This magisterial study, ten years in the making by one of the field's most distinguished historians, will be the first to explore the impact fugitive slaves had on the politics of the critical decade leading up to the Civil War. Through the close reading of diverse sources ranging from government documents to personal accounts, Richard J. M. Blackett traces the decisions of slaves to escape, the actions of those who assisted them, the many ways black communities responded to the capture of fugitive slaves, and how local laws either buttressed or undermined enforcement of the federal law. Every effort to enforce the law in northern communities produced levels of subversion that generated national debate so much so that, on the eve of secession, many in the South, looking back on the decade, could argue that the law had been effectively subverted by those individuals and states who assisted fleeing slaves.

"We went into the fight with 386, all told--358 guns. Every pioneer and musician who would carry a musket went into the ranks. Even the sick and footsore, who could not keep up in the march, came up as soon as they could find their regiments, and took their places in line of battle, while it was battle, indeed." --Col. Joshua Chamberlain

The fascinating story of Joshua Chamberlain and his volunteer regiment, the Twentieth Maine, is reprinted with a new foreword by Civil War historian and UCLA professor Joan Waugh. Pullen's classic and highly acclaimed book tells how Chamberlain and his men fought at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville on their way to the pivotal battle of Gettysburg. There, on July 2, 1863, at Little Round Top, they heroically saved the left flank of the Union battle line. The Twentieth Maine's remarkable story ends with the surrender of Lee's troops at Appomattox.

Considered by Civil War historians to be one of the best regimental histories ever written, this beloved standard of American history is now available in a new Stackpole edition. Includes maps, photographs, and drawings from the original edition.

By late January of 1863, the 9th Massachusetts Battery of Light Artillery has been stationed within the Washington, D.C. defenses the entirety of its five-month existence. The soldiers are badly demoralized, inadequately trained and poorly disciplined. When the inept captain of the battery believes that he's about to be fired, he hastily resigns, and the governor of Massachusetts promptly selects a twenty-three-year-old artillery officer with battlefield experience to take command. Captain John Bigelow institutes strict discipline and rigorous training which causes the men, including Chief Bugler Charles Wellington Reed, to consider him to be a heartless tyrant. However, Captain Bigelow's methods rapidly improve their capabilities and Reed reluctantly gains respect for the new captain. Nevertheless, subtle conflict between captain and bugler remains in a manner only constrained by military protocol. In late June of 1863 the battery is collected by the Army of the Potomac as it passes the Washington defenses to thwart an invasion by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. After days of hard marching, Bigelow's Battery arrives on the Gettysburg battlefield in the forenoon of July 2, 1863. Within hours they are immersed in violent combat during which the officers and men of the battery fight like veterans against the Confederates. Unbeknownst to Charlie, he will twice disobey a direct order from Captain Bigelow before the day is out. When furious fighting reaches a crescendo, the inexperienced light artillery battery is ordered to hold its position at all hazards, meaning until it's overrun. Without hesitation the batterymen stand to their guns and sacrifice their life's blood to gain the time necessary for a second line of artillery to be formed behind them, thus helping to prevent a disastrous defeat for the Federal Army on Northern soil. Charlie saves his captain's life and is later awarded the Medal of Honor.

" Kent Brown's stunning account of the career of Lt. Alonzo Hereford Cushing offers valuable insights into the nature of the Civil War and the men who fought it. Brown's vivid descriptions of the heat and exhaustion of forced marches, of the fury of battle, have seldom been matched in Civil War literature.

The 6th Michigan Volunteer Infantry first deployed to Baltimore, where the soldiers' exemplary demeanor charmed a mainly secessionist population. Their subsequent service along the Mississippi River was a perfect storm epidemic disease, logistical failures, guerrilla warfare, profiteering, martinet West Pointers and scheming field officers, along with the doldrums of camp life punctuated by bloody battles. The Michiganders responded with alcoholism, insubordination and depredations. Yet they saved the Union right at Baton Rouge and executed suicidal charges at Port Hudson. This first modern history of the controversial regiment concludes with a statistical analysis, a roster and a brief summary of its service following conversion to heavy artillery.

The Civil War is a much plumbed area of scholarship, so much so that at times it seems there is no further work to be done in the field. However, the experience of children and youth during that tumultuous time remains a relatively unexplored facet of the conflict. Children and Youth during the Civil War Era seeks a deeper investigation into the historical record by and giving voice and context to their struggles and victories during this critical period in American history. Prominent historians and rising scholars explore issues important to both the Civil War era and to the history of children and youth, including the experience of orphans, drummer boys, and young soldiers on the front lines, and even the impact of the war on the games children played in this collection. Each essay places the history of children and youth in the context of the sectional conflict, while in turn shedding new light on the sectional conflict by viewing it through the lens of children and youth. A much needed, multi-faceted historical account, Children and Youth during the Civil War Era touches on some of the most important historiographical issues with which historians of children and youth and of the Civil War home front have grappled over the last few years.

