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Books > Humanities > History > American history > 1800 to 1900
The battle of Shiloh, fought in April 1862 in the wilderness of south central Tennessee, marked a savage turning point in the Civil War. In this masterful book, Larry Daniel re-creates the drama and the horror of the battle and discusses in authoritative detail the political and military policies that led to Shiloh, the personalities of those who formulated and executed the battle plans, the fateful misjudgments made on both sides, and the heroism of the small-unit leaders and ordinary soldiers who manned the battlefield.
Gettysburg is a snapshot of three of the most important days in US
history. Filled with informative timelines and fact sheets, details
on the commanders, weapon technology, and so much more, this
handsome volume also captures several human stories, from the
11-year-old sergeant, John L. Clem, who killed a Confederate
soldier to John Burns, the only civilian to fight in the battle and
many others. Gettysburg also provides a remarkable look at the
historic Reconciliation Reunion, Gettysburg today and the
preservation efforts, and tons of other interesting details that
American history buffs will love.
This isn't an ordinary Civil War tale. It is the all-true but
little-known story of Adam "Stovepipe" Johnson-Kentucky legend,
Texas hero, and Confederate cavalry officer-who boldly led the
first Confederate raid across the Mason-Dixon Line to capture the
thriving river-port community of Newburgh, Indiana, during the
American Civil War. Not a shot was fired.
With the politically divided landscape of Civil War Kentucky and
the steamboat economy of the Ohio River as its backdrop, this is
the historically accurate account of surprise nocturnal strikes,
opportunistic military occupations, and a swashbuckling Rebel
icon's daring daylight invasion into the Northern homeland that
sealed the fate of western Kentucky for the remainder of the
war.
Vivid, thorough, and painstakingly researched, "Thunder from a
Clear Sky" documents five critical weeks of 1862 Civil War history
and shares the untold tale of one man's immeasurable impact on a
nation at war.
"A fascinating account of how a skilled former Indian fighter
gathered a few Kentucky rebels and 'woke up' the slumbering Indiana
Home Guard."
-"Evansville Courier & Press Book Reviews"
"An important and, until now, largely neglected story about the
American Civil War... "Thunder from a Clear Sky" stands as a fresh
and important contribution in a field long studied."-Professor
Randy K. Mills, Ph.D., Oakland City University, author of "Jonathan
Jennings: Indiana's First Governor "
A compelling exploration of what real life was like for residents
of Civil War-era Atlanta In 1845, Atlanta was the last stop at the
end of a railroad line, the home of just twelve families and three
general stores. By the 1860s, it was a thriving Confederate city,
second only to Richmond in importance. A Changing Wind is the first
history to explore the experiences of Atlanta's civilians during
the young city's rapid growth, the devastation of the Civil War,
and the Reconstruction era when Atlanta emerged as a "New South"
city. A Changing Wind vividly brings to life the stories of
Atlanta's diverse citizens-white and black, free and enslaved,
well-to-do and everyday people. A rich and compelling account of
residents' changing loyalties to the Union and the Confederacy, the
book highlights the unequal economic and social impacts of the war,
General Sherman's siege, and the stunning rebirth of the city in
postwar years. The final chapter of the book focuses on Atlanta's
historical memory of the Civil War and how racial divisions have
led to separate commemorations of the war's meaning.
Abraham Lincoln's two great legacies to history--his extraordinary
power as a writer and his leadership during the Civil War--come
together in this close study of the President's use of the
telegraph. Invented less than two decades before he entered office,
the telegraph came into its own during the Civil War. In a
jewel-box of historical writing, Wheeler captures Lincoln as he
adapted his folksy rhetorical style to the telegraph, creating an
intimate bond with his generals that would ultimately help win the
war.
This set was written by distinguished men of the South, producing a
work which truly portrays the times and issues of the Confederacy.
It was edited by Gen. Clement A. Evans of Georgia. Two volumes--the
first and the last--comprise such subjects as the justification of
the Southern States in seceding from the Union and the honorable
conduct of the war by the Confederate States government; the
history of the actions and concessions of the South in the
formation of the Union. There are also individual volumes for each
state: Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia,Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky
Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas & Florida. An additional
volume covers the Confederate Navy.
Who were the greatest commanders of the American Civil War, and
what made them so? In The Great Commanders of the American Civil
War, the best military leaders of both sides are pitted against
each other and their strengths and weaknesses examined - Robert E.
Lee versus George Meade at Gettysburg, Ulysses S. Grant versus
Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh, William Tecumseh Sherman versus
John Bell Hood in the March to the Sea, along with eight other
pairs. The book also explores a decisive battle between each pair
of adversaries, highlighting the decisions made and why the battle
was won. Each featured battle includes a contextual introduction, a
description of the action, and an analysis of the aftermath. A
specially commissioned colour map illustrating the dispositions and
movement of forces brings the subject to life and helps the reader
grasp the course of each battle. Featuring full-colour
illustrations, paintings and photographs alongside the battle maps,
The Great Commanders of the American Civil War is a fascinating
comparison of the greatest Confederate and Union military leaders.
Early in May 1861, twenty-one-year-old Sam R. Watkins of Columbia, Tennessee, joined the First Tennessee Regiment, Company H, to fight for the Confederacy. Of the 120 original recruits in his company, Watkins was one of only seven to survive every one of its battles, from Shiloh to Nashville. Twenty years later, with a "house full of young 'rebels' clustering around my knees and bumping about my elbows," he wrote this remarkable account of "Co. Aytch" -- its common foot soldiers, its commanders, its Yankee enemies, its victories and defeats, and its ultimate surrender on April 26, 1865. Co. Aytch is the work of a natural storyteller who balances the horror of war with an irrepressible sense of humor and a sharp eye for the lighter side of battle. Among Civil War memoirs, it is considered a classic -- a living testament to one man's enduring humanity, courage, and wisdom in the midst of death and destruction.
