tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23812853356428715102024-03-09T18:47:10.216-08:00Book Reviews - The Civil War Round Table of the District of ColumbiaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-25892306977063917602020-01-12T21:15:00.055-08:002024-03-08T06:08:40.027-08:00<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><u><span style="color: black; font-size: x-large;">INDEX/LINKS</span> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: black;">TO BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><strong><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">(Click on any title to open the review)</span></span></strong></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span><span style="color: black;"><span><span><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"></span></span></span><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/chamberlain-white-rivera.html" target="_blank">Brought Forth on This Continent:</a></strong></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/chamberlain-white-rivera.html" target="_blank">Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration</a></strong></div></span></span><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times new roman;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b>By HArold Holzer; Review by </b><b>Henry M. Rivera</b></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/chamberlain-white-rivera.html" target="_blank">On Great Fields: The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain</a></strong></div></span></span><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times new roman;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b>By Ronald C. White; Review by </b><b>Henry M. Rivera</b></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/diary-of-gresham-croon-shatzer.html" target="_blank">The War Outside My Window: The Civil War Diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865</a></strong></div></span></span><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times new roman;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b>Edited by Janet Elizabeth Croon; Review by Clinton Shatzer</b></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/rivera-waite-west-of-slavery.html" target="_blank">West of Slavery: The Southern Dream of a Transcontinental Empire</a></strong></div></span></span><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times new roman;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b>By Kevin Waite; Review by Henry M. Rivera</b></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/gallen-kannel-wisconsin-usct.html" target="_blank">Make Way for Liberty: <i>Wisconsin African Americans in the Civil War</i></a></strong></div></span></span><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times new roman;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b>By Jeff Kannel; Review by Jim Gallen</b></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/derose-presidents-war-gallen-review.html " target="_blank">The Presidents' War: Six American Presidents and the Civil War that Divided Them</a></strong></div></span></span><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times new roman;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b>By Chris DeRose; Review by Jim Gallen</b></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div></span></span><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times new roman;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/zeitlin-old-abe-gallen-review.html " target="_blank">Old Abe: <i>The War Eagle</i></a></strong></div></span></span><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/grant-young-fellman-gallen-review.html " target="_blank">Around the World with General Grant</a></strong></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times new roman;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b>John Russell Yuung; Edited by Michael Fellman</b></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div></span></span><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times new roman;"><div style="color: black; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b>By Richard H. Zeitlin; Review by Jim Gallen</b></div><div style="color: black; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: black; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b><br /></b></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/memoirs-grant-gallenreview.html" target="_blank">Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant</a></strong></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Caleb Carr (Ed.); </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Review by Jim Gallen</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></span></span><div style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/grant-bonekemper-gallenreview.html" target="_blank">A Victor, Not A Butcher: <i>Ulysses S. Grant's Overlooked Military Genius</i></a></strong></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By Edward H. Bonekemper III; R</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>eview by Jim Gallen</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><strong style="color: #990000;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/western-territories-colton-gallen.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">The Civil War in the Western Territories: <i>Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah</i></span></a></strong></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span>Ray C. Colton</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Jim Gallen</b></span></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: times; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><strong style="color: #990000;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/irish-invasion-canada-klein-gallen.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;">When the Irish Invaded Canada<i>: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Ireland's Freedom</i></span></a></strong></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span>Chrisopher Klein</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Jim Gallen</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></strong></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/southern-irish-gleeson-gallen.html" target="_blank">The Irish in the South<i>: 1815-1877</i></a></span></strong></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><strong style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b style="font-family: inherit;">David T. Gleeson</b><b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Jim Gallen</b></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><b><br /></b></div></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/rough-enough-mcbee-gallen.html" target="_blank">Rough Enough:</a></strong></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><i><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/rough-enough-mcbee-gallen.html" target="_blank">Including Richard H. Clow's Letters and Diary from the Civil and Indian Wars, 1865-1875</a></i></strong></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong>Richard H. McBee, Jr.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Jim Gallen</b></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/cw-years-denney-gallen.html" target="_blank">The Civil War Years: </a></strong></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><strong><i><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/cw-years-denney-gallen.html" target="_blank">A Day-by-Day Chroncle of the Life of a Nation </a></i></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong>Robert E. Denney</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>; Review by Jim Gallen</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></div></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><strong><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/guns-grit-glory.html" target="_blank">Guns, Grit and Glory: </a></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><strong><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/guns-grit-glory.html" target="_blank"><i>How the US and Mexico came together to defeat the last Empire in the Americas</i></a></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><strong style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><i> </i></strong></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""timesnewromanps-boldmt" , serif" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: black;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Michael Hogan</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Jim Gallen</b></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""timesnewromanps-boldmt" , serif" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: black;"><strong><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/2020/01/congress-at-war.html" target="_blank"><strong>Congress at War</strong></a><strong>: </strong><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""timesnewromanps-boldmt" , serif" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/2020/01/congress-at-war.html" target="_blank"><em><strong><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">How Republican Reformers Fought the Civil War, Defied Lincoln, Ended Slavery, and Remade America</span></strong></em></a><br /><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><em></em><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Fergus M. Bordewich</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""timesnewromanps-boldmt" , serif" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: black;"><strong><em><br /></em></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""timesnewromanps-boldmt" , serif" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""timesnewromanps-boldmt" , serif" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/2019/04/nance-first-slave-freed-by-lincoln-from.html" target="_blank"><strong><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Nance - The First Slave Freed by Lincoln</span></strong></a><br /><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong>Carl Adams</strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/lincoln2-blumenthal.html" target="_blank">Wrestling with His Angel</a></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Sidney Blumenthal; </span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Fergus Bordewich</b><br />
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/grant-chernow.html" target="_blank">Grant</a></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Ron Chernow</span></b></span></span></span><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Joseph Goulden</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/stanton-wstahr.html" target="_blank">Stanton:</a></span></b></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/stanton-wstahr.html" target="_blank">Lincoln's Secretary of War</a></span></i></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Walter Stahr</span></b></span></span></span></span></span><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Joseph Goulden</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><strong><br /></strong></span> <span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/bbragg-ehess.html" target="_blank">Braxton Bragg:</a></span></b></span></span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="font-family: "times new roman";"><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/bbragg-ehess.html" target="_blank">The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy</a></span></i></b></div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Earl J. Hess</span></b></span></span></span></span><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/antietam.html" target="_blank">A Field Guide to Antietam:</a></span></b></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/antietam.html" target="_blank">Experiencing the Battlefield through Its History, Places, and People</a></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Carol Reardon & Tom Vossler</span></b></span></span></span></span><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/mississippi.html" target="_blank">The Civil War on the Mississippi:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/mississippi.html" target="_blank">Union Sailors, Gunboat Captains, and </a></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/mississippi.html" target="_blank">the Campaign To Control the River</a></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Barbara Brooks Tomblin</span></b></span></span></span><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/waterloo-cornwell.html" target="_blank">Waterloo:</a></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/waterloo-cornwell.html" target="_blank">The Battle of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles</a></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Bernard Cornwell; </span></b></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b style="font-size: 18px;">Review by Carl Frank</b></span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/ezra-hess.html" target="_blank">The Battle of Ezra Church </a></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/ezra-hess.html" target="_blank">and the Struggle for Atlanta</a></span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Earl J. Hess</span></b></span></span><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><strong><br /></strong></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/sherman-carr.html" target="_blank">Sherman's Ghosts:</a></span></b><i style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/sherman-carr.html" target="_blank">Soldiers, Civilians, and the American Way of War</a></span></i></b></span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong>Matthew Carr;</span></b><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;"> Review by Gordon Berg</b><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/mo-ks-earleburke.html" target="_blank">Bleeding Kansas, Bleeding Missouri:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></i></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><em>Edited by Jonathan Earle and Diane Mutti Burke</em></span></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></span><b style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b><br />
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<strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Phillip Thomas Tucker</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Earl. J. Hess</span></span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/cwquiz-smith.html" target="_blank">A Civil War RoundTable Quiz Book</a></span></b></div>
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<strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Dave Smith</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/thomas-eggleston.html" target="_blank">General Lorenzo Thomas</a></span></i></b><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/thomas-eggleston.html" target="_blank"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> and</span></a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/thomas-eggleston.html" target="_blank">the United States Colored Troops in the Civil War</a></span></i></b></div>
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<strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Michael A. Eggleston</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/shiloh-smith.html" target="_blank">Myth and Memory</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Timothy B. Smith</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/lincoln-cooling.html" target="_blank">The Fort Stevens Story</a></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><strong style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><strong><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">Benjamin Franklin Cooling III</span></strong></span><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/williams-lull.html" target="_blank">Civil War General and Indian Fighter</a></span></i></b></div>
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<strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Robert W. Lull</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">David C. Keehn</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<b><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/gettysburg-reardon.html" target="_blank">through its History, Places, and People</a></span></i></b></div>
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<strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/sword-reardon.html" target="_blank">& Jomini in the Other:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></i></div>
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<strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Jonathan D. Sarna</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Edited by John P. Wilson</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Edward B. Williams</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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<strong style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #990000; font-size: 18pt;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">By </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Lisa M. Brady</span></b><b style="font-size: 18px;">; Review by Gordon Berg</b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-82256459228823893932020-01-12T20:29:00.001-08:002020-06-12T11:02:39.263-07:00<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><strong>A Congress at War: </strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em>How Republican Reformers Fought the Civil War, Defied Lincoln, Ended Slavery, and Remade America<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></em></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Fergus M. Bordewich <span style="font-size: small;">(</span><a href="http://www.fergusbordewich.com/"><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.fergusbordewich.com/</span></a><span style="font-size: small;">)</span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Alfred A. Knopf, 2020, 480 pp. $30.00<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once
upon a time, political giants roamed the halls of the nation’s unfinished
Capitol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their expansive vision and
powerful oratory was equalled only by the magnitude of the challenge foisted
upon them by a brutal civil war and the bold aspirations they held for a new,
more perfect Union that they sought to establish at its conclusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were the senators and representatives
that sat in in Congress in Washington, DC between 1860-1865. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Fergus Bordewich makes it unequivocally clear
that the story he has to tell in his deeply researched, eloquently written,
study of their work is no fairy tale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rather, it is “a political history of how Congress fought that war.”
What it is not, he warns, is “a book about politics in the abstract, but about
the men who practiced it in the chambers of the wartime Capitol.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a challenging undertaking, readily
accepted by an experienced historian whose skill is worthy of the men and
events he seeks to understand and recount.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even with the elected representatives
from the seceding states no longer at their desks, Congress remained a
gathering of outsized personalities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bordewich has adroitly chosen to organize his narrative around four of
them: Radical Republican Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio; moderate Republican
Senator William Pitt Fessenden of Maine; Radical Republican Representative
Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania; and pro-slavery Democratic Representative
Clement Vallandigham of Ohio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through them,
and with a nod to other notable Congressional personages, Bordewich documents
the essential role Congress played in winning the war and imprinting permanent
changes on the American nation that emerged from it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even with Republicans having a two-to-one
majority over Democrats in both the House and Senate, Bordewich disposes of the
notion that Congress worked in lockstep with President Lincoln on the aims and
conduct of the war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Questions about
Lincoln suspending <em>habeas corpus </em>and the role slavery would play in the Union’s
war aims fueled Democratic opposition and troubled many Republican
consciences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Entangled with the
argument over the war’s ultimate purpose were the stubborn questions of how it
was to be fought and who — Congress or the president — possessed the paramount
constitutional authority to wage it,” writes Bordewich.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Consensus,” he concludes, “remained
elusive.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also bedeviling Congress from the
earliest days of the conflict was a workable strategy to amass sufficient
financial resources, and a disbursement mechanism, to pay the immense costs involved with
keeping a huge army in the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soldiers needed to be paid, fed, armed, and clothed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wagons, ships, horses, and all manner of war
materials had to be bought and dispersed in unprecedented quantities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the country’s banks held just under $100
million in specie, a pittance necessary even under the most conservative
estimates, and a quarter of that was in vaults in the seceded states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Union’s financial machinery was
primitive,” Bordewich observes, “No system of national taxation existed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no national bank or system for
raising large sums of money.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the
summer of 1861, “financing for the war had reached a crisis.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The monumental task of finding a solution to
the problem fell to Stevens and Fessenden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Along with Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, they concluded “that a
combination of massive loans, increased tariffs, and taxes — including an
income tax — would be necessary to raise the sums needed.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Financial solutions, once
found, had to be translated into military success in the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If the North was to prevail on the
battlefield,” Bordewich deduces, “Wade, Stevens, Fessenden, and other
like-minded men believed, it would require steel-spirited leadership, creative
politics, moral courage, and a racial revolution that up to now only a few
members had dared to contemplate.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> When Congress reconvened o</span>n
December 2, 1861, after its summer recess, Bordewich explains, it opened “with a cascade of wide-ranging proposals that would begin
to prepare the nation for the ultimate destruction of slavery, aggressively
insert Congress into the waging of the war, permanently transform federal
monetary policy, and shape the westward expansion of the country’s development.”
