A very browsable book with the sort of gorgeous photographs one expects from its publisher, National Geographic. "The Human Side" is encapsulated in a unique format--pithily and adroitly told tales on one page accompanied by a full page visual rendering of the subject. Some topics will be quite familiar to locals, such as the Angel of Marye's Heights but many will be new to readers. There is also a detailed, double-page photo spread at the beginning of the first chapter showing Grant and his men enjoying themselves in the pews of Massaponax Church--which they have dragged into the yard for a makeshift headquarters. The stories from both perspectives--North and South--are lively, yet it is not surprising that most of the battlefield images come from from Union artists and photographers.
The director of history and education for the Civil War Trust designed this book for people who are curious about the Civil War and want to have and share experiences that encompass that historical period. They range from those simple things that are not location-specific (Don a uniform or period dress, Go to a Civil War Round Table meeting) to actually going to those places, well-known and otherwise, where history was made. Good for those who enjoy check-lists.
A different tack to Civil War studies--here John Shelby sketches particular instances of the conflict and marries those with first-hand accounts from seven young Confederates who were involved. Three women's and four men's lives are interwoven the events surrounding them, and they are followed even well into the war's aftermath.
This is a small book. It lacks gorgeous illustrations, but it -is- concise, plainly-written and published by one of the most recognized companies for military history for the National Civil War Museum. If a reader wants a compact overview, complete with "Test Your Knowledge" sections for each chapter, the pocket history is the way to go. Includes a glossary.
Even the most massive battle is only part of a larger campaign. From the winter of 1862 through 1863, the Confederacy experienced major victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, showing up the Union's weaknesses in strategy and preparation. As to the title, a Confederate soldier referred to the Rappahannock River as "the Dare Mark" as it was a strategic point that must be controlled, and the campaign described here reflects that conflict.
This book is part of the Great Campaigns of the Civil War series.
Some Confederate officers and soldiers refused to live in a conquered land. General Jo Shelby was one of those. He led his 300 men, the "Iron Brigade," on a twelve-hundred-mile march to Mexico where they supported the Emperor Maximilian in his fight against Juarez's rebels, hoping to eventually establish their own government there. Though doomed, his actions were historically notable--all the more so since in his later years, he returned to the United States, renounced slavery, became U.S. Marshall for western Missouri and became famous as a nineteenth-century progressive.
"The worst hit was the 30th Virginia. This was a unit composed of shopkeepers, clerks, skilled craftsmen and farmers from the Fredericksburg area. They went into the fight with 236 men and lost 172, killed, wounded and captured, 68 percent of the regiment." (p. 84)
In a single day, 23,000 men died, were captured or were wounded at the Battle of Antietam, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862. The Chief Historian for the Antietam site gives a fascinating look at the men and battlefield movements that went into that very long and very bloody day. He also includes sections on hospital conditions and how the battle was remembered in the decades following.
Part of the History Press' Civil War sesquicentennial series.
On June 9, 1863, in the aftermath of the Battle of Chancellorsville, Union soldiers ambushed sleeping Confederates on the banks of the Rappahannock, beginning the largest cavalry battle ever fought on American soil. With enough unusual and personal detail to make it very readable, this volume includes clear maps, photographs, and a GPS guided tour of the battlefield.
Part of the History Press' Civil War Sesquicentennial Series.
Historian Perry Lentz reveals the link between the classic novel, The Red Badge of Courage, and the reality of the Battle of Chancellorsville. To illustrate, he takes the well-documented experiences of Private Henry Fleming of the 304th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment and his fellows to show how the novel reflected and expanded on the soldiers' reality.
By Kate Chenery Tweedy, Leeanne Ladin, Wayne Dementi
"On March 30, 1970, Secretariat drew his first breath in a little white foaling shed on a historic farm called The Meadow in Caroline County, Virginia. Three years later he would leave the nation breathless as he captured the Triple Crown, shattering records and rivals alike. At The Meadow, America's Super Horse learned to gallop across its rolling fields and its loamy track. There, Secretariat first felt the calming hand of a groom, the taste of a bit in his mouth and the weight of a rider on his back. At The Meadow, the foundation was laid for a legend. Though much has been written about his spectacular racing career, the complete story of Secretariat s birthplace and the Chenery family who raised and raced him has never been told...until now. And a Chenery granddaughter is telling it. Secretariat's Meadow: The Land, the Family, the Legend reveals an intimate picture of this storied place from the viewpoint of Kate Chenery Tweedy, daughter of Penny Chenery (Tweedy) and granddaughter of Meadow Stable s founder Christopher T. Chenery."
