in the 1970s and the 1998 opening of the National Prisoner of War Museum at Andersonville National Historic Site reveal the continued American preference for myth over history--a preference, Cloyd asserts, that inhibits a candid assessment of the evils committed during the Civil War.The first study of Civil War memory to focus exclusively on the military prison camps, Haunted by Atrocity offers a cautionary tale of how Americans, for generations, have unconsciously constructed their recollections of painful events in ways that protect cherished ideals of myth, meaning, identity, and, ultimately, a deeply rooted faith in American exceptionalism.

    Historian John Quarstein has painstakingly compiled bits of historical data gathered through years of research to present the first comprehensive picture of the lives of the officers and crew who served faithfully in an iron ship unlike any vessel previously known. "The Monitor Boys," a moniker the men gave themselves, is a reflection of how these hundred-odd souls were bound together through storms, battles, boredom and disaster. Just living aboard the ironclad took uncommon effort and fortitude. Their perseverance through the heat, stress and un-seaworthiness that defined life on the ship makes the study of those who dared it a worthy endeavor. Many recognized that they were part of history. Moreover, the Monitor Boys were agents in the change of naval warfare. Following Quarstein's compelling narrative is a detailed chronology as well as appendices including crew member biographies, casualties and statistics and dimensions of the ship. Readers can dive into the world of the Monitor and meet William Flye, George Geer and the rest of the men who risked everything by going to sea in the celebrated "cheesebox on a raft" and became the hope of a nation wracked by war.

    JAMES I. ROBERTSON LITERARY PRIZE FOR CONFEDERATE HISTORY AWARDWINNER, 2011, THE BACHELDER-CODDINGTON LITERARY AWARD, GIVEN BY THE ROBERT E. LEE CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE OF CENTRAL NEW JERSEYNo commander in the Army of Northern Virginia suffered more damage to his reputation at Gettysburg than did Brig. Gen. Alfred Holt Iverson. In little more than an hour during the early afternoon of July 1, 1863, much of his brigade (the 5th, 12th, 20th, and 23rd North Carolina regiments) was slaughtered in front of a stone wall on Oak Ridge. Amid rumors that he was a drunk, a coward, and had slandered his own troops, Iverson was stripped of his command less than a week after the battle and before the campaign had even ended. After months of internal feuding and behind-the-scenes political maneuvering, the survivors of Iverson's ill-fated brigade had no doubt about who to blame for their devastating losses. What remained unanswered was the lingering uncertainty of how such a disaster could have happened. This and many other questions are explored for the first time in Robert J. Wynstra's The Rashness of That Hour: Politics, Gettysburg, and the Downfall of Confederate Brigadier General Alfred Iverson. Wynstra's decade-long investigation draws upon a wealth of newly discovered and previously unpublished sources to provide readers with fresh perspectives and satisfying insights. The result is an engrossing chronicle of how the brigade's politics, misadventures, and colorful personalities combined to bring about one of the Civil War s most notorious blunders. As Wynstra s research makes clear, Iverson's was a brigade in fatal turmoil long before its rendezvous with destiny in Forney field on July 1. This richly detailed and thoughtfully written account is biographical, tactical, and brigade history at its finest. For the first time we have a complete picture of the flawed general and his brigade's bitter internecine feuds that made Iverson's downfall nearly inevitable and help us better understand the rashness of that hour. About the Author: Robert J. Wynstra recently retired as a senior writer for the News and Public Affairs Office in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. He holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in history and a Master's degree in journalism, all from the University of Illinois. Rob has been researching Alfred Iverson's role in the Civil War for more than ten years. He is finishing work on a study of Robert Rodes Division in the Gettysburg Campaign.REVIEWS During the early afternoon of July 1, 1863, much of Iverson's brigade is killed, wounded or captured on Oak Ridge. Iverson loses his command less than a week after the battle. This book looks at this blunder, the feuds and politics involved in this incident and the aftermath. CW Blog, 10/10/2010 Wynstra's exhaustive research has uncovered a gratifying flood of fresh evidence on Alfred Iverson. The primary material that he unearthed sheds important new light on the general's controversial career. Robert K. Krick, author of The Smoothbore Volley that Doomed the Confederacy and Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain.