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bordewich’s analysis makes clear that a
second American Revolution was in the offing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the spring of 1862, the war had
become bloodier than even the most pessimistic politicians had
anticipated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Congress found itself in
the midst of debating passage of a colossal tax bill to finance this
increasingly expensive and unexpectedly protracted war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, the Senate also found time to
consider a quartet of interrelated bills “which were among the most transformative
measures ever to appear on the floor of Congress.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were the Homestead Act, the Pacific
Railway Act, the Morrill Land-Grant College Act, and the creation of the
Department of Agriculture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All four
bills passed by wide margins and Bordewich rightly concludes that they
“demonstrated the gathering Republican commitment to a broad new concept of the
public interest, as well as a long-term vision for the nation’s future.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time the president pro tem of the
Senate brought down his gavel on July 17, 1862, the accomplishments of the first
session of the 37th Congress were indeed unprecedented.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No issue would impact the nation’s
future more than the question of slavery and the prospect of emancipating four
million African Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bordewich
concedes that “Lincoln’s announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation was a
bold political stroke” but, he contends, “it had only been made possible as a
result of the many months of debate in the House and Senate, and the ceaseless
personal prodding of the Radicals in Congress.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The passage of The Second Confiscation and Militia Act in July 1862 had
laid the groundwork for recruiting and enlisting black men into the Union
Army.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>African Americans, most of them
former slaves, would eventually comprise ten percent of Union soldiers and play
a critical role in the Union’s eventual victory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“No wartime issue was more emotive and
politically fraught,” Bordewich contends, “because the enlistment of blacks
threatened to place Negroes on an equal plane with white men for the first
time.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These bold moves would be reflected in
the mid-term elections beginning in October 1862.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nationally, the Democrats gained seats in the
House even though Vallandigham was defeated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While the Republicans gained five seats in the Senate, the Democrats,
nevertheless, declared victory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bordewich concludes “The voters had delivered a clear and unmistakable
message: either deliver victories or end the war.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A resounding Union defeat at Fredericksburg
in December 1862 led many congressional Republicans to seriously consider a
power grab that would remove Secretary of State William Seward, dump Lincoln as
the party’s 1864 candidate, and replace him on the ticket with Fessenden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lincoln decisively quashed the ill-conceived
rebellion but, Bordewich believes, “It was a harbinger of troubles to come for
the president, however.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bordewich’s “Epilogue” hints at the
important work Congress left unfinished after the assassination of Abraham
Lincoln and the ending of the Civil War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But in assessing the legacy of the Congresses at that time, Bordewich
rightfully concludes that “The amount of legislation they enacted during the
Civil War was prodigious in volume and transformative in its effects.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He acknowledges their success was all the
more remarkable “for a party that had never held national power before, and
that in 1861, was faced with managing a war that few Republicans expected to
have to fight.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is hard to argue with
Bordewich’s assessment that their success “was one of the greatest political
achievements in American history.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hopefully Bordewich has husbanded
sufficient energy to undertake a similar investigation of Congress’s role in
the post-war world of the impeachment proceedings against President Andrew Johnson,
the struggle with Johnson over the scope and management of Reconstruction, and
the debates over ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Constitutional
amendments. The ghosts of those long dead legislative giants who haunt the
corridors of power in a now finished Capitol have again been given new life in
Bordewich’s impressive chronicle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
deserve a chronicler with the energy and insights Fergus Bordewich brings to
all his historical pursuits.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and a member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-5295399221506705152019-04-25T16:05:00.000-07:002019-04-26T11:50:07.487-07:00<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w1RfLTWO1eE" width="480"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/117090605"><b></b></a><br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/117090605"><b>The Trials of Nance Legins-Costley - The First Slave Freed by Abraham Lincoln</b></a><br />
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/user36268269"> by Carl Adams </a><br />
For more information, visit <a href="http://www.nancebook.com/">www.NanceBook.com</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSpIKlf62slKdcVGejbqcMFX4qKtNj9RmkBL6pscYyZxyIp89lE6xA_QxOA7C3eQdcL2h8n7UkPc57jRQ3z7e8vs507iO6T0YJrui2ox9lO06y7o_g8aLzQP1dc8Zqj04FzFS3cDrBMHG1/s1600/Nance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="385" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSpIKlf62slKdcVGejbqcMFX4qKtNj9RmkBL6pscYyZxyIp89lE6xA_QxOA7C3eQdcL2h8n7UkPc57jRQ3z7e8vs507iO6T0YJrui2ox9lO06y7o_g8aLzQP1dc8Zqj04FzFS3cDrBMHG1/s200/Nance.jpg" width="153" /></a></div>
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The "Trials of Nance" is the true story of the three Illinois Supreme Court trials of Mrs. Nance Legins-Costley (1813-1873). The dramatic non-fiction narrative is based on the original sworn and witnessed court records written with quill and buried deep in the archives of the court and other record depositories.</div>
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This is the only known historical biography to receive awards from an African-American Museum as well as the Illinois State Historical Society. The editor of the Illinois History Journal claimed this is the only story about Abraham Lincoln that is really new. The truth of the story was actually buried by white supremecist attitudes for over 100 years. It was discovered there are more old records on Nance than any other Illinois slavery case. </div>
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Nance actually tried to free herself, but needed lawyer Lincoln to make it legal. Her struggles began as a teenager, and it took 15 years to win her freedom. She is the only known slave in American history who managed to get to a state supreme court THREE times. </div>
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The book holds a piece of history to own: a copy of Nance's original signature from her historic testimony in 1827 -- ten years before Abraham Lincoln became a lawyer -- and the story of how she risked everything for the sake of her eight children, both born and the unborn.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-63910214908119100352016-12-09T14:30:00.000-08:002020-01-12T21:14:57.364-08:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><u><span style="color: black; font-size: x-large;">INDEX/LINKS</span> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: black;">TO BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS</span></span></u></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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</em><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Fergus M. Bordewich</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/2019/04/nance-first-slave-freed-by-lincoln-from.html" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nance - The First Slave Freed by Lincoln</span></strong></a><br /><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><strong>Carl Adams</strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/lincoln2-blumenthal.html" target="_blank">Wrestling with His Angel</a></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Sidney Blumenthal</span></b></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/grant-chernow.html" target="_blank">Grant</a></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Ron Chernow</span></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/stanton-wstahr.html" target="_blank">Lincoln's Secretary of War</a></span></i></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Walter Stahr</span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/bbragg-ehess.html" target="_blank">Braxton Bragg:</a></span></b></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/bbragg-ehess.html" target="_blank">The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Earl J. Hess</span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/antietam.html" target="_blank">A Field Guide to Antietam:</a></span></b></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/antietam.html" target="_blank">Experiencing the Battlefield through Its History, Places, and People</a></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Carol Reardon & Tom Vossler</span></b></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/mississippi.html" target="_blank">The Civil War on the Mississippi:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/mississippi.html" target="_blank">Union Sailors, Gunboat Captains, and </a></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/mississippi.html" target="_blank">the Campaign To Control the River</a></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Barbara Brooks Tomblin</span></b></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/waterloo-cornwell.html" target="_blank">Waterloo:</a></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/waterloo-cornwell.html" target="_blank">The Battle of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles</a></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Bernard Cornwell</span></b></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><strong><br /></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/ezra-hess.html" target="_blank">The Battle of Ezra Church </a></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/ezra-hess.html" target="_blank">and the Struggle for Atlanta</a></span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Earl J. Hess</span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><strong><br /></strong></span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/sherman-carr.html" target="_blank">Sherman's Ghosts:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/sherman-carr.html" target="_blank">Soldiers, Civilians, and the American Way of War</a></span></i></b></span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Matthew Carr</span></b><br />
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</span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/carter-dozier.html" target="_blank">A Gunner in Lee's Army:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/carter-dozier.html" target="_blank">The Civil War Letters of Thomas Henry Carter</a></span></i></b></span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Edited by Graham T. Dozier</span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/white-scopin.html" target="_blank">As I Remember:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/white-scopin.html" target="_blank">A Civil War Veteran Reflects on the War and Its Aftermath </a></span></i></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/white-scopin.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">through personal reminiscences, diaries, and correspondence</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Edited by Joseph Scopin, Jr. </span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/hinrichs-williams.html" target="_blank">Stonewall's Prussian Mapmaker:</a></span></span></strong><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></i></span>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/hinrichs-williams.html" target="_blank">The Journals of Captain Oscar Hinrichs</a></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Edited by Richard B. Williams</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/peaceconference-conroy.html" target="_blank">Our One Common Country:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/peaceconference-conroy.html" target="_blank">Abraham Lincoln and the </a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/peaceconference-conroy.html" target="_blank">Hampton Roads Peace Conference of 1865</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">James B. Conroy</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/overland-wheelan.html" target="_blank">Bloody Spring:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/overland-wheelan.html" target="_blank">Forty Days That Sealed the Confederacy's Fate</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Joseph Wheelan</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/custer-hatch.html" target="_blank">Glorious War:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/custer-hatch.html" target="_blank">The Civil War Adventures of George Armstrong Custer</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Thom Hatch</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/appomattox-varon.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Appomattox:</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/appomattox-varon.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><strong>The Victory, Defeat, and Freedom </strong></em></span></a><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/appomattox-varon.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em><strong>at the End of the Civil War</strong></em></span></a><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Elizabeth H. Varon</span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/assassination-bogar.html" target="_blank">Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thomas A. Bogar</span></span></b>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/mo-ks-earleburke.html" target="_blank">Bleeding Kansas, Bleeding Missouri:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/mo-ks-earleburke.html" target="_blank">The Long Civil War on the Border</a><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></b></span></span></span></i></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><em>Edited by Jonathan Earle and Diane Mutti Burke</em></span></b></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/manassas-spruill.html" target="_blank">Summer Lightning:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/manassas-spruill.html" target="_blank">A Guide to the Second Battle of Manassas</a></span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Matt Spruill III and Mat Spruill IV</span></b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/barksdale-pttucker.html" target="_blank">Barksdale's Charge:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/barksdale-pttucker.html" target="_blank">The True High Tide of Confederacy </a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/barksdale-pttucker.html" target="_blank">at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Phillip Thomas Tucker</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/dixie-levine.html" target="_blank">The Fall of the House of Dixie:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/dixie-levine.html" target="_blank">How the Civil War Remade the American South</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Bruce Levine</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/kennesaw-hess.html" target="_blank">Kennesaw Mountain:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/kennesaw-hess.html" target="_blank">Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earl. J. Hess</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/cwquiz-smith.html" target="_blank">A Civil War RoundTable Quiz Book</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Dave Smith</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/thomas-eggleston.html" target="_blank">President Lincoln's Recruiter:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/thomas-eggleston.html" target="_blank">General Lorenzo Thomas</a></span></i></b><b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/thomas-eggleston.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/thomas-eggleston.html" target="_blank">the United States Colored Troops in the Civil War</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Michael A. Eggleston</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/shiloh-smith.html" target="_blank">Rethinking Shiloh:</a></span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/shiloh-smith.html" target="_blank">Myth and Memory</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Timothy B. Smith</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/lincoln-cooling.html" target="_blank">The Day Lincoln Was Almost Shot:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/lincoln-cooling.html" target="_blank">The Fort Stevens Story</a></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Benjamin Franklin Cooling III</span></strong></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/williams-lull.html" target="_blank">James M. Williams:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/williams-lull.html" target="_blank">Civil War General and Indian Fighter</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Robert W. Lull</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/knights-keehn.html" target="_blank">Knights of the Golden Circle:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/knights-keehn.html" target="_blank">Secret Empire,Southern Secession, Civil War</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">David C. Keehn</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/gettysburg-reardon.html" target="_blank">A Field Guide to Gettysburg:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/gettysburg-reardon.html" target="_blank">Experiencing the Battlefield </a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/gettysburg-reardon.html" target="_blank">through its History, Places, and People</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/sword-reardon.html" target="_blank">With a Sword in One Hand </a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/sword-reardon.html" target="_blank">& Jomini in the Other:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/sword-reardon.html" target="_blank">The Problem ofMilitary Thought in the Civil War North</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Carol Reardon</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/chamberlain-desjardin.html" target="_blank">Joshua L. Chamberlain:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/chamberlain-desjardin.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A Life in Letters</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Edited by Thomas Desjardin</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/scalawags.html" target="_blank">The Louisiana Scalawags:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/scalawags.html" target="_blank">Politics, Race, and Terrorism </a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/scalawags.html" target="_blank">During the Civil War and Reconstruction</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Frank J. Wetta</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/emancipation-willis-kraut.html" target="_blank">Envisioning Emancipation:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/emancipation-willis-kraut.html" target="_blank">Black Americans and the End of Slavery</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/jacksoncounty-weinfeld.html" target="_blank">The Jackson County War:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/jacksoncounty-weinfeld.html" target="_blank">Reconstruction and Resistance in Post-Civil War Florida</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Daniel R. Weinfeld</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/stonesriver-daniel.html" target="_blank">Battle of Stones River:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/stonesriver-daniel.html" target="_blank">The Forgotten Conflict between the Confederate Army </a></span></i></b></div>