In hopes of impeding a young United States, the British supplied
the Confederacy with arms and equipment. This book - along with
Volume I - will be the definitive reference on British arms and
accoutrements in Confederate service, containing full and detailed
histories of newly discovered imported arms and equipment, plus
lost historical details of the companies and individuals that
manufactured them, including: Robert Mole & Co, Eley Bros,
Francis Preston, and Arthur Warner. There are brand new sections
and photographs of knapsacks, waist belts - plus all the different
types of snake buckles - cap pouches, 50 round pouches, ball bags,
frogs, oil bottles, sabre bayonets for the P53 Enfield, bayonet
scabbards, down to snap caps and tompions. It has brand new
unpublished histories on gun makers like C.W. James, Hackett, Pryse
and Redman, R & W Aston, R.T. Pritchett, King & Phillips,
and London Armoury Co.
"The Blue, the Gray, and the Green" is one of only a handful of
books to apply an environmental history approach to the Civil War.
This book explores how nature--disease, climate, flora and fauna,
and other factors--affected the war and also how the war shaped
Americans' perceptions, understanding, and use of nature. The
contributors use a wide range of approaches that serve as a
valuable template for future environmental histories of the
conflict.
In his introduction, Brian Allen Drake describes the sparse body of
environmental history literature related to the Civil War and lays
out a blueprint for the theoretical basis of each essay. Kenneth W.
Noe emphasizes climate and its effects on agricultural output and
the battlefield; Timothy Silver explores the role of disease among
troops and animals; Megan Kate Nelson examines aridity and Union
defeat in 1861 New Mexico; Kathryn Shively Meier investigates
soldiers' responses to disease in the Peninsula Campaign; Aaron
Sachs, John C. Inscoe, and Lisa M. Brady examine philosophical and
ideological perspectives on nature before, during, and after the
war; Drew Swanson discusses the war's role in production and
landscape change in piedmont tobacco country; Mart A. Stewart muses
on the importance of environmental knowledge and experience for
soldiers, civilians, and slaves; Timothy Johnson elucidates the
ecological underpinnings of debt peonage during Reconstruction;
finally, Paul S. Sutter speculates on the future of Civil War
environmental studies. "The Blue, the Gray, and the Green" provides
a provocative environmental commentary that enriches our
understanding of the Civil War.
This book examines what the citizen soldiery of the mid-Atlantic
states wore when they marched off to save the Union in 1861. An
exhaustive search of thousands of newspapers has provided a myriad
of reports and personal accounts from soldiers' letters, which
offer a hitherto unpublished view of the stirring events during the
first few months of the Civil War. Combined with fascinating detail
from numerous diaries and regimental histories, this has helped
reconstruct the appearance of the Union volunteers of Pennsylvania,
New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of
Columbia. The book is enhanced by photographs of original items of
uniforms from private collections, plus imagery of the day, which
show with remarkable clarity the great variety of clothing and
headgear worn. Sponsored by the Company of Military Historians,
this is an essential reference for collectors, living historians,
modelers, and curators, as well as anyone with a general interest
in the Civil War.
Within months of Lincoln's 1860 election, the Confederate states
seceded and the Civil War began. In his inaugural address Lincoln
vowed not to interfere with slavery and even endorsed a
constitutional amendment to protect it. Yet two years later Lincoln
signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the
rebellious states, transforming the goals of the war, and setting
the stage for national emancipation. In this volume Michael
Vorenberg reveals the complexity of the process by which
African-Americans gained freedom and explores the struggle over its
meaning. The introduction summarizes the history and national
debate over slavery from the country's founding through the Civil
War and beyond, and more than 40 documents and images give voice to
the range of actors who participated in this vital drama -- Lincoln
and Douglass, slaves and slaveholders, black and white men and
women working for abolition, and northern and southern
editorialists. In addition, essays by contemporary historians Ira
Berlin and James McPherson argue the question of who freed the
slaves. Document headnotes, a chronology, questions for
consideration, and a selected bibliography encourage student
learning.
Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs begins with the author's formative years
and his military service, continuing through the U.S. Civil War and
the author's time as President of the United States. Various
battles such as Monterrey, and sieges such as Vera Cruz, are
recounted in this volume, with Mexico's actions and abilities as an
enemy much detailed. Grant is keen to narrate the experience from
his perspective as a junior officer, bringing perspective of both
the strategic planning and the tactical maneuvers such conflicts
entailed together with the morale of the rank and file ahead of
each skirmish. Together with U.S. Grant's own recollections we find
appendices in the form of original correspondences sent and
received regarding the Union and Confederate forces. At the time he
authored his memoirs in the mid-1880s, Grant was determined in
spite of illness to add to the burgeoning historical narrative as a
reliable source. With this autobiography, it is indisputable that
he achieves this goal.
The author's first book, The 50th Pennsylvania's Civil War Odyssey,
addressed the wartime journey of a regiment that fought in six
Southern states. In this, his second Civil War tale, you follow the
hardships faced by a regiment that fought in only two. It fought in
McClellan's Virginia Peninsula Campaign and then, in its second
major fight at Plymouth, NC in April 1864, the entire Union
garrison was captured by General Hoke's Confederate forces. This
book also focuses on a lucky lieutenant from Bedford, Pennsylvania,
who escaped from rebel captivity with two companions and, with help
from field slaves and Unionists in the mountains of North Carolina
and Tennessee, walked 250 miles in 42 days to Union lines. His
regiment, the 101st Pennsylvania, was not so fortunate. Captured in
April of 1864 in its entirety at Plymouth, NC, nearly half of its
enlisted men perished in Confederate POW camps.
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