    When Daniel Stuart finishes his Harvard freshman term in June 1862, he learns life at home isn't as fun as college. He squabbles with his brother Erik, rejects a future in law, and escapes to his garden. A pretty maid named Mary sympathizes, but his three school friends have 'got their skirts on fire' and dream of battlefield glory. Against his family's wishes, Daniel enlists as a private in the Civil War. Join Daniel and his friends - brash Andrew, scholar Matthew, and gentle David - as they train at Fort Ellsworth, fight at Second Bull Run, skirmish in Fredericksburg, and battle Confederates in Chancellorsville. This memoir-esque Civil War account is a gripping story of love, loss, sacrifice, and friendship. For Daniel can never return to his garden, but his friendships and his love for Mary are worth fighting for.

    Despite its geographic scope, Stonemans 1865 raid failed in its primary goal of helping to end the war. Based on exhaustive research in thirty-four repositories in twelve states and from more than 200 books and newspapers, Hartleys book tells the complete story of Stonemans 1865 raid for the first time.

    A few served together in Jewish companies while most fought alongside Christian comrades. Yet even as they stood "shoulder-to-shoulder" on the front lines, they encountered unique challenges.In Jews and the Civil War, Jonathan D. Sarna and Adam Mendelsohn assemble for the first time the foremost scholarship on Jews and the Civil War, little known even to specialists in the field. These accessible and far-ranging essays from top scholars are grouped into seven thematic sections--Jews and Slavery, Jews and Abolition, Rabbis and the March to War, Jewish Soldiers during the Civil War, The Home Front, Jews as a Class, and Aftermath--each with an introduction by the editors. Together they reappraise the impact of the war on Jews in the North and the South, offering a rich and fascinating portrait of the experience of Jewish soldiers and civilians from the home front to the battle front.

    Pivotal decisions awaited about secession, the consequences of which would unfold for a hundred years and more. But few Virginians wanted to decide at all. Instead, they talked, almost interminably. The remarkable record of the Virginia State Convention, edited in a fine modern version in 1965, runs to almost 3,000 pages, some 1.3 million words. Through the diligent efforts of William W. Freehling and Craig M. Simpson, this daunting record has now been made accessible to teachers, students, and general readers. With important contextual contributions--an introduction and commentary, chronology, headnotes, and suggestions for further reading--the essential core of the speeches, and what they signified, is now within reach.This is a collection of speeches by men for whom everything was at risk. Some saw independence and even war as glory; others predicted ruin and devastation. They all offered commentary of lasting interest to anyone concerned about the fate of democracy in crisis.

    Ulysses S. Grant, Wallace's commander at Shiloh, attributed Wallace's late arrival to the battle to a failure to obey orders. Shiloh still defines Wallace's military reputation, overshadowing the rest of his stellar military career. Wallace was devoted to the Union, but he was also pursuing glory, fame, and honor when he volunteered to serve in April 1861. Author Stephens specifically addresses Wallace's military career and its place in the larger context of Civil War military history.

    history class, you've heard of Pickett's Charge. If you've seen the movie Gettysburg, you're familiar with Little Round Top. If you've been to the battlefield, you've seen the Wheatfield. But do you know about the ten or so Confederates buried by accident in Gettysburg National Cemetery? Or about the Union general whose embezzling ways kept his bust from being displayed on his brigade's memorial? Or how that same embezzling general, when asked why he had no monument at Gettysburg, could rightly reply, "Why, hell, the whole battlefield is my monument"? Authors James and Suzanne Gindlesperger have visited Gettysburg an average of five times annually over the past twenty years. So You Think You Know Gettysburg? shows why they find it a place not only of horrible carnage and remarkable bravery but endless fascination. Who, or what, was Penelope? Whose dog is depicted on the Eleventh Pennsylvania Monument, and why? What are the Curious Rocks? Why does Gettysburg have two markers for the battle's first shot, and why are they in different locations? The plentiful maps, the nearly 200 site descriptions, and the 270-plus color photos in So You Think You Know Gettysburg? will answer questions you didn't even know you had about America's greatest battlefield.James and Suzanne Gindlesperger are the authors of So You Think You Know Gettysburg?, which was the bronze winner in the travel guide category for ForeWord Reviews' Book of the Year Award in 2010. James is a "Friend of the Field" at Gettysburg and the author of three books about the Civil War: Escape from Libby Prison, Seed Corn of the Confederacy, and Fire on the Water. Suzanne is the cofounder of Pennwriters, a professional organization of published and aspiring authors. The couple lives in Johnstown, Pennsylvania."This is not a book that fits into one slot easily. This is a book wearing many hats . . . defying a quick or easy description. Part guidebook, part trivia quiz, and part history with a series of fine color photos . . . a well-organized, very attractive, fun book . . . " -- James Durney, TOCWOC, A Civil War Blog

    Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) had been attempted, and problems attend the few studies of particular Florida units that have appeared. Based on more than two decades of research, Waters and Edmonds have produced a study that covers all units from Florida in the ANV, and does so in an objective and reliable fashion. Drawn from what was then a turbulent and thinly settled frontier region, the Florida troops serving in the Confederacy were never numerous, but they had the good or bad luck of finding themselves at crucial points in several significant battles such as Gettysburg where their conduct continues to be a source of contention. Additionally, the study of these units and their service permits an examination of important topics affecting the Civil War soldier: lack of supplies, the status of folks at home, dissension over civilian control of soldiers and units from the various Confederate states, and widespread and understandable problems of morale. Despite the appalling conditions of combat, these soldiers were capable of the highest courage in combat. This work is an important contribution to the record of Lee’s troops, ever a subject of intense interest.

    So if you want to know who he really was, you'll need to read about him from the South's perspective.In Abraham Lincoln: The Southern View, award-winning author Colonel Lochlainn Seabrook provides an in-depth look at our sixteenth president as seen through the eyes of Dixie. Revealed is a man completely unknown to most Americans, both North and South; an unscrupulous demagogue and anti-Christian liberal who broke hundreds of laws; ignored and even subverted the Constitution; used money from the Yankee slave trade to fund his war; sanctioned the murder of both Southern blacks (who would not enlist in the Union army) and harmless Southern noncombatants (including women and children); had tens of thousands of innocent Northerners arrested, imprisoned, and sometimes tortured and executed without charge or trial; rigged the 1860 and 1864 elections; confiscated and destroyed private property; censored governmental debate over secession; and more. Throughout all of this, Southern historians estimate that some 3 million Americans, of all races, died in direct consequence of his actions.While he publically declared that his goal was to "preserve the Union," he actually destroyed it. And when he later tried to alter the character of the War with his fake and illegal Emancipation Proclamation, he was formulating plans behind closed doors to deport all blacks out of America, "back to their native land," as he phrased it earlier on August 21, 1858. Lincoln's true agenda, as Colonel Seabrook shows, was to demolish the idea of states' rights in the South and install big government in the North. And, as the staunch supporter of American apartheid himself stated repeatedly, he was willing to do this with or without ending slavery.With nearly 3,000 footnotes and a 1,000-book bibliography, this, the fourth revised Civil War Sesquicentennial edition of Abraham Lincoln: The Southern View, is an important, well documented work that will appeal to all those interested in authentic U.S. and Confederate history. You will never look at Lincoln or his War the same way again. The Foreword is by Clint Johnson, author of the bestseller The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South. Available in paperback and hardcover.Civil War scholar Lochlainn Seabrook, a descendant of the families of Alexander H. Stephens and John S. Mosby, is the most prolific and popular pro-South writer in the world today. Known as the "new Shelby Foote," he is a recipient of the prestigious Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal and the author and editor of over 70 books that have introduced hundreds of thousands to the truth about the War for Southern Independence. A seventh-generation Kentuckian of Appalachian heritage and the sixth great-grandson of the Earl of Oxford, Colonel Seabrook has a forty-year background in American and Southern history, and is the author of the international blockbuster Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!His other titles include: The Great Yankee Coverup: What the North Doesn't Want You to Know About Lincoln's War; Confederacy 101: Amazing Facts You Never Knew About America's Oldest Political Tradition; Confederate Flag Facts: What Every American Should Know About Dixie's Southern Cross; Women in Gray: A Tribute to the Ladies Who Supported the Southern Confederacy; Everything You Were Taught About American Slavery is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!; A Rebel Born: A Defense of Nathan Bedford Forrest; Give This Book to a Yankee: A Southern Guide to the Civil War for Northerners; and Honest Jeff and Dishonest Abe: A Southern Children's Guide to the Civil War.

    The armies of the North were fighting their way to Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate states. Many people thought that if the northern troops captured Richmond, the war would be over. Fifteen-year-old Willie Kettles worked as a telegraph operator in the War Department building in Washington. President Abraham Lincoln stopped by the telegraph office daily to get the latest reports from the battlefields. Would good news from Richmond ever arrive? Will Willie be ready to take the message? In the back of this book, you'll find a script and instructions for putting on a reader's theater performance of this adventure. Download additional copies of the script plus sound effects, background images, and more ideas that will help make your reader's theater performance a success through Lerner eSource.