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<strong><em><u><span style="color: #0066cc; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/stonesriver-daniel.html" target="_blank">of Tennessee and the Union Army of the Cumberland</a></span></u></em></strong></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Larry J. Daniel</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/savannahsquadron-melton.html" target="_blank">The Best Station of Them All:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/savannahsquadron-melton.html" target="_blank">The Savannah Squadron 1861-1865</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Maurice Melton</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/wi.html" target="_blank">This Wicked Rebellion:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/wi.html" target="_blank">Wisconsin Civil War Soldiers Write Home</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Edited by John Zimm</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/grant-sarna.html" target="_blank">When General Grant Expelled the Jews</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Jonathan D. Sarna</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/thomas-wills.html" target="_blank">George Henry Thomas:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/thomas-wills.html" target="_blank">As True As Steel</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Brian Steel Wills</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/letters-wilson.html" target="_blank">From Western Deserts to Carolina Swamps:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/letters-wilson.html" target="_blank">A Civil War Soldier's Journals and Letters Home</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Edited by John P. Wilson</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/hoods-brigade-williams.html" target="_blank">Hood's Texas Brigade in the Civil War</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Edward B. Williams</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/strategy-brady.html" target="_blank">War Upon the Land:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/strategy-brady.html" target="_blank">Military Strategy and the Transformation</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><em><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/strategy-brady.html" target="_blank">of Southern Landscapes During the American Civil War</a></em></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Lisa M. Brady</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/franklin-nashville-cooling.html" target="_blank">To the Battles of Franklin </a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/franklin-nashville-cooling.html" target="_blank">and Nashville and Beyond:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/franklin-nashville-cooling.html" target="_blank">Stabilization and Reconstruction </a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/franklin-nashville-cooling.html" target="_blank">in Tennessee and Kentucky,1864-1866</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Benjamin Franklin Cooling</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/brown-benet.html" target="_blank">John Brown’s Body:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/brown-benet.html" target="_blank">Stephen Vincent Benetand Civil War Memory</a></span></i></b></div>
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<a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/stones-tulahoma-kolakowski.html" target="_blank"></a><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/stones-tulahoma-kolakowski.html" target="_blank">The Stones River </a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/stones-tulahoma-kolakowski.html" target="_blank">and Tullahoma Campaigns:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/stones-tulahoma-kolakowski.html" target="_blank">This Army Does Not Retreat</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Christopher L. Kolakowski</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/legacy-towns.html" target="_blank"></a><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/legacy-towns.html" target="_blank">Enduring Legacy:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/legacy-towns.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rhetoric and Ritual ofthe Lost Cause</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">W. Stuart Towns</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/debate-bordewich.html" target="_blank">America’s Great Debate:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/debate-bordewich.html" target="_blank">Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, </a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdcreviews.blogspot.com/p/debate-bordewich.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and the Compromise That Preserved the Union</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Fergus M. Bordewich</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/jewishfaith-indigofilms.html" target="_blank"></a><div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/jewishfaith-indigofilms.html" target="_blank">Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/jewishfaith-indigofilms.html" target="_blank">Faith Under Fire in the American Civil War</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Indigo Films Entertainment Group, Inc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/mosby-hmsproductionsinc.html" target="_blank">Mosby’s Combat Operations </a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">HMS Productions, Inc. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/holt-leonard.html" target="_blank">Lincoln’s Forgotten Ally:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/holt-leonard.html" target="_blank">Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt of Kentucky</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Elizabeth D. Leonard</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/johnbrowndecendant.html" target="_blank">John Brown Descendant Looks Back</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/johnbrowndecendant.html" target="_blank">—and to the Future</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial";"><strong>Interview by Gordon Berg</strong></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/prison-bush.html" target="_blank">I Fear I Shall Never Leave This Island:</a></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/prison-bush.html" target="_blank">Life in a Civil War Prison</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">David R. Bush</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/price-lause.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Price’s Lost Campaign:</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://cwrtdc-resources.blogspot.com/p/price-lause.html" target="_blank">The 1864 Invasion of Missouri</a></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Mark A. Lause</span></b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-46476624766785011872016-10-18T20:23:00.001-07:002016-10-18T20:23:43.262-07:00<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Braxton Bragg: </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy</em></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Earl J. Hess</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">University of North Carolina Press, 2016, 368 pp., $35.00</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review by Gordon Berg</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></strong><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Among Civil War enthusiasts and
scholars, Braxton Bragg has long occupied a place near the top of the list of
generals we love to hate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth be told,
he did a lot to earn the reputation both during his lifetime and after.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But a reevaluation of his personality and
professional capabilities by a reputable scholar is long overdue and Earl Hess
is just the man to do it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLwMzhRM5TQv-3zhUN_ohQdi1mizq08EtEIggCRPao7_Xz2yqiJp6pKl7MOqttAttNoqyw9P_sXZFcFWYNprKS1jSNciv_g1oM5DGuixWU21ZeSNWSjQUrAvGw8SwTPOTYH_yIfUOcvwN/s1600/bragg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLwMzhRM5TQv-3zhUN_ohQdi1mizq08EtEIggCRPao7_Xz2yqiJp6pKl7MOqttAttNoqyw9P_sXZFcFWYNprKS1jSNciv_g1oM5DGuixWU21ZeSNWSjQUrAvGw8SwTPOTYH_yIfUOcvwN/s400/bragg.jpg" width="262" /></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Hess is a prolific author on many Civil
War subjects with a well-earned reputation for shedding new light on long
accepted theses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bragg could not have
asked for a more thoughtful, careful, and scrupulously honest evaluator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Historians," Hess maintains,
"have tended to see Bragg as the actor in creating a circle of negativity
around him, but we also must understand that he was in turn deeply affected by
the actions and opinions of others."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Fortunately, Hess has never been awed by pedigree, either from the
subjects he investigates or from fellow historians with whom he spars,
intellectually of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This tends to
make him a lively and informative read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">The book is an investigation of Bragg's
military career, not a full blown biography.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nevertheless, Hess makes clear that Bragg's wife Elsie was the
staunchest--and sometimes the only--source of emotional support for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bragg's inability to form personal
attachments and accept the limitations of others haunted him throughout his
military career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"He saw life in
black-and-white terms," Hess posits, "had scant ability to accept the
complexities to be found in others, and possessed a stubborn streak that served
him ill in his relations with subordinates."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The breadth of Hess' expertise allows
him to analyze carefully Bragg's abilities on the battlefield, both as a
tactical commander and as the commanding general of an entire army.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bragg fought with distinction at Shiloh although
he can rightly be criticized for inserting his units piecemeal into the fray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hess believes that the troops
of the Army of Tennessee did some of their best fighting under Bragg's command
at Stones River.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At Chickamauga, the
Army of Tennessee was at the height of its powers and achieved one of the
Confederacy's few tactical victories in the West.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nonetheless, Hess boldly writes, "The sad
truth was that all three of Bragg's corps commanders--Polk, Longstreet, and
Hill--were willful, unreliable subordinates who could not be counted on to
obey orders or to cooperate with their commanders."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not surprisingly, this nest of vipers spawned
the revolt of the generals that spread through Bragg's army and percolated up
to the attention of President Jefferson Davis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bragg never fully recovered from this attempted <i>coup de grace.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Too many historians, Hess believes, have
relied on negative observations and conclusions offered by Bragg's subordinates and which
were repeated in newspapers of the day and, as a result, have become cemented
in the historical record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hess, on the
other hand, sees Bragg as "an officer of undoubted qualities" that
included being "hardworking, meticulous, detail-oriented and extremely
self-disciplined."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, those
same qualities can be attributed to someone who is overbearing, petty, and
reclusive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bragg has often been seen
that way as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Hess writes with an easy grace born of
erudite scholarship and years in the classroom challenging fresh eyes to look
upon old stories and interpret them in new ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Readers may or may not come away with the same
interpretation of Bragg as Hess posits, but it is hard to argue with his final assessment of the general:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Bragg was a fascinating mixture of good
and bad qualities; his impact on Confederate history was enormous, and we are
still grappling with it."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly
Hess makes no claim on having the last word about his subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good historians never do.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">______________________________________</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (</span><a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">www.cwrtdc.org</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-27972069085514120392016-09-16T05:50:00.002-07:002016-10-19T07:18:14.407-07:00<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">A Field Guide to Antietam: </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>Experiencing the Battlefield</em></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>through Its History, Places, and People</em></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Carol Reardon & Tom Vossler</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">University of North Carolina Press, 2016, 360 pp., $23.00</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Review by Gordon Berg</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></strong><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler set a new
standard for field guides with their <a href="http://www.uncpress.unc.edu/browse/book_detail?title_id=3256" target="_blank">earlier publication</a> about
the Battle of Gettysburg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have
maintained the same high quality for a similar guide on Antietam, the battle
that changed the Union's war aims from merely preserving the nation as it was <i>ante
bellum</i> to include emancipating four million slaves, a change that
fundamentally altered the essence of American democracy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The importance of the battle is matched by
the quality of the narrative, maps, and illustrations that make this guide
informative and easy to use by experienced battlefield trampers and novices
alike.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQqQttCBwouKkIYj0JRzQTdRn5djQHQVUOm0exLUojXOTjaiAWrlCHOftZeiaZc1M_10n8jx5v4UiJLet1VTY-MkbueO5rvD1q0rQL_E_EH8dcRcBKN8MOnWnFxLbAefsEONONDu-G7Ho/s1600/Field+Guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQqQttCBwouKkIYj0JRzQTdRn5djQHQVUOm0exLUojXOTjaiAWrlCHOftZeiaZc1M_10n8jx5v4UiJLet1VTY-MkbueO5rvD1q0rQL_E_EH8dcRcBKN8MOnWnFxLbAefsEONONDu-G7Ho/s320/Field+Guide.jpg" width="212" /></span></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The key to the success of this guide
lies in the six questions posed and answered by the authors:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What happened here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who fought here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who commanded here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who fell here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who lived here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What did they say about it later?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are even helpful hints on the best way
to tour the battlefield including the times and costs for accessing the battlefield
park, how to use the roads that traverse its landscape, the stops included on the
auto tour as well as others picked by the authors, and the basic etiquette appropriate
for making a visit to Antietam's hallowed ground a rewarding experience for
everyone.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The tour begins at the Visitor Center
maintained by the National Park Service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The guide then highlights twenty-one locations in and around the park
where significant action occurred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
tour concludes--appropriately for the battle that was the bloodiest day in
American history--at the Antietam National Cemetery, the final resting place
for 4,766 Civil War dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In between,
the guide escorts visitors and readers to places bearing names like Nickodemus
Heights, the Mumma Farm, the Dunker Church, the West Woods, Rohrback's Bridge,
the Sunken Road, Boteler's Ford, and other locations that have become iconic in
Civil War historiography.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">President Abraham Lincoln visited
Sharpsburg, the Maryland town nearest the battlefield, two weeks after the
fighting there concluded. The Union
victory, although not conclusive, allowed him to announce the preliminary
Emancipation Proclamation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the
authors, "the results of this battle recalibrated the political foundation
for understanding and fighting this war."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their fine battlefield guide recalibrates our appreciation for its
continuing legacy.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">______________________________________</span></div>
<div align="center" dir="ltr">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="border: currentcolor;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (</span><a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">www.cwrtdc.org</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-84496749562226576672016-06-06T15:01:00.001-07:002016-06-06T15:01:55.912-07:00<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The Civil War on the Mississippi:</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>Union Sailors, Gunboat Captains, and the Campaign To Control the River</em></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Barbara Brooks Tomblin</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The University Press of Kentucky, 2016, 372 pp., $50.00</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">From the
outset of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and his military staff knew that controlling
the Mississippi River was vital to defeating the Confederacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But to do so, the Union would need a new kind
of navy, a "brown water" navy with new kinds of ships that could ply
the notoriously fickle Father of Waters.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKR2V6dkFfXybYKrrpKM_aV9TFlzBmSr3miytc9jwO4AaJsLtsRNaIahZcZUZJi7c8CatTBK8YtJKa77BdK4WTAesuFPBcUPJamDuo1vfmrlgSxJuMW_B4rTrPILPBlxn-6pmcanFibXMQ/s1600/untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKR2V6dkFfXybYKrrpKM_aV9TFlzBmSr3miytc9jwO4AaJsLtsRNaIahZcZUZJi7c8CatTBK8YtJKa77BdK4WTAesuFPBcUPJamDuo1vfmrlgSxJuMW_B4rTrPILPBlxn-6pmcanFibXMQ/s320/untitled.png" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">That's the story Barbara Tomblin tells
from the Union Navy perspective, adroitly using a wealth of letters, diaries,
and memoirs written by commodores, captains, and ordinary blue jackets.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">These
are not uncharted waters that Tomblin navigates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since Virgil Carrington Jones chronicled
operations on the western waters, others have followed, concentrating on
various aspects of naval and combined army/navy campaigns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomblin herself has been sailing these waters
since her dissertation days, and while she doesn't offer a new analysis of the
military, her encyclopedic knowledge of the Union sailors and their experiences
makes her narrative flow with clarity and confidence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">At first, the Western
Flotilla was a mongrel assortment of converted river packets and leftovers from
the Mexican War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were officered by
a few, often reluctant, career naval officers, guided by some experienced
pilots, and crewed by a motley amalgam of river men, new recruits, and, quite
often, reluctant army volunteers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whipping men and ships into an efficient fighting force fell to
Commodore Andrew Hull Foote, an old salt described by one of his captains as
"not a man of striking physical appearance, but there was a sailor-like
heartiness and frankness about him."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Together with another man not of striking physical appearance -- Ulysses
S. Grant -- they began to change Union military fortunes and make a navy master
of the Mississippi and other western rivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By the end of the war, the Mississippi was awash with an armada of