Among the top physicians of the Confederacy, Christopher H. Tebault distinguished himself as a surgeon during the Civil War. Recognized for his medical contributions after the war, he was nominated Surgeon General of the United Confederate Veterans, a position he used to compile the history of Confederate medicine, advocate for veterans and contribute to Southern literature. A staunch "Lost Cause" proponent, he also fought Reconstruction policies and the enfranchisement of former slaves. Drawing on his own writings, this first biography of Tebault describes his notable medical education in New Orleans and the ingenuity he used to treat wounds and illness, as well as his struggles against Reconstruction policies, situating his story in the problematic context of Confederate history that persists today.

" The Civil War scene in Kentucky, site of few full-scale battles, was one of crossroad skirmishes and guerrilla terror, of quick incursions against specific targets and equally quick withdrawals. Yet Kentucky was crucial to the military strategy of the war. For either side, a Kentucky held secure against the adversary would have meant easing of supply problems and an immeasurably stronger base of operations. The state, along with many of its institutions and many of its families, was hopelessly divided against itself. The fiercest partisans of the South tended to be doubtful about the wisdom of secession, and the staunchest Union men questioned the legality of many government measures. What this division meant militarily is made clear as Lowell H. Harrison traces the movement of troops and the outbreaks of violence. What it meant to the social and economic fabric of Kentucky and to its postwar political stance is another theme of this book. And not forgotten is the life of the ordinary citizen in the midst of such dissension and uncertainty.

Some of the most dramatic and consequential events of the Civil War era took place in the South Carolina Lowcountry between Charleston and Savannah. From fire-eater Robert Barnwell Rhett's inflammatory 1844 speech in Bluffton calling for secession, to the last desperate attempts by Confederate forces to halt Sherman's juggernaut, the region was torn apart by war. This history tells the story through the experiences of two radically different military units-the Confederate Beaufort Volunteer Artillery and the U.S. 1st South Carolina Regiment, the first black Union regiment to fight in the war-both organized in Beaufort, the heart of the Lowcountry.

Vicksburg is the key. . . . Let us get Vicksburg, and all that country is ours.--President Abraham Lincoln, 1862
In a brilliantly constructed and powerfully rendered new account, James R. Arnold offers a penetrating analysis of Grant's strategies and actions leading to the Union victory at Vicksburg. Approaching these epic events from a unique and well-rounded perspective, and based on careful research, Grant Wins the War is fascinating reading for all Civil War and military history buffs.
Acclaim for Grant Wins the War
Nicely details the coordination of Union military and naval operations and the boldness and genius of General U. S. Grant that brought Union victory, and he offers an excellent discussion of the technology and tactics of siege warfare. . . . a good drums-and-bugle account of an important event.--Library Journal
A particular strength of this work is its demonstration that modern weapons left no shortcuts to victory, and little room for command virtuosity.--Publishers Weekly
Throughout, Arnold backs up his assessments with solid facts and sound reasoning, engagingly presented. He has produced a useful and enjoyable brief history of the Vicksburg campaign, helpful to scholars and general readers alike.--Journal of Military History
Powerfully and persuasively argues that the Union victory at Vicksburg in 1863 was in fact the actual turning point of the Civil War.--Helena (Mont.) Independent Record

Confederate Navy Ironclad Program is the account of the design, construction, and engagements of the Confederate Navy's ironclad warships. It is a perplexing story. On the one hand, it is the description of vision, ingenuity, and courage, coupled with grim perseverance and determination. On the other hand, it is a sad tale of frustration, innumerable delays, and proof of the ancient adage of "too little too late." Plagued by lack of materials and experienced shipbuilders, the South nevertheless managed to build and name 34 iron-armored warships of which the navy commissioned 25 and put into service. Except for the Albemarle, no Confederate ironclad was sunk or destroyed by enemy action. Overtaken by events on the ground, most were destroyed by their own crews to prevent them from falling into the hands of Union forces. Born amidst war and invasion, hampered by lack of materials and shipbuilding facilities, the Southern Navy in its four years-plus existence compiled a record of unsurpassed resourcefulness, courage, and ingenuity. A fundamental example of this courage and ingenuity was the design, construction, and performance in battle of their ironclad warships. These armored vessels best illustrate the hardships under which the naval construction program operated, as well as just what the Southern navy could accomplish once they were completed and were brought to bear against the enemy.