    The region became a magnet for both Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War, and nearly half of the thirteen major battles fought in the valley occurred as part of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's 1862 Valley Campaign. Civil War historian Jonathan A. Noyalas examines Jackson's Valley Campaign and how those victories brought hope to an infant Confederate nation, transformed the lives of the Shenandoah Valley's civilians and emerged as Stonewall Jackson's defining moment.

    In this postwar reflection, Mary Polk Branch recalls her life as an enslaver." -The American Yawp Reader Up until the Civil War, Mary Polk Branch (1830-1918), wife of Civil War Colonel Joseph G. Branch, had led the idyllic life of a southern belle. She grew up on her parents' plantation known as Buena Vista, which would later become The Columbia Military Academy then later Columbia Academy. Mary Jones Polk was born into one of the most prominent families in Tennessee. She was the daughter of Dr. William Polk (1791-1869) , and grand daughter of Col. William Polk (1758-34). James K. Polk, her cousin, had been elected president in 1849. She was the second wife of Colonel Joseph Branch, the son of Florida's Governor Branch, who she married in 1859. The couple lived together on a plantation in Arkansas that he had acquired in partnership with his father. Memoirs of a Southern Woman "Within the Lines" is Branch's 1912 autobiography which was published by her grandson's publishing company. Mary describes life in the antebellum South, including her childhood, her marriage, and social activities. When the Civil War broke out, Mary's male family members were deeply involved, holding leadership positions in the Confederate army. Mary describes the state of affairs in the South after the war, with repugnant praise for "kukluxers," white-hooded vigilantes who sought to protect southern privilege by harrassing targeted minorities in the South during the Reconstruction period.

    Scott miraculously completed the journey from naïve recruit to hardened veteran while seeing action in many of the Eastern Theater's most important campaigns: the Shenandoah Valley, the Peninsula, Second Manassas, and Gettysburg. His writings brim with vivid descriptions of the men's activities in camp, on the march, and in battle. Particularly revelatory are the details the letters provide about the relationship between Scott and his two African American body servants, whom he wrote about with great affection. And in addition to maps, photographs, and a roster of Scott's unit, the book also features an insightful introduction by editor Johnnie Perry Pearson, who highlights the key themes found throughout the correspondence.By illuminating in depth how one young Confederate stood up to the physical and emotional duress of war, the book stands as a poignant tribute to the ways in which all ordinary Civil War soldiers, whether fighting for the South or the North, sacrificed, suffered, and endured.Johnnie Perry Pearson is a retired state service officer formerly with the North Carolina Division of Veteran Affairs. He served as an infantry platoon sergeant during the Vietnam War and lives in Hickory, North Carolina.

    Afraid their home is no longer safe, her mama, Susan, rushes Lizzie and her younger brother, Nathan, to the cave, where she plans to live until the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, ends. Lizzie, however, has her own plans: to enlist in the Confederate Army and help drive General Ulysses S. Grant and his Yankees into the Mississippi River. Her older brothers, Joseph and Willie, are in Virginia, fighting for their cause. Can she do any less? But Willie's death in battle, Joseph's return home, wounded, bitter, and filled with guilt, and a young Yankee whose life she saves make Lizzie question whether there is a right or wrong side to the Civil War.

    . . . One ofthe best examples of new, sophisticated scholarship on the social history ofCivil War soldiers.--The Journal of Southern History"Will undoubtedly, and properly, beread as the latest word on the role of manhood in the internal dynamics of theUnion army.--Journal of the Civil War EraDuring the Civil War, the Unionarmy appeared cohesive enough to withstand four years of grueling war againstthe Confederates and to claim victory in 1865. But fractiousness bubbled belowthe surface of the North's presumably united front. Internal fissures were rifewithin the Union army: class divisions, regional antagonisms, ideologicaldifferences, and conflicting personalities all distracted the army fromquelling the Southern rebellion.In this highly originalcontribution to Civil War and gender history, Lorien Foote reveals that these internalbattles were fought against the backdrop of manhood. Clashing ideals ofmanliness produced myriad conflicts, as when educated, refined, and wealthyofficers ("gentlemen") found themselves commanding a hard-drinking group offighters ("roughs")--a dynamic that often resulted in violence and even death. Basedon extensive research into heretofore ignored primary sources, The Gentlemen and the Roughs uncoversholes in our understanding of the men who fought the Civil War and the societythat produced them.