ironclads, timberclads, mortar barges, Ellet Rams, and Pook Turtles that became
part of the mightiest navy in the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The life of a sailor, whether blue
water or brown, leaves a lot of free time between watches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomblin has found some of the most prolific
and literate of them and lets their words carry much of the narrative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Captain Henry Walke, commander first of the
Tyler and later of the Carondelet and Lafayette chronicles Belmont, Fort Henry,
Fort Donelson, and Island Number 10 as seen from the pilot house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Irish-born seaman John G. Morison kept a
journal throughout his wartime service and his gunner's description of the
Carondelet's encounter with the powerful CSS Arkansas on July 14, 1862, is both
accurate and descriptive. "She mounted ten heavy guns, three on each side
and two forward and aft, Morison wrote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"Altogether she was a mighty unpleasant looking critter to be
closing you up and at the same time throwing solid shot through you."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
Battle of Memphis was strictly a navy show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Commodore Charles H. Davis's squadron, although outnumbered two-to-one,
thoroughly bested the Confederate River Defense Force.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fourteen year old seaman George Yost, aboard
the Cairo, reported "The battle lasted about 1 1/2 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last boat was captured at 7
A.M."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mound City crewman Symmes
Browne proudly told his fiancee "The Mississippi is comparatively open,
and there is no more fighting for the gunboats."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">B</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">rowne's prediction was premature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was much more work for the gunboats and
Tomblin provides detailed descriptions of the first Vicksburg Campaign,
Arkansas Post and Fort Hindman, Steele's Bayou, Yazoo Pass, Port Hudson, Grand
Gulf, and the final blockade and siege of Vicksburg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She concedes that "Service in the
brown-water navy was not glamorous duty" but critical to to the success of
Union strategic plans that would eventually win the war.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">______________________________________</span></div>
<div align="center" dir="ltr">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="border: currentcolor;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (</span><a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">www.cwrtdc.org</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></span></span></div>
</div>
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</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-37336966968373658142015-11-24T12:01:00.001-08:002016-08-13T22:52:40.681-07:00<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Editor's Note: As Gordon Berg often reminds our group, there are books about related topics that Civil War buffs would enjoy. Consistent with that spirit, included is the following review of a book about the Battle of Waterloo, which provides a overview of certain misconceptions about the length of the war, the problems (and benefits) with Napoleonic tactics, and the key errors made in the movement of troops, some of which have analogues in the Civil War.</span></span><br />
<strong style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></strong>
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Waterloo: The Battle of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b>
<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">By Bernard Cornwell</strong><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Published by William Collins, 352 pp., UK </span>£<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">25.00, Can. $44.99</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></strong>
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Review by Carl Frank</span></strong></div>
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As an initial matter, I recommend that you only buy the
hardback edition. Don't even think of downloading it in electronic form. This is a gloriously handsome book with with
far more color (excuse me, colour) plates and maps than in similar works. For
example, it includes Lady Elizabeth Butler's "Scotland Forever" (see <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Scotland_Forever!.jpg" target="_blank">wikimedia/wikipedia link</a>), though Cornwell explains it is inaccurate.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Such "Saxon Tales" storytelling of a Napoleonic
battle isn't for everyone; it is marred upon occasion by over-dramatic
storytelling hardly necessary for the most consequential land battle of the
first half of the 19th Century (and perhaps the entire Century). I have a feeling this book will annoy more
knowledgeable readers, but it is a good basic introduction, and a wonderful
reference for those of us old enough to have bookcases.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZorzaW1YlDc7tijxilleD3sxlLkB4n9JeGPYAA8I6LCe1z2roL4o989VMxNmIUCsudI3uLZ0QgUDmPZ71aCkMQC_AIQeJwXcPM7Bm8R7z6akDe4npzCUJVI2lp6eKtI6xsbnHns-AZewg/s1600/waterloo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZorzaW1YlDc7tijxilleD3sxlLkB4n9JeGPYAA8I6LCe1z2roL4o989VMxNmIUCsudI3uLZ0QgUDmPZ71aCkMQC_AIQeJwXcPM7Bm8R7z6akDe4npzCUJVI2lp6eKtI6xsbnHns-AZewg/s400/waterloo.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
My prior familiarity with Waterloo came in two or three
biographies of Napoleon. So I'll have to read another to see whether the
pattycake approach obscured fact. For me, the key insight was Cornwell's
"scissors, paper, stone" analogy ("rock, paper, scissors"
in North America) to Napoleonic land warfare: cavalry could attack infantry,
whose defense was the square, which was vulnerable to artillery--but to win,
the timing of the attack had to be perfect. Napoleon's and Marshal Ney's
wasn't. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p><br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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"They had expected a swift victory over the ragged
armies of Revolutionary France, but instead they sparked a world war which saw
both Washington and Moscow burned."<o:p></o:p></div>
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"A few weeks before Waterloo[, the Duke of Wellington]
was walking in a Brussels park with Thomas Creevey, a British parliamentarian,
who rather anxiously asked the Duke about the expected campaign. A red-coated
British infantryman was staring at the park's statues and the Duke pointed at
the man. 'There', he said, 'there. It all depends upon that article whether we
do the business or not. Give me enough of it, and I am sure.'"<o:p></o:p></div>
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French officer Captain Pierre Cardon was summoned along with
all the infantry regiment. The stood in two ranks "asking each other what
was going on? What was there? In the end we were filled with worry. [Then, his
Colonel appeared] holding in his hands, what? You would not guess in a hundred
years. . . Our eagle, under which we had marched so many times to victory and
which the brave Colonel had hidden inside the mattress of his bed. . . . At the
sight of the cherished standard cries of 'Vive l'Empereur' could be heard;
soldiers and officers, all overwhelmed, wanted not only to see, but to embrace
and touch it; this incident made every eye flow with tears of emotion… we have
promised to die beneath our eagle for the country and Napoleon."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Napoleon believed he could push the Prussians around, then turn
his attack to the British. It was all going to plan and the Emperor would take
breakfast in Brussels's Laeken Palace on Saturday morning.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Except Ney had still not captured Quatre-Bras."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Alarmed, the Emperor delayed the attack until he discovers the
identity of these newly arrived troops. They turn out to be his own men, but in
the wrong place, “so a messenger rides to d'Erlon ordering him to turn
northwards and assault the Prussian flanks, but just then yet another courier
arrives, this one from Marshal Ney, demanding that d'Erlon return to
Quatre-Bras immediately.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Facing two conflicting orders, D'Erlon assumes that Ney is
in the more dire straits, so turns his Corps around and retraces his steps for
Quatre-Bras. The Emperor launches his great attack, but by the time he realizes
d'Erlon is not engaged, the 1st Corps has vanished. Many say Waterloo was lost because 22,000 men spent Friday marching between two
battlefields and helping neither. D'Erlon “could have swung either the battle
at Ligny or the fighting at Quatre-Bras, had achieved nothing. It is the French
equivalent of the Grand Old Duke of York, except d'Erlon spent his day halfway
between two fights, neither up nor down, and his prevarication denied Napoleon
the crushing victory he expected."<o:p></o:p></div>
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"[The Duke of Wellington] was not loved as Blücher was,
nor worshipped like Napoleon, but he was respected. He could be sharply witty;
long after the wars were over, some French officers pointedly turned their
backs on him in Paris, for which rudeness a woman apologized. 'Don't worry,
Madame,' the Duke said, 'I've seen their backs before.'"<o:p></o:p></div>
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At Hougoumont, Macdonell, saved the Allied right flank by
realizing that killing Legros, the French Sous-Lieutenant who axed-open the
door to that house, was irrelevant. The
key to the fighting was to shut the gate, denying entry to any more of the
French. So he and a small group bypassed
Legros and his men and forced the huge gates shut. The heaved against the pressure from outside
while Legros tried to kill them inside. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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“Wellington once remarked that closing the gates [at
Hougoumont] was the decisive act of battle and, later, when an eccentric
clergyman wanted to arrange an annuity for 'the bravest man at Waterloo' and
requested the Duke to make such a difficult judgement, Wellington chose
Macdonnell. Macdonnell, in turn, insisted on sharing the money with Sergeant
James Graham, an Irishman who had been at his side in those decisive moments,
the pair did receive the annuity for two years before the generous clergyman
lost his money, but it is significant that Wellington, forced to make a
decision, nominated Macdonnell and, by association, Graham."<o:p></o:p></div>
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At his point, Napoleon now faces a dilemma. Wellington's
army is in front of him, and he knows a heavy force of Prussians was
approaching to his right. The two,
together, greatly outnumber him. Yet he
still thought he could defeat them in detail.
“This morning we had ninety chances of winning,' the Emperor told Soult,
'we still have sixty."<o:p></o:p></div>
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French cavalry climbed the crest of the ridge, and they may
have thought victory was imminent—bodies lay everywhere, and an enormous
baggage train was heading toward the rear.
But then redcoats popped up from below the military crest of the ridge –
a Wellington favorite – and formed square.
This was almost perfect protection from cavalry, but vulnerable to
French infantry volleys. Scissors,
paper, stone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“The British were not running away. Wellington was not
disengaging and trying to withdraw his forces. Yes there were men and wagons on
the road, but most of the British-Dutch army was still on the ridge and they
were ready to fight. . . So it was horsemen against Infantry, and every
cavalryman must have known what Captain Duthilt had written, that 'it is
difficult, if not impossible, for the best cavalry to break infantry who are
formed in squares', so while at first the cavalrymen seemed to have pierced the
British-Dutch line, instead they were faced with the worst obstacle a horseman
could encounter. The wide plateau of the ridge top was packed with squares, at
least twenty of them, in a rough chequer pattern so that if a horseman rode
safely past one square he was immediately faced with another, and then
encountered more beyond. And each square
bristled with bayonets and spat musket fire.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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And then the British cavalry joined the battle.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"[T]hat was the great disadvantage of the formation the
French had chosen to use. A column made of successive battalions in line looked
magnificent and, given the chance, might have spread into a formidable line to
give devastating volley fire, but it would take a battalion in a three-rank
line a lot of time to form square, and they would be hammered by the battalions
in front and behind while they did. There was neither space nor time to form
square. Major Frederick Clarke, who charged with the Scotland Greys, reckons
the enemy was trying to form square, but 'the first and nearest square had not
time to complete their formation, and the Greys charged through it.' So the
British heavy cavalry drove into the panicking columns and [Louis] Canler tells
what happened: ' A real carnage followed. Everyone was separated from his
comrades and fought for his own life. Sabers and bayonets slashed at the
shaking flesh for we were too close packed to use our firearms.' . . .There was
no time to form square, so his unit was cut to ribbons."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Artillery could have smashed the British squares, had Ney
managed to bring more guns close to the line, or deployed French infantry. “That was the scissors, paper and stone
reality of Napoleonic warfare. If you could force an enemy to form a square you
could bring a line of infantry against it and overwhelm it with musket fire,
and very late in the afternoon Marshal Ney at last tried that tactic, ordering
8,000 infantry to attack the British squares. . . Their task was to deploy into
line and then smother the British squares with musketry, but the British would
only be in square if the cavalry threatened and the French cavalry was
exhausted. They had charged again and again, they had shown extraordinary
courage and too many of them were now dead on the hillside. There was no charge
left in them."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Eight thousand men were defeated at best, dead at worst, in
minutes. The French fled down the
slope, away from Waterloo, bypassing dying men and horses, and grounds littered
withed discarded cavalry swords, scabbards and breastplates. And blood.
After that, the famous French "Imperial
Guard” tried its turn, but also was too late.
The charged straight up the center of the hill, to win or die. <o:p></o:p></div>
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"Wellington rode back towards the centre of his line.
Leeks had seen him just before the 52nd marched out of line to destroy and
Emperor's dreams. The Duke's clothes, Leeke said, 'consisted of a blue surtout
coat, white kerseymere pantaloons, and Hessian boots. He wore a sword with a
waist belt, but no sash.' The plain blue coat and black cocked hat made Wellington
instantly recognizable to his men, and now, as the French began to flee, he
watched from the ridge's centre for a few moments. He saw an enemy in panic, a
retreating enemy that was dissolving into chaos. He watched them, then was
heard to mutter, 'In for a penny, in for a pound'. He took off his cocked hat
and men say that just then a slanting ray of evening sunlight came through the
clouds to illuminate him on the ridge he had defended all day. He waved the hat
towards the enemy. He waved it three times, and it was a signal for the whole
allied army to advance."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Waterloo was an allied victory. Wellington would never have stood
his ground had he not thought the Prussians would appear at his left wing.
Blücher would never have marched over rock and stream had he thought Wellington
would cut and run. True, the Prussians were
late to the party, but that turned out well for the Allies, fooling Napoleon
into believing he could defeat each army in detail. As it turned out, when the Allied forces
joined, “The Emperor was not just defeated, he was routed."<o:p></o:p></div>
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"An easier question to answer than 'who won the
battle?' Is 'who lost the battle?', and the answer must be Napoleon. The Duke
and Blücher both offered leadership, but Napoleon left the conduct of the battle
to Marshal Ney, who, though braver than most men, did little more than hurl
troops against the most skillful defensive general of the age. The French had
the time and the men to break Wellington's line, but they failed, partly
because the Duke defended so cleverly, and partly because the French never
coordinated an all-arms assault on the allied line. They delayed the start of
the battle on a day when Wellington was praying for time. They wasted men in a
time-consuming assault that lasted much of the afternoon. And why Napoleon
entrusted the battle's conduct to Ney is a mystery; Ney was certainly brave,
but the Emperor damned him as 'too stupid to be able to succeed', so why rely
on him? And, when the French did achieve their one great success, the capture
of La Haie Sainte, which enabled them to occupy the forward slope of
Wellington's ridge, the Emperor refused to reinforce the centre and so gave the
Duke time to bring up his own reinforcements. Finally, when the Imperial Guard
did attack, it was too few and too late, and by that time, the Prussians were
on the French flank and threatening their rear."</div>
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That’s Corrwell’s story of Waterloo—Rock, Paper,
Scissors. And timing. This is no book for a Napoleonic expert. But an excellent start for anyone wanting to
dip a toe into the end of the last great French vs. Britain war. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-6214260381531453722015-06-01T15:21:00.002-07:002015-11-14T23:43:26.586-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The Battle of Ezra Church </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">and the Struggle for Atlanta</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , "serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Earl J. Hess</strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">University of North Carolina Press, 2015, 304 pp., $35.00</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Few
historians possess more knowledge of the terrain of Civil War battlefields and
the tactics employed on them by the contending forces than does Earl J.
Hess. From Pea Ridge to Petersburg, Hess
has studied the deadly game of feint, maneuver, attack and defense. He brings his lifetime of expertise to the
deadly red dirt dance macabre performed by Union and Confederate forces in the
campaign for Atlanta. He rightly
concludes that the Battle of Ezra Church, fought July 28, 1864, was an intense,
but underappreciated, battle in that campaign.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ_PV2Oj17kRO_qCYjTKtzigk9BYyA4XRKCZQzf2YXXpY4OJpQO6eoVYnsHf1-Afpv-uPhFPrdBzgjLhmxKbaC7MZP3nRbFRbUFato6Io9P3KptuZvUqlXpvOorADqcENdX3EsP8p0Gk6B/s1600/Ezra+Church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ_PV2Oj17kRO_qCYjTKtzigk9BYyA4XRKCZQzf2YXXpY4OJpQO6eoVYnsHf1-Afpv-uPhFPrdBzgjLhmxKbaC7MZP3nRbFRbUFato6Io9P3KptuZvUqlXpvOorADqcENdX3EsP8p0Gk6B/s400/Ezra+Church.jpg" width="262" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hess divides the Atlanta Campaign into
two parts: the first from Chattanooga to the Chattahoochee River pitting Union
Major General William T. Sherman against the ever-cautious Confederate General
Joseph E. Johnston; and the second south of the river to the gates of Atlanta
between Sherman and newly appointed and offensive-minded Confederate commander John B. Hood. Ezra Church was the third
engagement between Sherman and Hood but, as Hess pointedly observes, "the
primary tactical context was the domain of division, brigade, and regimental
commanders." Although generally
considered a decisive Union victory, Hess maintains "The Confederates came
closer to victory at Ezra Church than they had a right to expect" and only
the grit of a thin blue line on the Union right possibly prevented a decidedly
different outcome. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In setting the stage for describing the battle,
Hess emphasizes the many command changes that occurred in both armies, somewhat
unusual in the midst of an ongoing campaign.