Lincoln and the Democrats describes the vexatious behavior of a two-party system in war and points to the sound parts of the American system which proved to be the country's salvation: local civic pride, and quiet nonpartisanship in mobilization and funding for the war, for example. While revealing that the role of a noxious 'white supremacy' in American politics of the period has been exaggerated - as has the power of the Copperheads - Neely revives the claim that the Civil War put the country on the road to 'human rights', and also uncovers a previously unnoticed tendency toward deceptive and impractical grandstanding on the Constitution during war in the United States.

In the summer of 1862, two great armies met outside of Richmond in a series of battles that would determine the course of the Civil War. The Union had time, men and materiel on its side, while the Confederates had mobility, esprit de corps and aggressive leadership. Untried General Robert E. Lee was tasked with driving the Yankees from their almost impregnable positions to save Richmond and end the war. Lee planned to isolate part of the Union Army, crush it, and then destroy the only supply base the remaining Federals had. To do so, he had to move thousands of troops hundreds of miles, bringing multiple forces together with intricate timing, all without the Yankees or their spies finding out. The largest and most important of these battles occurred at Gaines' Mill.

In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life-journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second President of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as "out of his senses"; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the moving love stories in American history.

This is history on a grand scale -- a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.

The Vermont Brigade, sometimes referred to as the "First Vermont Brigade" or the "Old Brigade," fought its first full-brigade battle in the Seven Days Battle. The leaders, as well as the rank and file, were inexperienced in warfare, but through sheer grit and determination they made a name for themselves as one of the hardest-fighting units in the Army of the Potomac. Presented through the soldiers' letters, diaries, service records and pension records is a vision of the Virginia summer heat, days of marching with very little rest, food or water, and the fear and exhilaration of combat. Also included are the stories of 28 men that were wounded or killed and the effect of such tragedies on their families.

At its core, the Civil War was a conflict over the meaning of citizenship. Most famously, it became a struggle over whether or not to grant rights to a group that stood outside the pale of civil-society: African Americans. But other groups--namely Jews, Germans, the Irish, and Native Americans--also became part of this struggle to exercise rights stripped from them by legislation, court rulings, and the prejudices that defined the age. Grounded in extensive research by experts in their respective fields, Civil War Citizens is the first volume to collectively analyze the wartime experiences of those who lived outside the dominant white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant citizenry of nineteenth-century America. The essays examine the momentous decisions made by these communities in the face of war, their desire for full citizenship, the complex loyalties that shaped their actions, and the inspiring and heartbreaking results of their choices-- choices that still echo through the United States today. Contributors: Stephen D. Engle, William McKee Evans, David T. Gleeson, Andrea Mehrlander, Joseph P. Reidy, Robert N. Rosen, and Susannah J. Ural.

From 1861-1865, the American Civil War raged at sea as well as on land and saw the use of numerous technological innovations, chief among them the ironclad warship. While various Civil War biographical directories exist, none have been devoted exclusively to the men who served as ironclad captains along the coasts or on the great inland rivers. Based on the Official Records, earlier biographical compilations and memoirs, ship and operations histories, newspapers, primary sources, and internet data, this is the first work to profile the men North and South charged with outfitting and fighting these revolutionary metal warships. Each of the 158 biographies includes (where known) birth, death, and pre- and post-war careers. Information on wartime service includes vessels served upon or commanded, with ironclads bolded for emphasis. Each profile includes source documentation and an appendix, "Ironclad Index," alphabetically identifies the various covered ironclads and lists the covered captains of each.

The Lost Cause ideology that emerged after the Civil War and flourished in the early twentieth century in essence sought to recast a struggle to perpetuate slavery as a heroic defense of the South. As Adam Domby reveals here, this was not only an insidious goal; it was founded on falsehoods. The False Cause focuses on North Carolina to examine the role of lies and exaggeration in the creation of the Lost Cause narrative. In the process the book shows how these lies have long obscured the past and been used to buttress white supremacy in ways that resonate to this day. Domby explores how fabricated narratives about the war's cause, Reconstruction, and slavery-as expounded at monument dedications and political rallies-were crucial to Jim Crow. He questions the persistent myth of the Confederate army as one of history's greatest, revealing a convenient disregard of deserters, dissent, and Unionism, and exposes how pension fraud facilitated a myth of unwavering support of the Confederacy among nearly all white Southerners. Domby shows how the dubious concept of "black Confederates" was spun from a small number of elderly and indigent African American North Carolinians who got pensions by presenting themselves as "loyal slaves." The book concludes with a penetrating examination of how the Lost Cause narrative and the lies on which it is based continue to haunt the country today and still work to maintain racial inequality.

From the hills and valleys of Appalachia to the sun-drenched plains of Missouri and "bleeding" Kansas, a violent clandestine war was waged far from the famous Civil War battlefields that saw tens of thousands fall in line of battle. Bands of irregular Rebel cavalry fought a hit-and-run warfare against Union troops and the pro-Union population. Despite the brutality of their guerrilla tactics, there were constraints-women and were children were usually left with a roof over their heads. But along the Kansas-Missouri border a crueler war was fought by both sides in which no quarter given. Of the thousands of partisans involved, John Singleton Mosby, William Clarke Quantrill and William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson became famous for their savagery.