    The story begins in 1863 and continues to 1923, told through the voices of the participants. The gripping images draw readers into the turning point of the American Civil War.

    Now, however, Stephanie McCurry tells a very different tale of the Confederate experience. When the grandiosity of Southerners' national ambitions met the harsh realities of wartime crises, unintended consequences ensued. Although Southern statesmen and generals had built the most powerful slave regime in the Western world, they had excluded the majority of their own people--white women and slaves--and thereby sowed the seeds of their demise.Wartime scarcity of food, labor, and soldiers tested the Confederate vision at every point and created domestic crises to match those found on the battlefields. Women and slaves became critical political actors as they contested government enlistment and tax and welfare policies, and struggled for their freedom. The attempt to repress a majority of its own population backfired on the Confederate States of America as the disenfranchised demanded to be counted and considered in the great struggle over slavery, emancipation, democracy, and nationhood. That Confederate struggle played out in a highly charged international arena.The political project of the Confederacy was tried by its own people and failed. The government was forced to become accountable to women and slaves, provoking an astounding transformation of the slaveholders' state. "Confederate Reckoning" is the startling story of this epic political battle in which women and slaves helped to decide the fate of the Confederacy and the outcome of the Civil War.

    Lee faced the most monumental crisis of his military career on the morning of April 2, 1865. By sunrise that morning, the Union 6th Corps had punched a huge hole in Lee’s outer line, southwest of Petersburg. He needed time for reinforcements to arrive from Richmond, but how could his depleted army buy that time? Amidst overwhelming odds, this suicide mission fell to a handful of Confederates who made a desperate last stand at Fort Gregg. Douglas Southall Freeman called this epic fight “one of the most dramatic incidents of an overwhelming day,” and yet it has been overshadowed by all the other historic events of April 1865. Fourteen Union soldiers received the Medal of Honor for their bravery at Fort Gregg. Many battle-scarred veterans from both sides described this clash as the nastiest of their four-year war experience.

    During the Civil War, the river also served as a vital artery for moving troops and supplies. In 1863 the battle to wrest control of the valley was, in effect, a battle for the state itself. In spite of its importance, however, this campaign is often overshadowed by the siege of Vicksburg. Now Mark K. Christ offers the first detailed military assessment of parallel events in Arkansas, describing their consequences for both Union and Confederate powers.Christ analyzes the campaign from military and political perspectives to show how events in 1863 affected the war on a larger scale. His lively narrative incorporates eyewitness accounts to tell how new Union strategy in the Trans-Mississippi theater enabled the capture of Little Rock, taking the state out of Confederate control for the rest of the war. He draws on rarely used primary sources to describe key engagements at the tactical level—particularly the battles at Arkansas Post, Helena, and Pine Bluff, which cumulatively marked a major turning point in the Trans-Mississippi.In addition to soldiers’ letters and diaries, Christ weaves civilian voices into the story—especially those of women who had to deal with their altered fortunes—and so fleshes out the human dimensions of the struggle. Extensively researched and compellingly told, Christ’s account demonstrates the war’s impact on Arkansas and fills a void in Civil War studies.

    From Forrest's childhood through his involvement in the Civil War and the Ku Klux Klan to his conversion to Christianity, this spiritual biography follows the general on his journey to salvation.Twelve chapters detail Forrest's days as a slave trader and recalls his escapades in the Civil War, including such battles as Sand Mountain, Okolona, and the Fort Pillow massacre, which cemented his reputation as a relentless and victorious warrior. Revealing an unfamiliar side of the feared Civil War general, the book details Forrest's meeting and marriage to a pious Presbyterian who likely influenced his later devotion to faith.He briefly served as a leader in the Ku Klux Klan but eventually called for its disbandment. Afterwards, he became an advocate for African Americans. In a famous speech made to the Independent Order of Pole-Bearers, the forerunner of the NAACP, Forrest declared that he was with them "heart and hand" and pledged his support. His radical transformation from a dedicated Confederate general to a meek man may alter common conceptions.

    Through firsthand documents, maps, and more than 150 photographs, the historical significance of each site is emphasized. Details on the level of preservation of each battlefield, including Shiloh and Chattanooga, are included.