"The shake-ups in blue and gray," he writes, "were now
over just hours before the battle of Ezra Church began." Both commanding generals had good, if
somewhat complex, plans. But, Hess
reminds, "all plans are dependent on the players and the decisions they
make at critical junctures in the flow of events." And the major players--Union Major General
Oliver O. Howard, just appointed the new commander of the Army of the
Tennessee, and Confederate Lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee, who took command of
Hood's old corps only the day before the battle-- were new and inexperienced at
the tasks before them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sherman planned a flanking movement to
the right, a favorite move that he employed with success against Johnston. The Army of the Tennessee would move from the
far left of the Union forces and swing around to the west, aiming for the last
open rail line south of Atlanta at East Point.
In spite of strenuous efforts at secrecy, Hood learned that the Federals
were on the move. Hood was no Joe
Johnston and "The army commander intended to strike at Sherman before the
Federals could reach the vital rail link between Atlanta and Macon." Hood knew if Sherman broke this lifeline, he
would have to abandon Atlanta. The focal
point of Hood's planning was The Lick Skillet Road at the end of the
Confederate defensive line. That road
intersected with a road that ran past Ezra Church, just three miles south of
Atlanta. Stephen Lee had the
responsibility of holding that vital road juncture while other Confederate forces
would attack the Union flank and rear.
Hood planned to open the ball the morning of July 29.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But, after heavy skirmishing, Lee jumped
the gun. Against explicit orders, he
attacked on the 28th. Hess calls it a
tragic mistake and comes down hard on Lee.
"He [Lee] had scant information about the main Union position and
did not know the terrain," Hess writes.
"He did not even know his own troops, and he did not bother to
inform Hood of his decision, much less ask his advice about the
matter." Hess concludes that Lee
"failed to obey his orders and exercised far too much latitude in taking a
course of action that would kill and wound thousands of his men in a
battlefield endeavor with dubious prospects." To make matters worse, Federal observation posts
detected the movement of the large Confederate force and "had sufficient
warning of trouble to be ready for it."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Battle narratives, of which Hess is a
master, can easily devolve into a litany of names and numbers. Good maps and lots of them can mitigate this
tendency. As good as he is, Hess could
have benefited from additional, and more descriptive, maps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Most historians characterize Ezra Church
as a clear-cut Union victory, and the body count bears that out. Of just over 9,000 engaged, Howard lost 632
men. On the other hand, of almost 11,500
Confederates involved, Lee lost about 3,000.
Nevertheless, Hess agrees with Henry Wright of the 6th Iowa, who argued
Ezra Church "was the most stubbornly contest and bloodiest battlefield of
the campaign." Hess maintains that
"[d]espite the disjointed nature of Lee's attacks, the Confederates mostly
conducted the battle with a deal of spirit and came closer to success than one
had a right to expect." The
soldiers who fought there--both blue and gray--would probably agree.</span><span style="font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt" , serif; font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">______________________________________</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-5295725344571877462015-04-15T11:39:00.004-07:002015-04-15T11:39:42.396-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Sherman's Ghosts </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soldiers, Civilians, and the American Way of War</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Matthew Carr</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The New Press, 2015, 352 pp., $26.95</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Popular
military historian Victor Davis Hanson opines that "the entire notion of
American strategic doctrine," right up to the present, shows the distinct
influence of a mercurial, fiery-tempered Union general who cut a devastating
swath of destruction through the South during the Civil War. Ever since, William Tecumseh Sherman has
remained one of the most revered, despised, controversial, and influential
military figures in American history.
Matthew Carr declares that his intention is to decipher "What
exactly did that strategy consist of and to what extent have America's subsequent
wars followed the template that Sherman created."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipAKaDfQaXhMNQd83qwxP_kx1t9FV8LUqPO5HYBvsYwQRXOG-4KiDtle-CWdX44Q0F6Hmm1iMQiq2_ol1WShSLMIImQaHxfzzPRkMiESfRSNTRBwIWub3iyF6Bx3aSX4v_5F1ibN9gcOE4/s1600/sherm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipAKaDfQaXhMNQd83qwxP_kx1t9FV8LUqPO5HYBvsYwQRXOG-4KiDtle-CWdX44Q0F6Hmm1iMQiq2_ol1WShSLMIImQaHxfzzPRkMiESfRSNTRBwIWub3iyF6Bx3aSX4v_5F1ibN9gcOE4/s1600/sherm.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
pursuit of his quest, Carr has written a unique, albeit oddly
frustrating, book. He clearly is not
interested in writing a conventional military biography or a "myth and
memory" exegesis. Indeed, much of
the book deals with military events occurring long after Sherman's death. Carr find's Sherman's ghosts haunting
American military policy and actions from the Spanish American War to Iraq and
Afghanistan as part of what historian Russell Weigley has called "the
American way of war." Throughout
the book, the reader is challenged to consider whether Sherman is the
"Great Destroyer" and maker of war on innocent women and children as portrayed
in Southern Lost Cause mythology or "the first modern general" on a
moral crusade using methods that sought to avoid needless slaughter of his
soldiers while adumbrating modernity's propensity to wage war on civilians in
an attempt to break their morale behind the lines, thus weakening military operations
at the front. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or perhaps Sherman was that rare
personage who defies categories because, in fact, he is greater than the sum of
his parts. Carr posits a bold conclusion
and uses a broad landscape in his attempt to establish the roots of America's
modern war machine in Sherman's invasion of the old Confederacy. For Carr, "Sherman embodies a very
specific use of military force as an instrument of coercion and intimidation
that has often replayed by the U.S. military and also by other
armies." Understanding the
evolution of this doctrine, Carr maintains, can "tell us a great deal, not
only about the Civil War and American war making, but also about the evolution
of modern war into attacks of unprecedented violence against civilians."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first third of <i>Sherman's Ghosts </i>summarizes
his <i>modus operandi. </i>In a
September 1863 letter to Union Chief-of-Staff Henry W. Halleck, Sherman
declared his intention to wage war not only against opposing armies but also
against Southerners who "stand by, mere lookers-on in this domestic
tragedy, they have no right to immunity, protection, or share in the final
results." Clearly, warfare
inflicted upon civilians was nothing new; it had been practiced at least since
the Trojan War. Indeed, Zachary Taylor's
volunteers savaged civilians during his invasion of Mexico in 1847. Sherman, however, made destruction of
civilian property and its effect on morale an integral part of his overall
military strategy. Property, not lives,
was Sherman's objective.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part Two of Carr's book attempts to deal
with Sherman's legacy in the 20th century and beyond. Here's where things get muddled. In America's first post-Sherman war (leaving
aside the genocide committed against Native Americans on the western plains) occurred in the Far East against another people of color. The Philippine War of 1898-1902, Carr posits,
"bore the direct imprint of Sherman's campaigns in terms of both strategy
and personnel." This may be true in
terms of Sherman's harsh tactics against Southern guerrillas early in the war,
but it certainly is a stretch to compare the wanton destruction of property and
torture of fighters, suspects, and sympathizers of the armed <i>insurrectos </i>of
Emilio Aguinaldo's Army of Liberation to Sherman's march through Georgia and
the Carolinas. It's hard for even
Sherman's harshest critics to imagine him saying (as Brigadier General Jacob H.
Smith alleged to a subordinate during "pacification" operations on Samar
and Leyte): " I want no prisoners. I
wish you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn, the better it will
please me." The perversion of
Sherman's dictum that "war is hell" is evident in the
statistics. In the last major military
operation of the war, 4200 American soldiers died. In contrast, 16,000 to 20,000 guerrilla
fighters died. Civilian deaths, Carr
maintains, "has been variously estimated from 200,000 to a million, either
as a direct result of military operations or from war-related hunger and
disease." This may have become
America's way of war, but it certainly wasn't Sherman's.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carr rightly maintains that "The
particular hellishness of the Vietnam War owed more to the innovations in
U.S. counterinsurgency strategy than it did to Sherman's campaigns." There, like in the Philippines, body counts
and kill ratios were the determinants of success against an enemy fighting an
unconventional war. Even in so-called
conventional wars, Sherman's strategy of destroying an enemy's economic
infrastructure, clearly his intent in Georgia and the Carolinas, became twisted
in America's military psyche. In an
attempt to avoid the bloody stalemate on the Western Front in World War I,
military strategists sought an economic solution similar to Sherman in Georgia
and Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley.
British military theorist B.H Liddell Hart, a Sherman fan, authored <i>The
Strategy of Indirect Approach </i>and opined that Sherman was the first modern
general to fully grasp this strategy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sherman equated his campaigns in 1864-65
as great raids, emphasizing movement and the capture of strategic economic and
command-and-control positions over the destruction of enemy armies. Sherman's model was Confederate General
Nathan Bedford Forrest. Carr describes
how Sherman became the model for World War II tank commanders Erwin Rommel for
Germany and George S. Patton for the U.S.
But Sherman's goal of breaking civilian morale translated into wholesale civilian
slaughter at the hands of World War II's air marshals, such as Sir Arthur
"Bomber" Harris in Great Britain and General Curtis LeMay in the
U.S. Their legacy became Dresden and
Tokyo where tens of thousands of civilians died under their high explosives and
napalm. Again, not Sherman's way of war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carr has written an anti-military
military treatise. What holds true from
Sherman's time to the present, Carr concludes, is "the continued
acceptance of this principle of collective responsibility by both state armies
and 'non-state' actors." Sherman's
willingness to wage against civilians as well as armies is his real legacy for
modern warfare. How it will morph in
future conflicts is limited only by man's ability to imagine and conceive ways
of inflicting destruction and death.
Sherman's ghosts will continue to haunt because, as he prophetically
said, war is "part of the grand machinery by which this world is
governed." War is part of us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-24189034153525368452014-11-03T19:04:00.000-08:002014-11-03T19:09:47.465-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">A Gunner in Lee's Army: The Civil War Letters of Thomas Henry Carter</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Edited by Graham T. Dozier</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">University of North Carolina Press, 2014, 368 pp., $39.95</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thomas Henry Carter epitomized Southern
privilege and pride. Scion of an old and
wealthy Virginia family and related to several others, Carter received a
top-flight medical education and then came home to manage the family's 1,200
acre King William County plantation and oversee its 100-plus slaves. He married well, made the plantation
profitable, and enjoyed Tidewater's lively and convivial social life. Then the war came. When Virginia seceded, Carter committed his
energy and talents to the service of his Commonwealth and the Confederacy. In May, 1861, he raised an artillery battery,
rose from captain to colonel, and became one of the Army of Northern Virginia's
senior artillerists. For four years, he
fought along side some of the Confederacy's most prominent soldiers and
candidly commented on their personalities in his letters to his wife and
partner in all things, Susan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Graham Dozier has meticulously edited
and compiled 100 of these poignantly written and highly insightful
letters. Devoid of fire-eater rhetoric
and political ideology, they give life to the myriad experiences Carter endured
during the war in the Eastern theater.
Through them, Dozier concludes, "Carter reveals himself to be a
thoughtful observer of the people around him and of the events which he is a
witness or participant." </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "TimesNewRomanPSMT","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Carter's opinionated letters begin with
his first posting near Fairfax Station on September
27, 1861. In quick succession, he
concludes that Adjutant General Samuel Cooper "is an imbecile," and
commanding General Joseph E. Johnston "is a man of splendid abilities
& every inch a soldier but I take it he is lazy if I may judge from the
want of system evinced on every side."
Not all of Carter's observations were so critical. At the Battle of South Mountain on September 14,
1862, he comments on the conduct of Colonel John Brown Gordon. Carter maintains that Rode's Brigade would
have been destroyed "but for the gallantry of Gordon who kept his Regt
under perfect control when every other Regt broke & fled, marching it so
skillfully under a terrible fire as to cover the retreat."<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as the war dragged on, the pragmatic
Carter realized the army and the Confederacy's political leadership were
deteriorating. In October 1864, he
described the inglorious aftermath of the Battle of Cedar Creek and the fate of
the army's supply train at the hands of Union cavalry. "Although thousands of infantry marched
on each side of the train in a disorganized state," he lamented,
"none could be induced to offer resistance to the enemy." He likened the soldiers to a mob rather than
an organized body of men. By the end of
the year, Carter conceded that slaves needed to be conscripted into the army in
order to save the Confederate nation.
"The Yankees have used them successfully & so can we if their
freedom is given them when conscribed -- or enlisted," he conceded. War's end found Carter with Lee's battered
army at Appomattox Courthouse. His
artillery helped clear the Lynchburg Stage Road on the morning of April 9 and
success seemed at hand. But the arrival
of Union infantry ended any hopes of the army escaping west. On April 12, he broke camp for the last time
and headed home to an uncertain future.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Carter struggled to maintain the
plantation through the 1860s and 1870s, even starting a school to help defray
expenses. In March 1877, fortune smiled
on Tom Carter when the Virginia House of Delegates voted to appoint him the
first railroad commissioner for the Commonwealth.
He later relocated to Atlanta and served on the board of arbitration of
the Southern Railway and Steamship Association.
In 1897, Carter and his wife moved back to Virginia when he assumed the
post of proctor at the University of Virginia.
His life's partner, Susan, died in 1902 and Carter followed her six
years later. Both are buried in
Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carter never published a memoir of his
Civil War service. His letters to his
wife, therefore, served as a lasting testament to his service and his
beliefs. With language every bit as
eloquent as his subject's, Dozier's informative annotations put Carter's
wartime experiences into context. Essays
detailing Carter's early years and post-war activities provide substantive
bookends to a life well lived.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-52049393603416400702014-07-24T14:20:00.001-07:002014-07-25T07:51:14.552-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">As I Remember: </span></b><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">A Civil War Veteran Reflects on the War and Its Aftermath </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">through personal reminiscences, diaries, and correspondence. </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">From a collection of Lewis Cass White, a soldier in the 102nd Pennsylvania Volunteers</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Edited by Joseph Scopin, Jr. </strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Additional narrative by Dr. Benjamin Franklin Cooling III</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scopin Design, 2014, 184 pp., $39.95</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just when you think everything that can
be said has been said, along comes a previously unknown batch of historical
materials that puts a new light on everything.