Among the threads running through Abraham Lincoln's adult life was an association with railroads. His first administration began with a pre-inaugural tour, five days of which were in the Empire State, while closure was brought to his second administration by a funeral train that also took five days crossing New York. Separated by four years, these two epic journeys represented events unique in American history. By virtue of the trains traveling through the heart of the state, thousands of ordinary people witnessed one, if not both, passages and, in a larger sense, also became participants in the grand tableau. Whether the visit by the presidential train lasted overnight, part of day, a few minutes, or only fleeting seconds, the experience became indelibly etched in the minds of those who had the opportunity to stand along the tracks or parade route, to see and possibly hear their leader speak, or to view his remains. Given the uniqueness the trains' purposes, they represent seminal events in national and state history. Fortunately, though there is a lack of tangible evidence in the form of relics and photographs of either event, there does exist a substantial documentation in the form of newspaper accounts, memoirs, and diaries. These permit the two fascinating and intertwined stories to be told in some detail.

The 18th North Carolina Regiment has the dubious distinction of firing the volley at Chancellorsville, Virginia, that mortally wounded General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. This tragic accident has overshadowed the regiment's otherwise valiant service during the Civil War. One of Robert E. Lee's "fighting regiments," the 18th North Carolina was a part of two famous Confederate military machines, A.P. Hill's Light Division and Jackson's foot cavalry. This revealing history chronicles the regiment's exploits from its origins through combat with the Army of Northern Virginia at Hanover Court House, the Seven Days' Battles, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and other battles to its surrender at Appomattox Court House as a battered, much smaller shell of its former self. A roster of those surrendering officers and enlisted men and brief biographical sketches of those who fought with the regiment for most of the war complete this enlightening account.

Your Heritage Will Still Remain details how Mississippians, black and white, constructed their social identity in the aftermath of the crises that transformed the state beginning with the sectional conflict and ending in the late nineteenth century. Michael J. Goleman focuses primarily on how Mississippians thought of their place: asAmericans, as Confederates, or as both. In the midst of secession, white Mississippians held firm to an American identity and easily transformed it into a Confederateidentity venerating their version of American heritage. After the war, black Mississippians tried to etch their place within the Union and as part of transformed American society. Yet they continually faced white supremacist hatred and backlash. During Reconstruction, radical transformations within the state forced all Mississippiansto embrace, deny, or rethink their standing within the Union. Tracing the evolution of Mississippians' social identity from 1850 through the end of the century uncovers why white Mississippians felt the need to create the Lost Cause legend. With personal letters, diaries and journals, newspaper editorials, traveler's accounts, memoirs, reminiscences, and personal histories as its sources, Your Heritage Will Still Remain offers insights into the white creation of Mississippi's Lost Cause and into the battle for black social identity. It goes on to show how these cultural hallmarks continue to impact the state even now.

How would Lincoln view race relations, terrorism, gun control, women's equality, and the influence of special interest groups on Congress? How would he react to the invasion of Iraq and the Great Recession? How would he feel about the growing gap between the haves and the have- nots, a worker's right to strike, the minimum wage, and labor unions? Would Lincoln have a mobile phone and embrace the whirl of social media? Phillips grounds his analysis in an illuminating understanding of Lincoln's own words and actions and offers a fascinating thesis that longtime fans and newcomers alike will be eagerto debate.

From the founder of IrishCentral, a fascinating piece of Civil War history: Lincoln's relationship with the immigrants arriving in America to escape the Irish famine. "If you're a Lincoln fan like me, you'll love this book." -Liam Neeson When Pickett charged at Gettysburg, it was the all-Irish Pennsylvania 69th who held fast while the surrounding regiments broke and ran. And it was Abraham Lincoln who, a year earlier at Malvern Hill, picked up a corner of one of the Irish colors, kissed it, and said, "God bless the Irish flag." Renowned Irish-American journalist Niall O'Dowd gives unprecedented insight into a relationship that began with mutual disdain. Lincoln saw the Irish as instinctive supporters of the Democratic opposition, while the Irish saw the English landlord class in Lincoln's Republicans. But that dynamic would evolve, and the Lincoln whose first political actions included intimidating Irish voters at the polls would eventually hire Irish nannies and donate to the Irish famine fund. When he was voted into the White House, Lincoln surrounded himself with Irish staff, much to the chagrin of a senior aide who complained about the Hibernian cabal. And the Irish would repay Lincoln's faith-their numbers and courage would help swing the Civil War in his favor, and among them would be some of his best generals and staunchest advocates.