    This volume offers the ?rst complete account of this battle, examining and recounting in depth not only the composition and actions of the contending forces, which numbered some three thousand men on each side, but meticulously detailing the effect of the engagement on the city of Columbus and its environs.   Misulia’s study ?lls in an omission in the grand account of our cataclysmic national struggle and adds a signi?cant chapter to the history of an important regional city. In addition, Misulia takes on the long-vexing question of which encounter should be recognized as the last battle of the Civil War and argues persuasively that Columbus, Georgia, quali?es for this distinction on a number of counts.

    The book explains the reasons for the puzzling intensity of Missouri’s guerrilla conflict, and for the state’s anomalous experience in Reconstruction. In the broader history of the war, the book reveals for the first time the nature of military mobilization in the antebellum United States.

    Gen. Peter Osterhaus served from the first clash in the western theater until the final surrender of the war. Osterhaus made a name for himself within the army as an energetic and resourceful commander who led his men from the front. He was one of the last surviving Union major general and military governor of Mississippi in the early days of Reconstruction.This first full-length study of the officer documents how, despite his meteoric military career, his accomplishments were underreported even in his own day and often misrepresented in the historical record. Mary Bobbitt Townsend corrects previous errors about his life and offers new insights into his contributions to major turning points in the war at Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and Atlanta, as well as other battles.Townsend draws on battle reports not found in the Official Records, on personal papers, and on other nonpublished material to examine Osterhaus’s part in the major battles in the West as well as in minor engagements. She tells how he came into his own in the Vicksburg campaign and proved himself through skill with artillery, expertise in intelligence gathering, and taking the lead in hostile territory—blazing the trail down the west side of the river for the entire Union army and then covering Grant’s back for a month during the siege. At Chattanooga, Osterhaus helped Joe Hooker strategize the rout at Lookout Mountain; at Atlanta, he led the Fifteenth Corps, the largest of the four corps making Sherman's March to the Sea. Townsend also documents his contributions in the battles of Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, Arkansas Post, Port Gibson, Ringgold Gap, and Resaca and shows that he played a crucial role in Canby’s Mobile Bay operations at the end of the war.In addition to reporting Osterhaus’s wartime experiences, Townsend describes his experiences as a leader in the 1848–1849 Rebellion in his native Germany, his frustration during his term as Mississippi’s governor, and his stint as U.S. consul to France during the Franco-Prussian War.Osterhaus stood out from other volunteer officers in his understanding of tactics and logistics, even though his careful field preparation led to criticism by historians that he was unduly cautious in battle. Yankee Warhorse sets the record straight on this important Civil War general as it opens a new window on the war in the West.

    Gen. John Imboden's Brigade in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania (Lee's left flank) during the Gettysburg campaign. Book brings to light a portion of the epic battle and rebel retreat Imboden was tasked with guiding and protecting, hardly touched by historians and authors in their books on Gettysburg.

    Whether exploring the Southern states or the Eastern theater, history-focused travelers and Civil War buffs finally have ready access to in-depth and thorough listings of all major sites, including historical background information, travel options, museums, and events.

    In doing so, it shows that the war did not actually end with Lee's surrender at Appomattox and Lincoln's assassination in Washington. As the contributors show, major issues remained, including defining freedom; rebuilding the South; integrating women and blacks into postwar society, culture, and polities; deciding the place of the military in public life; demobilizing or redeploying soldiers; organizing anew party system; and determining the scope and meanings of union.

    A terrific resource for is visitors to the national military park, it explores the clashing armies’ deployment of artillery throughout the battle—from one position to another, from one day to the next. Matt Spruill, a retired U.S. Army colonel and former licensed Gettysburg guide, carefully takes readers to every point on the battlefield where artillery was used, and combining his own commentary with excerpts from the Official Records and other primary sources, he reveals the tactical thinking of both Union and Confederate commanders.Spruill uses a sequential series of thirty-five “stops,” complete with driving instructions and recent photographs, to guide readers around the park and orient them about where the opposing units were placed and what happened there. Detailed maps depict the battlefield as it was in 1863 and are marked with artillery positions, including the number of guns in action with each battery. Meanwhile, the passages from primary sources allow the reader to see key events as the actual participants saw them. The book also brims with informationabout the various artillery pieces used by both sides, from howitzers to Parrott rifles and Napoleon field guns, and the critical role they played over the course of the battle, right up its outcome.Summer Thunder devotes a chapter to each of the three days of the historic devotes a chapter to each of the three days of the historic Summer Thunder engagement between the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia. One can follow the battle chronologically in its entirety from Stop 1 to Stop 35, or concentrate on a specific day or a specific area. In fact, the maps and orientationinformation are of such detail that the book can be used even without being on the battlefield, making it an invaluable reference work for expert and novice alike.