Joseph Scopin, Jr. experienced such a moment in 2011 when he was cleaning
out the basement of an elderly relative.
Hidden among a lifetime of moldy, water-logged debris, Mr. Scopin unearthed
a bag of handwritten reminiscences, daily notes from diaries, correspondence,
speeches, newspaper clippings and photos, and other odds-and-ends belonging to
Lewis Cass White, a Civil War veteran of the 102nd Pennsylvania Infantry. No one seemed to know how the material came
to be in a Bethesda, Maryland basement and Mr.Scopin wasn't sure just what he had found.
Fortunately, he reached out to Civil War scholar Benjamin Franklin Cooling, who
did.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiWfws6obgMu8fnNcaRe4lh-uYoxyQm2ReH5aP8DEfctNn2suK3S5okFIbWINgHS6T7siEwmbBvlGqGoAJr_pJhjLKE7tVRC3a6nIjOzm3bxwLwrNlra1w60Ui2xJi7kB1KSmt9Tzo3bMY/s1600/Scopin.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiWfws6obgMu8fnNcaRe4lh-uYoxyQm2ReH5aP8DEfctNn2suK3S5okFIbWINgHS6T7siEwmbBvlGqGoAJr_pJhjLKE7tVRC3a6nIjOzm3bxwLwrNlra1w60Ui2xJi7kB1KSmt9Tzo3bMY/s1600/Scopin.bmp" height="400" width="307" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What sets the White collection apart
from the papers of hundreds of other Civil War veterans dutifully annotated and
edited by scholars almost from the time the Blue and Gray guns went
silent? White's brief obituary in the </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Butler
County Record </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of Aug. 31, 1916, gives no hint of the rich life lived by this
young western Pennsylvania school teacher who, like tens of thousands of other
young men of his time, volunteered to participate in this nation's defining
event. The richly illustrated, carefully
crafted volume produced by Mr. Scopin, an experienced art director, coupled with
the extensive contextual narrative supplied by Cooling, explains why a bag of
19th century ephemera, much of it reproduced in stunning clarity, deserves the
attention of serious students of the Civil War. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It turns out that the school master was a pretty
good writer, too. The transcriptions of
his yearly diaries and most of the daily entries from which they were taken
show White to be a cool and careful observer of what it was like to be a common
soldier in the Army of the Potomac. Many
of the daily entries began "Got up and cooked," or "Stood guard
as usual," or "We attended the usual duties of the day," the
mind-numbing routines that filled most soldiers' days. Even his Salem Church entry for May 4, 1863, about the retreat of the Union Army after the disaster at Chancellorsville,
describes events in a very matter-of-fact way, typical of a battle-tested
veteran. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i> We laid in line near all
day. In Eve we marched round to </i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">front, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">then to the left, where we were left in line and</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rest </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of the army </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fell back over the river. Regt came</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> near </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">being </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">taken prisoners. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had to run for
our lives. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Some </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of Co. </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>and Regt were
taken.</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">White lost his right hand
at Cedar Creek and he spent the last months of the war recovering in a hospital. In Philadelphia's Christian
Street Hospital, he recorded the news of Lincoln's assassination on April 15,
1865. "We were surprised and filled
with sorrow and sadness by the news of of the death of President Lincoln,"
White wrote, "by the vile hand of a villain, a fiend in human shape."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the war, White bought property on
the old Fort Stevens battlefield and lived near where his regiment stood
picket. Life after the war for the
one-handed veteran was better than for many disfigured soldiers. He married and soon secured a position as a
clerk in the Pension Bureau in Washington DC. There he lived for the last 50 years of his life. But his connection to old army comrades
through the Grand Army of the Republic and other fraternal organizations led
White to revisit one of the war's seminal moments: the Battle of Fort Stevens
on July 11-12, 1864. That battle was the only time a sitting president ever came under enemy
fire, and some of the documents Mr. Scopin
found shed new light on that oft told tale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">White's regiment, the 102nd
Pennsylvania, was one of the Sixth Corps units sent from Petersburg, VA to
bolster the undermanned defenses north of Washington when Confederate General
Jubal Early's Army of the Valley paid an unexpected visit. In a history of the regiment White wrote just
after the war, he recalled Lincoln's visit to the fort as well as the wounding
of Surgeon Cornelius Crawford who was standing near the president. More importantly, correspondence to White
from old comrades disputes what historians have long written about where
Lincoln was standing when fired upon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">White was a founding member of the Fort Stevens/Lincoln Memorial
Association dedicated to preserving the remnants of the rapidly deteriorating
fort. Materials from that organization
are reproduced in the book. In 1900, he
decided to write a history of the battle and called on fellow veterans to
supply details of their experiences during those fateful days. One of those contacted was Surgeon Crawford
who replied with a detailed letter and a diagram of where the principles stood
when he was wounded. According to Dr. Crawford, he was on the parapet and was shot about 5:30 p.m. on July 12. Lincoln, however, was not on the fort's parapet (where most
historians have placed him), but within the fort, standing behind Sixth Corps
commander, General Horatio Wright, who was prone on the parapet, observing the
enemy. Dr. Crawford remembers the close
proximity of the shot "impelled the President to involuntarily diminish
the height of his personage, which he did by suddenly crooking his knees."
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This scenario was confirmed in a series
of letters White received, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">beginning in 1911,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from George E. Jewitt, a member of the 13th Michigan
Battery, He remembers
that "Mr. Lincoln was standing inside the fort behind these officers, the
top of the parapet coming up to about his breast." After the shot that wounded Dr. Crawford, Jewitt
claims Lincoln "picked up an ammunition box and sat down on it, the top of
the parapet just about covering the top of his tall silk hat." Veteran James W. Latta opines that the story
of Lincoln on the parapet originated in the multi-volume Life of Lincoln
written by John Nicolay, one of his personal secretaries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which story is true is asking the wrong
question. History is an ever unfolding
kaleidoscope of incidents probably imperfectly recalled from the depths of
fading memories. For historians, the
quest is not in finding the answer; it's in the gathering of previously
unexamined materials or taking a different look at what's already been
found. The Lewis Cass White collection
demands that we do both.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-64594552683499195562014-07-07T09:03:00.000-07:002014-07-07T09:09:47.377-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Stonewall's Prussian Mapmaker: </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Journals of Captain Oscar Hinrichs</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Edited by Richard B. Williams</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">University of North Carolina Press, 2014, 392 pp., $45.00</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmKVV0ZMIzp3RtRM9qmqRDsLSzJ0IA3YgMzSmqNcv2Y43Y-fpK1BISXi2kAB-fx3yJ5mVnmxQUsH0da0pDAuoA5fJSQUgkYUIwqayKzEXWTi5aTBC9eGyP4KEznzaHpDQGvX1b4H6ZgnEl/s1600/conroy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Jedediah
Hotchkiss is justly famous as "Stonewall" Jackson's principal mapmaker. But almost no one has ever
heard of Oscar Hinrichs That's all
changed now, thanks to the historical sleuthing of Richard B. Williams. Historians, archivists, and researchers all
dream of stumbling across a relatively obscure, previously unpublished, primary
source that offers new perspectives on important people and events. Williams' eureka moment came in 2000 when a
Civil War memorabilia dealer tipped him off to the existence of the unpublished
diaries of Captain Oscar Hinrichs, a Prussian born engineer officer who served
the Confederacy with distinction throughout the war. An experienced researcher and manuscript
editor, Williams developed a plan-of-action to verify the journal and validate
its content. It proved to be a long and
complicated process but Williams and a host of dedicated helpers stuck to their
guns. The end-product is a treasure trove of detailed observation and candid
insight that Robert Krik's forward rightly characterizes as "an enormously
important primary source."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjioPxxVbHRz0K7AL22v4Mda5K8Vt8BMh2W24idC2e-rhBk37sfOGd-w1Y5gEH8FhIRfbsJSLCUokNrFlu2E6333fUsdqvpJfgBAaddfQXRGQkNqZtOPC-XrSeSV36dLSayQpsBzlzpxwt/s1600/mampmaker4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjioPxxVbHRz0K7AL22v4Mda5K8Vt8BMh2W24idC2e-rhBk37sfOGd-w1Y5gEH8FhIRfbsJSLCUokNrFlu2E6333fUsdqvpJfgBAaddfQXRGQkNqZtOPC-XrSeSV36dLSayQpsBzlzpxwt/s1600/mampmaker4.jpg" height="400" width="256" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Williams worked with Hinrichs' wartime
memories in two forms; a wartime transcript covering November 1860 to September
1863 and a verbatim English journal and translation of his German journal
spanning September 1863 to April 1865.
From this material, Williams has brought to life an opinionated man of
considerable intelligence, excellent education, discerning insight, and a not
inconsiderable amount of wit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Hinrichs was an infant when his parents
brought him to New York from Germany. His comfortable childhood was interrupted by the death of his mother
when he was only four. His loving North
Carolina-born stepmother, however, immersed him in the culture of her
successful Southern family and his frequent visits probably sowed the
seeds of the divided loyalties he experienced later in life. Classically educated in Europe, Hinrichs
returned to the United States in 1853 as a confident, idealistic, and ambitious
young man steeped in the skills needed for a career as an engineer. Williams' illuminating introduction concludes
that "the close relationship Oscar had with his stepmother influenced his
decision to join the Confederacy."
In a postwar essay not included in the monograph, Hinrich wrote "My
sympathies were with the people of the South, among whom I had lived so long,
and where I had many warm friends."
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> He joined the U.S. Costal Survey in December
1856 and his first assignment was to map the coast from Virginia to Georgia
would be the first of many professional Southern sojourns. When the war broke out, however, he found
himself surveying the coast of Maine.
His clandestine journey south to join the Confederacy had enough
nocturnal rendezvous, narrow escapes, and secret signs and safe houses to fill
a Hollywood screenplay. Shadowed by a
government detective after he left New York, Hinrichs and a few colleagues
headed to Baltimore. With the help of
Confederate sympathizers in southern Maryland, they crossed the Potomac River
in a skiff on New Year's Eve and entered the camp of Colonel Wade Hampton on
the first day of 1862. John Wilkes Booth
would follow nearly the same route in 1865.
Hampton quickly sent Hinrichs on to General Joseph Johnston's army
camped near Centerville, Virginia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Hinrichs' makes the purpose of his journals
clear from the beginning. He describes
them "as notes public and private of my own personal feelings and
experiences during the war" which include "my opinion at the time of measures and affairs as they occurred
to me." In the future, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hinrichs </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hopes
"they may become useful references and also records which have mostly been verified by subsequent events."
After early duty in Tidewater Virginia, Hinrichs was ordered to join
Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley in May 1862, just in time for the battles of
Cross Keys and Port Republic. He would
remain with Jackson's vaunted Second Corps throughout the war. With a true engineer's eye for topographical
detail, Hinrichs brought the same skill to his observations of men and
events. From his transcript, Hinrichs
opines that the Gettysburg campaign failed "first in not getting
possession when it was practicable of the ground commanding the Baltimore pike
and the hill contested by [Edward] Johnson.
Second the want of unity of action on the part of the attacking columns;
third, the not supporting of those columns which had effected lodgments in the
enemy's lines in a manner adequate to the occasion." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> He was equally as candid when assessing
the qualities of his fellow officers.
Hinrichs believed General D.H. Hill
"uncouth and ungentlemanly in his manner" with "a mind
narrow and shallow, he possesses no genius for command." Jackson, on the other hand, was "In
person, quiet, modest, diffident and unassuming, [Jackson] bears upon him his
honors lightly and meekly."
Hinrichs observed Jackson on battlefields from Malvern Hill to
Chancellorsville and found him "Brave to insensibility, insensible to
rashness and obstinacy, he stands firm and cool among a shower of shot and
shell which makes him stand aghast at the apparent tempting of God's mercy and
kindness." A man with a facility
for the English language like that deserves to be published. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Williams
has done an excellent job of annotating Hinrichs' journals and provides
insightful footnotes. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Appropriately,
more than a dozen maps, drawn by George Skoch, help give geographical context
to Hinrichs' rich narrative.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">This
journal should rank among the best contemporary surveys of the war in the East
from the Confederate point-of-view.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">______________________________________</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-1165518925633964042014-04-22T21:06:00.000-07:002014-04-23T09:58:59.375-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Our One Common Country: </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Abraham Lincoln and </i></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>the Hampton Roads Peace Conference of 1865</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>James B. Conroy</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lyons Press, 2014 390 pp. $27.95</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmKVV0ZMIzp3RtRM9qmqRDsLSzJ0IA3YgMzSmqNcv2Y43Y-fpK1BISXi2kAB-fx3yJ5mVnmxQUsH0da0pDAuoA5fJSQUgkYUIwqayKzEXWTi5aTBC9eGyP4KEznzaHpDQGvX1b4H6ZgnEl/s1600/conroy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On
Jan. 29, 1865, Captain Thomas Parker of Pennsylvania walked out into no-man's
land along the Petersburg, siege lines.
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There, he met Lieutenant Colonel William Hatch of Kentucky.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both men were unarmed and under flags of truce.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hatch informed the dumbfounded Parker that
three emissaries had just arrived from Richmond and wished to meet with
President Abraham Lincoln to discuss terms for ending the war.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four days later, Lincoln, traveling alone,
slipped into a carriage in front of the White House, bound for a fast steamer
destined for Hampton Roads, at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only Secretary of State William Seward knew
the purpose of Lincoln's clandestine sojourn.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus began one of the most star-crossed secret missions of the Civil
War, an audacious tale James B. Conroy tells with energy and eloquence.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmKVV0ZMIzp3RtRM9qmqRDsLSzJ0IA3YgMzSmqNcv2Y43Y-fpK1BISXi2kAB-fx3yJ5mVnmxQUsH0da0pDAuoA5fJSQUgkYUIwqayKzEXWTi5aTBC9eGyP4KEznzaHpDQGvX1b4H6ZgnEl/s1600/conroy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmKVV0ZMIzp3RtRM9qmqRDsLSzJ0IA3YgMzSmqNcv2Y43Y-fpK1BISXi2kAB-fx3yJ5mVnmxQUsH0da0pDAuoA5fJSQUgkYUIwqayKzEXWTi5aTBC9eGyP4KEznzaHpDQGvX1b4H6ZgnEl/s1600/conroy3.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Conroy, a lawyer and former DC publicist
and speechwriter, gives lie to the shibboleth that a thoroughly researched,
abundantly footnoted, monograph can only be written in parched, overly academic
jargon, by denizens of collegiate ivory towers.
<b>Our One Common Country </b>swings out at a quick step pace with a
narrative strategy that manages to incorporate a myriad of detail and analysis
into a universe of uncommon suspense.
It resonates with illustrative anecdotes, pithy turns-of-phrase, occasional
hints of irony, and <i>bon mons </i>enough to fill a gossip column. It's a Civil War story that experts and
novices will find riveting and revelatory.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Rumors of a negotiated peace had been in
the air at least since the summer of 1864 when influential Northern publisher
Horace Greeley advised Lincoln to meet with Confederate agents on the Canadian
side of Niagara Falls. The President
declined. Re-elected in November 1864
and with the tide of battle turning in favor of the Union on every front, Lincoln
was finally ready to do something no sitting President had ever done before or
since: engage with the enemy in peace talks in the midst of a shooting
war. That makes the meeting aboard the
steamer <i>River Queen</i> on Feb. 3, 1865, a unique event in American history;
an event that has, until now, escaped an in-depth investigation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Conroy sets up his drama by giving
readers incisive character portraits of the drama's leading players. His description of Greeley is as priceless as
it is accurate: eccentric, fickle, and powerful all at the same time. Conroy conveys the essence of Ulysses S.
Grant in two clear, concise, unpretentious paragraphs, a fitting tribute to the
man himself. Conroy lets Confederate
Vice President Alexander Stephens' own Shakespearian rhetoric eloquently invoke
his startling image: "Weak and
sickly I was sent into the world with a constitution barely able to sustain the
vital functions…But all these are slight when compared with the pangs of an offended
and wounded spirit." Conroy needs
only seven choice words to bring Radical Republican Congressman Thaddeus
Stevens to life: "Richard III in a Prince Albert suit."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The Hampton Roads conference was spawned
in the quixotic imagination of the Francis Preston Blair Sr., the senior
Democratic senator from Maryland with influential friends throughout the North
and South. With Lincoln's permission,
the old man traveled to Richmond with a fantastic proposal the wily politician
had concocted but Lincoln had never backed. Nevertheless, Confederate government
officials were interested, although President Jefferson Davis set conditions
that insured its failure. So the peace
conference process, possibly the worst kept secret of the war, staggered
forward. Conroy describes it with
melodrama worthy of a Stephen Spielberg <i>film noir.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The three Confederate peace
commissioners, Assistant Secretary of War John A. Campbell, Senator Robert M.
Hunter, and Vice President Alexander Stephens, expected to be received by
General Grant and escorted to Washington.
But Lincoln, a wily politician himself, had a different agenda. Congress was ready to consider the 13th
Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting slavery and even a whiff of a
negotiated peace might induce wavering Democrats to vote against it in hopes of
ending the war without abolishing the "peculiar institution". While Congress debated, Lincoln connived to
keep the peace emissaries far from The Capital.
While they waited aboard the steamer <i>Mary Martin</i>, unaware of the
machinations their visit had spawned, the Southern commissioners were treated
like visiting royalty, replete with good food, cigars, and congenial
conversations reminiscent of happier times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> While the commissioners cooled their
heels, the diplomatic game played by various Union participants turned
downright byzantine. Lincoln sent a
carefully worded letter to the commissioners with conditions for a
meeting. The commissioners responded
with a letter of their own. Each side
chose its words carefully, sensitive to nuance and innuendo. The telegraph lines between City Point and
Washington sizzled with rumors and hopes.
The parties began to founder on Lincoln's insistence of "our one
common country" and Davis' commitment to "two nations" as a
basis for any discussion. The talks
seemed doomed before they had begun.
Finally Grant, so far frozen out of this campaign, entered the
fray. He sent an impassioned telegram to
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, confident that Lincoln would read it, too. Lincoln was moved by Grant's sense of the
commissioners' sincerity and agreed to a meeting and so informed Seward,
already at Fort Monroe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> No one kept a transcript of the four
hour meeting but Conroy has clearly digested the recollections of all the
participants. This allows him to
recreate the diplomatic dance performed by the five old friends in dramatic
tones befitting the grave issues discussed in the saloon of the <i>River Queen.</i>
Through it all, Conroy contends, Lincoln's towering presence dominated the
room. Ironically, it was on the issue of
slavery that he held out the possibility for some measure of negotiation. Conroy reports Alexander Stephens recalling
that Seward seconded the proposition that "A gradual end to slavery would
be palatable if the war ended now and the South rejoined the Union freely. If not, the Thirteenth Amendment would end it
abruptly, with the Southern states excluded from the process." But the commissioners, hide-bound by
Jefferson Davis' delusions, had nothing to offer except a truce and possible
renewal of trade. "It was far from
good enough," Conroy concludes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Back in Washington, the cat was now out
of the bag. Many Democrats praised
Lincoln's efforts for peace and reunion; many Radical Republicans chided him
for showing magnanimity to the enemy when on the verge of victory. But Lincoln could not let go of the
possibility of ending the war. Conroy
relates the extraordinarily generous but little known "Fellow Citizens of
the Senate and House of Representatives" message written on February 5
that could have formed the basis of Lincoln's reconstruction policy had he
lived. In it, he asked Congress to
appropriate $400 million to compensate slaveholders and offered other lenient
terms. Lincoln read it to the
Cabinet. No one supported it. Saddened, Lincoln put it in his pocket,
leaving his proposal to the judgment of history. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Lincoln's offer would have probably
fallen on deaf ears because, in Richmond, Jefferson Davis quickly demanded that
his commissioners write a public report, leaving out anything positive that
emerged from the meeting and to include absolute fabrications that vilified the
Lincoln Administration. Davis hoped to
use the "doctored" report to steel the resolve of the South to endure
even greater sacrifices. He seemed
determined to lead Southern citizenry into his own private "Gotterdammerung." Senator William Graham of North Carolina
would conclude "there has been a very great duplicity towards a large
portion of the Southern people displayed in this little drama." The war continued in all its ferocity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Conroy succinctly wraps up the final
months of the war up to the assassination of Lincoln on April 14. As a final, dramatic, epilogue, he provides
thumbnail sketches of the postwar fate of the drama's leading players. In the war's aftermath, Conroy poignantly
quotes Confederate General Josiah Gorgas' May 4 diary entry. "I am as one walking in a dream,
expecting to awake. I cannot see its
consequences, nor shape my own course, but am just moving along until I can see
my way at some future day." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Because
of the failure of the Hampton Roads Peace Conference, thousands of young men in
blue and gray never had a chance to see their way at some future day.</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">______________________________________</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Bloody Spring: </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Forty Days That Sealed the Confederacy's Fate</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Joseph Wheelan</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Da Capo Press, 2014, 448 pp., $27.50</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> On
a bright Virginia spring morning, twelve men in pewter gray solemnly rode to
the top of Clark's Mountain. From there,
they gazed down on a virtual city sprawling below them for miles. They saw streets, huts, tents, wagons,
horses, mountains of supplies, and thousands of men with gleaming
bayonets. Confederate General Robert E.
Lee turned to his loyal lieutenants and presciently announced "I think
those people over there are going to make a move soon." Two days later, on May 4, 1864, that city of
Union blue began to surge across the Rapidan River. For the next 40 days, it would relentlessly
pummel Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in an unprecedented campaign of
bloodshed and maneuver. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Numerous books have covered the Overland
Campaign, masterminded by newly appointed Union general-in-chief Ulysses S.
Grant. Those who have read them may not
find much new in Joseph Wheelan's account.
But for those who haven't, this excellent one-volume account hits all
the high points. In clear, concise,
journalistic prose, filled with energetic verbs and colorful adjectives,
Wheelan vividly recreates those critical days that permanently turned the tide
of the war in the East. In addition, his
rock-solid research and instructive anecdotes puts events and personalities
into a context that brings clarity to the bloodiest spring of the war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Lee had fought in the 80 square miles of
woods, thickets, and underbrush known as the Wilderness before. It was there that he achieved possibly his greatest victory,
Chancellorsville. But Lee had
never faced the relentless, unassuming, warrior from the West. James Longstreet had, however. Lee's most reliable lieutenant knew Grant
personally and predicted "that man will fight us every day and every hour
till the end of the war." Part of
Grant's master plan would require the Army of the Potomac, still under the titular
command of Major General George G. Meade, to do just that. Lee, ingenious and audacious himself, understood that the Confederacy was hanging on by a thread; he would have to
oblige his bellicose foe or lose the war.
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Grant never intended to fight in the
Wilderness. But by stopping early on the
first day, Wheelan contends, Grant had "handed Lee a glittering
opportunity to strike at the massive Union army while it was still inside the
claustrophobic Wilderness, a place that nullified Meade's overwhelming
advantages in numbers and artillery."
The two armies stumbled upon each other on the Orange Plank Road, the
Orange Turnpike, and forest waste in between.
After three days of almost continuous carnage, the names of obscure
country places like Parker's Store, the Wilderness Tavern, widow Tapp's house,
Saunders Field, and the Chewning Farm would saturate newspapers stories, north
and south, and Private Charles H. Wilson of the 18th Massachusetts would become
the first name on dishearteningly long casualty lists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Both sides took a beating in the
Wilderness, Grant worse than Lee.
Wheelan's frequent use of eloquent and descriptive quotes from
participants adds a terrible beauty to the almost indescribable chaos. "It was a wild and disconnected battling
of regiment with regiment, of company with company, without plan, or purpose,
or knowledge or result," wrote Norton Shepard of the 146th New York. J.M. Waddell of the 46th North Carolina
wrote, "It was a mere slugging match in a dense thicket of small growth,""where
men but a few yards apart fired through the brushwood for hours." Wheelan's own prose often approaches the
melodic cadences of the antagonists. After
the fighting on May 6 ended, he describes how "the veil of night fell away
in tense silence to reveal a spring morning that might have been delightful but
for the fuliginous air, the splintered trees, and the dead and wounded lying
everywhere." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> When Grant pulled his forces back from
the stalemated battle, his men thought it was to retreat back across the
Rapidan to lick their wounds, just as they had done before. Lee knew better. He assumed Grant would do what he would have
done, strike out for open country around Spotsylvania Court House. In the dark, Grant sat on his horse and watched
as Fifth Corps turned south on the Brock Road, going exactly where Lee had
predicted. Tired, dirty, and grievously
bloodied, the men in blue nevertheless cheered wildly for their new commander's
decision. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But Lee got his exhausted army to
Spotsylvania first. Now, the general
whose first inclination was to attack, immediately began to entrench. Lee realized he faced a different kind of
Union commander and different tactics would be needed to defeat him. "Lee's objective was now to seize the
initiative somehow and strike Grant's army a mortal blow," Wheelan
contends, "Grant's was to retain the initiative and keep applying pressure
to Lee until his army crumbled to pieces."
These character traits guaranteed that the bloody brawl would continue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Lee, a fortifications expert, "used the
high ground his army occupied between the Po and Ni Rivers to bar the way to
Spotsylvania and its web of roads pointing towards Richmond." According to Wheelan, "the Army of
Northern Virginia blocked the Union's path with better fortifications than
anything seen in the Wilderness, and its defenses were becoming more
impregnable by the hour." Grant was
determined to have at Lee but, with Sheridan and his troopers away running down
Jeb Stuart and his horsemen, he was operating with virtually no
intelligence. Wheelan concludes that
this led Grant to misread the tactical situation and make several critical
errors that dramatically raised the Union body count. Grant candidly admitted "We have had
hard fighting today, and I am sorry to say we have not accomplished
much." Attack and counterattack
continued in the Spotsylvania area through May 19, a textbook example of
Grant's strategy of attritional industrial warfare. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The Overland Campaign was not meant to be
conducted in a vacuum. Wheelan wisely
includes complementary operations such as a thrust toward Richmond by the Army
of the James under politically astute but militarily impaired General Benjamin
Butler and Sheridan's cavalry operation toward Richmond. Neither action succeeded as planned although
the irreplaceable Confederate cavalry "beau sabreur," Jeb Stuart, was
killed by Union cavalry at Yellow Tavern on May 11.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Checked at every turn, Grant finally
decided to maneuver again. On the night
of May 20, the army wheeled south and east.
A shift in Union strategy now attempted to entice Lee to attack Grant. Lee wouldn't bite. Wheelan's chapter on the often-overlooked May
23-26 confrontation on the North Anna River encapsulates his ability to
succinctly summarize a campaign without losing the telling anecdotes that give
life to events. It holds up well against
longer accounts of that small, but potentially game-changing, action. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The grisliest encounter, however, was
still to come. After successfully
withdrawing his army from positions opposite an entrenched enemy, always a
risky gambit, Grant again sidled east and south, his movements masked by band
music played far into the night. The
next stop would be June 1 at Cold Harbor, a blot on Grant's reputation and
henceforth to be likened to murder on the battlefield. Four and a half days of close-quarter's
slaughter ended with a two-hour truce on the night of June 7 to collect the
Union dead and wounded, almost 7,000 of them.
In his <i>Memoirs</i>, Grant admitted "At Cold Harbor, no advantage
whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained." But heavy losses never deterred Grant. After another four days of inconclusive but
deadly trench warfare, the Army of the Potomac disappeared again, this time to
emerge south of the James River in front of Petersburg. The Overland Campaign had become a siege
operation. Grant's strategy of
exhaustion, he maintained, had "so crippled [the enemy] as to make him
ever after of taking the offensive."