    And unlike our liberal sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, who purposefully delayed abolition, hindered black social and political advancement, and campaigned throughout his life to have all blacks deported out of the U.S., after the War conservative Forrest crusaded to bring new African immigrants into the South--with full civil rights.No one would know any of this by reading the typical works on Forrest, however, nearly all which are written and published by enemies of the South. In fact, according to most Northern and New South authors Forrest was a violent redneck, an unregenerate racist, a barbaric slave trader, a philandering husband, an illiterate hillbilly, the founder and grand wizard of the KKK, and "the butcher of Fort Pillow." None of this is true, but it continues to be presented in our history books as fact.In A Rebel Born: A Defense of Nathan Bedford Forrest - winner of the prestigious Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal - unreconstructed Southern historian, Tennessee author, and Forrest scholar Colonel Lochlainn Seabrook reveals the truth about one of history's most fascinating, charismatic, complex, romantic, and unique individuals. In this refreshingly positive appraisal of Forrest, widely acclaimed as Seabrook's "masterpiece," the author corrects the many falsehoods about him, and, using well researched documentation, shows that the modern negative image of the General derives solely from slanderous myths created 150 years ago by Lincoln's anti-South propaganda machine.The longest book ever written on Ol' Bedford and called "the definitive Forrest biography" by Confederate Veteran magazine, this newly revised Civil War Sesquicentennial edition includes his life story, over 2,000 footnotes, hundreds of rare photos and illustrations (many never before seen by the public), a list of Forrest's military engagements, a Forrest life calendar, Forrest and Montgomery family trees, an 800-book bibliography, a detailed index, and more. Learn the facts about Forrest, facts that have been wantonly suppressed by anti-South proponents. Available in paperback and hardcover. The Foreword is by Dr. Clyde N. Wilson, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, University of South Carolina, and author of Defending Dixie: Essays in Southern History and Culture.Civil War scholar Lochlainn Seabrook, a descendant of the families of Alexander H. Stephens and John S. Mosby, is the most prolific and popular pro-South writer in the world today. Known as the "new Shelby Foote," he is a recipient of the prestigious Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal and the author of over 50 books that have introduced hundreds of thousands to the truth about the War for Southern Independence. A seventh-generation Kentuckian of Appalachian heritage and the sixth great-grandson of the Earl of Oxford, Colonel Seabrook has a forty-year background in American and Southern history, and is the author of the international blockbuster Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner! His screenplay of "A Rebel Born" is being turned into a full length feature film.

    He was very human. His diary and letters are a unique and personal view of regimental politics, camp life, battles, and the land in which he traveled. His papers create snapshots of historical events from one man’s perspective.

    A must-read for Civil War and Virginia history enthusiasts.Just before dawn on June 9, 1863, Union soldiers materialized from a thick fog near the banks of Virginia's Rappahannock River to ambush sleeping Confederates. The ensuing struggle, which lasted throughout the day and included some 20,500 soldiers, was to become known as the Battle of Brandy Station. By the end, Union casualties were 907 (69 killed, 352 wounded, and 486 missing, primarily captured) and Confederate losses totaled 523. Meticulously captured by historian, preservationist, and author Eric J. Wittenberg, these events marked a major turning point in the Civil War: the waning era of Confederate cavalry dominance in the East gave way to a confident and powerful Union mounted arm.This fascinating volume features a GPS guided tour of the battlefield with illustrations and maps by master cartographer Steven Stanley.

    Now Joseph Wheelan examines what became the most important escape of the Civil War from a Confederate prison, one that ultimately increased the North’s and South’s willingness to use prisoners in waging “total war.”In a converted tobacco warehouse, Libby’s 1,200 Union officers survived on cornbread and bug-infested soup, and slept without blankets on the bare floor. With prisoner exchanges suspended, escape and death were the only ways out.Libby Prison Breakout recounts the largely unknown story of the escape of 109 steel-nerved officers through a 55-foot tunnel, and their flight in winter through the heart of the enemy homeland, amid an all-out Rebel manhunt. The officers’ later testimony in Washington spurred two far-reaching investigations and a new cycle of retaliation against Rebel captives.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.