Wheelan's comprehensive monograph decisively describes how Grant
accomplished his mission. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-46333232900012454872013-12-24T10:23:00.003-08:002014-01-28T18:31:43.663-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Glorious War: </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Civil War Adventures of George Armstrong Custer</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Thom Hatch</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">St. Martin's Press, 2013, 366 pp., $28.99</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Probably only one Union officer can match the cult of personality that has grown up around Confederate generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jeb Stuart: George Armstrong Custer. Thom Hatch undoubtedly agrees that Custer deserves the accolades appearing in the opening paragraph on the dust jacket of <b>Glorious War</b>. "This thrilling and definitive biography of George Armstrong Custer's Civil War years is nothing short of a heart-pounding cavalry charge through the battlefield heroics that thrust the gallant young officer into the national spotlight in the midst of the country's darkest hours." Even allowing for some marketing exuberance, it sets the bar high for Custer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Hatch makes an energetic case that Custer deserves the hype. <b>Glorious War</b> is his fourth book with Custer as the main actor. Hatch argues that the young officer's Civil War exploits have been undervalued because of his defeat at the Little Bighorn. He contends that Custer should be seen as "a national hero on a grand scale due to his amazing achievements in the Civil War." Hatch's unstinting effort to correct the record and his unreserved praise and admiration for his subject may cause more objective readers to question his conclusions. To his credit, Hatch admits that his book is "a testament," and maintains that "Custer's entire military career should be reassessed by fair-minded historians under a more favorable light and found to have been commendable."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Custer's war record, however, capably speaks for itself. The spirited son of a staunchly Democratic Ohio family, Custer was a long shot to be accepted for West Point. Given his propensity for hijinks and accruing demerits, it was an even longer shot that he would graduate. Custer succeeded in doing both. It was probably poetic justice that he was the last of his class to leave West Point in 1861. Custer joined his unit, the 2nd United States Cavalry, in time to play a minimal role at First Bull Run. His company did, however, form the rear guard as the disorganized Union Army retreated to the defenses of Washington.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Custer saw his first real action on March 9, 1862, leading his company on a saber charge against Confederate pickets near Centerville, VA. It would be the first of many. The regiment soon joined the Army of the Potomac on The Peninsula. There, the young horse soldier came to the attention of Major General George B. McClellan, a fellow Democrat but polar opposite in temperament. Asked to serve on the commanding general's staff, Hatch assumes "Custer must have been bursting with pride as he reported to the commanding general ready to prove once again that he could assume any role thrust upon him and excel."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> At Antietam, Custer served mainly in a staff role but, while detailed to General Alfred Pleasonton, his detachment managed to capture several hundred Confederate stragglers near Boonsboro. Custer's initiative caught Pleasonton's eye and McClellan reported the incident to President Lincoln. Between assignments after McClellan was relieved of command, Custer used the time to vigorously pursue the hand of a reluctant Libbie Bacon. It was probably only orders to return to duty in April 1863 that delayed his winning that battle, too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> His new assignment again found him with General Pleasonton, now in charge of Union cavalry after the disaster at Chancellorsville. Accompanying hard-fighting Colonel Benjamin F. Davis's 8th New York Cavalry, Custer found himself at Beverly Ford at dawn on June 9, 1863. When halted by Confederate pickets, Davis and Custer opened fire and launched the Battle of Brandy Station, the largest all-cavalry engagement ever fought in North America. After Davis was killed, Hatch admits that Custer's actions "could be called a matter of interpretation." Hatch favors the version whereby Custer, "by virtue of his actions became de facto leader of an entire brigade or at least an individual detachment." Whatever the reality, Custer's aggressiveness put him in Pleasonton's good graces; fellow officers would soon be calling him "Pleasonton's Pet." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Pleasonton's patronage quickly paid big dividends. While Lee moved his army into Pennsylvania in June 1863, Pleasonton recommended that new Union commander, Major General George G. Meade, promote three young cavalry officers to the rank of brigadier general. Twenty-three year old George Armstrong Custer found himself the youngest general in the Union Army. He commanded a brigade of four Michigan regiments known as "the Wolverines." Four days after his promotion, in a farm field east of Gettysburg, a cavalry fight would solidify his career and launch his reputation. Hatch belongs to the school that believes the engagement in East Cavalry Field on July 3 was an integral part Lee's ingenious attack plan to break the Union center by coordinated attack by George Pickett's infantry and Jeb Stuart's cavalry. This belief may be behind Hatch contention that this encounter and Custer's role in it probably saved the Union army but it "has all but been ignored by modern-day historians, likely due to prejudices and controversies from the Boy General's later career." Unfortunately, Hatch's bibliography omits recent studies of Union cavalry operations at Gettysburg that differ from his point-of-view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Custer's star continued to rise. His flamboyant battlefield presence caught the imagination of the Northern press. Serving with distinction at Culpepper, the Bristoe Campaign, and as a decoy during the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid, Custer even found time to avenge an earlier defeat, finally winning the hand of Libbie Bacon. When Ulysses S. Grant became commander of all the Union armies and came east to join the Army of the Potomac, he brought Major General Philip Sheridan with him. Grant made "Little Phil" commander of the Union cavalry. Sheridan gave Grant's pet, Brigadier General James H. Wilson, command of the Third Division, passing over a more qualified George Custer. To his credit, Custer masked his disappointment and continued to serve with distinction. His brigade was in the thick of the fight at Yellow Tavern where a trooper from the Fifth Michigan is credited with mortally wounding Jeb Stuart. The brigade took a beating at Trevilian Station and fought with determination in the 1864 Valley Campaign where Custer finally earned command of the Third Division. Custer distinguished himself at Five Forks and the first white flag at Appomattox appeared in front his troops.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> After his death in Montana in 1876, Libbie Custer "worked tirelessly to protect the image of her later husband and vigorously defended him against those who brought criticism." Libbie Custerr would have loved</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Glorious War</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Times-Roman, serif; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-21378801843493780222013-12-06T07:58:00.003-08:002013-12-06T07:59:27.714-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Appomattox: </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Elizabeth H. Varon</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oxford University Press, 2013, 305 pp., $27.95</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The day Robert E. Lee surrendered to
Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of Wilmer McLean's house in Appomattox Court
House, Virginia, the two generals fired the first shots of a second, albeit different
war: a war for the meaning of that iconic event and how it would be
remembered. Grant opened the battle with
the magnanimous surrender terms he offered to the Army of Northern
Virginia. Lee countered with General
Order No. 9, his melancholy farewell to the men he led for four agonizing
years. Each man understood his document
in ways consistent with the ideology for which he had fought. The political, social, and cultural debates
these documents spawned in the months after the surrender are the subject of
Elizabeth Varon's provocative and insightful study of an event most students of
the Civil War thought they understood.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Varon probes deep into the psyches of
Lee and Grant and analyzes them with fresh eyes to understand what kind of
nation they envisioned emerging from the wreckage of war. Grant's surrender terms reflected a victor's
generosity and spoke to the moral righteousness of the Union cause that
promised a better future for all citizens of an improved, united nation. Lee's unrepentant message looked to the past
and lamented the loss of an idyllic, simpler time when the virtue, privilege,
and honor of the white South prevailed, before it was ground down by the weight
of the North's gross numbers and impersonal industrial might. Varon contends that both Grant and Lee were
men of peace on April 9, but peace of very different kinds. The two men thus become touchstones for Americans
struggling to understand how the war would affect their daily lives. Grant's surrender terms and Lee's farewell
order became the founding documents for 150 years of debate over the legacy of
the Civil War.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Varon also delves into the letters, diaries,
and memoirs left by the men of the two armies who fought each other during
those last desperate days. "The
Union and Confederate soldiers who fought the Appomattox campaign were keenly
aware," she concludes, "of the political nature of the surrender and
of the high stakes involved in interpreting it." While the opinions of individual soldiers
varied, most of them adhered closely to the interpretations enunciated by their
leaders. These feelings traveled with
the soldiers as they returned home, forming the basis of Lost Cause mythology
in the South and Reconciliationist vindication in the North. Varon gives appropriate credit for the
important, but often unreported, role played by United States Colored Troops
(USCT) during the Appomattox campaign. "In the eyes of black troops," she
maintains, "the fate of the Union was still uncertain on April 9, 1865,
and their own agency tipped the scales."
Varon emphasizes that, for them, the end of the war was much more than a
military victory that preserved the Union.
They viewed their participation as an integral part of a victorious
crusade that "incorporated the themes of not only racial pride and
liberation but also of clemency: they attempted to inscribe a civil rights
message into the magnanimous terms of the surrender."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> From the armies in the field, Varon
gracefully moves to the two home fronts.
In the North, the mood of the populace quickly shifted from joy and
relief to shock and anger in the wake of Lincoln's assassination, occurring
less than a week after Appomattox.
Analyzing Radical, moderate Republican and Democrat, and Copperhead
newspapers, Varon follows the panoply of public opinion toward the South in
general and the Confederate government in particular. It ranged from mercy grounded in moral
righteousness to retribution fired by grief and all the various shades of each
in between. But through the cacophony of
voices, the conciliatory words of Lincoln's last public speech and the
magnanimous words of Grant's surrender terms reverberated throughout the
North. Varon also recognizes that these
sentiments were mirrored in the restraint shown by African American troops
toward the homeward bound Confederate soldiers they encountered. Rather than responding with anger and
violence in the wake of the president's assassination, she notes that
"They paid tribute to Lincoln, as most white soldiers did, by upholding
the fragile peace."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Except for an almost universal reverence
of Lee, feelings in the South were also divided about what the end of the war
meant. The theme of General Order No. 9 -- that the South succumbed only to the North's crushing numerical superiority and
massive material advantages -- helped many salve feelings of shock, disbelief,
and humiliation that the vaunted Army of Northern Virginia could be
surrendered. Again, Varon uses
newspapers to take the pulse of public opinion.
It ranged from resignation and a wish for "peace and
brotherhood" to angry defiance, urging "more determined and united
action." Southern Unionists felt
vindicated in their loyalty to the old flag and Southern blacks
"celebrated Lee's surrender as a day of jubilee." The battle over the meaning of Appomattox,
Varon astutely concludes, "did not simply pit South against North or even
Confederacy against Union. Instead it
pitted those who opposed a thoroughgoing transformation of the South…against
those who demanded such a transformation."
The ideological battles of a
second Civil War, less bloody, to be sure, but just as determined, had begun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In an earlier book, Varon expertly
chronicled the turbulent decades leading to national disunion. She now reveals an equal affinity for
documenting the dramatic ending of that disunion. Her scholarship provides readers with
excellent bookends for the many volumes devoted to the Civil War. At its root, <i>Appomattox</i> is a study of
the power and subtlety of language. In
her clear, confident, yet elegant, prose, Varon gives renewed life to many of
the players in the last act of America's greatest tragedy. We can hear and understand their
points-of-view, even if we don't agree with them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-81922950736094341632013-12-05T12:10:00.001-08:002013-12-06T07:42:18.532-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination:</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Untold Story of the Actors and Stagehands at Ford's Theater</span></em></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><br /></strong></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Thomas A. Bogar</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regnery Publishing, 2013, 375 pp., $27.95</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman, serif; font-size: 18pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Charles Francis Byrne, John Mathews, and
Helen Muzzy are among forty six all but forgotten individuals who had
unintended parts in the greatest tragedy ever played out in an American
theater. History has plentifully
recorded what happened in Ford's Theater on the evening of April 14, 1865. But what about backstage? The assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John
Wilkes Booth forever changed the lives of the men and women working in the
theater that night. Thomas Bogar
resurrects these unintended actors in an entertaining, delightfully written
narrative, that offers an innovative perspective on an oft told tale.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rRGZQemNJGonlX_JTEVV40VaCKDiX0e9W0JmyTP2bzyWqedqMCHcc4Z2LblSGQgwoAlqk-rMk-kM6EByYkCTMS3K796cVXI9Qm9rkrN2NVGC3qmM3WzUbvzLfvstVnRo5hp5AO_7YB-i/s1600/Lincoln.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rRGZQemNJGonlX_JTEVV40VaCKDiX0e9W0JmyTP2bzyWqedqMCHcc4Z2LblSGQgwoAlqk-rMk-kM6EByYkCTMS3K796cVXI9Qm9rkrN2NVGC3qmM3WzUbvzLfvstVnRo5hp5AO_7YB-i/s320/Lincoln.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Historians have generally followed the
evening's two main protagonists; one across 10th Street to the Peterson
boarding house and martyrdom, the other across the Navy Yard bridge to Richard
Garrett's tobacco barn and infamy.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bogar
sets himself a more formidable task.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I have consciously given preference to the perceptions and words
of those who experienced that night," Bogar relates, "and its
subsequent harrowing days, from backstage, rather than to accounts by audience
members, as has largely been the case to date."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He found a few performers, like lead actress
Laura Keene, who were already public figures and left a paper trail to follow.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some backstage hands took advantage of their
chance notoriety and later spoke freely and publicly of events of that night as
they knew them.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But most of that night's
unfortunate bit players and backstage staff sought to distance themselves from
events and willingly faded into obscurity.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bringing them to life is an accomplishment of the first order.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Bogar, a theater historian by trade,
offers more than capsule biographies of unfamiliar individuals. He interweaves the state of the theater in
wartime America with the way thespians of the time lived and worked. Booth was one of the highest paid actors of
his era and a favorite of Lincoln's.
After one performance, the president asked to meet the actor; the
request was curtly refused. Lincoln
loved attending the theater in Washington, and he especially liked going to see
light comedy at the recently refurbished building owned and managed by the
three Ford brothers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In a brief, fast paced, chapter, Bogar
vividly describes the confusion, pandemonium, and anguish that occurred
immediately after Booth's fateful shot.
Even before Mrs. Lincoln's ear-piercing scream alerted cast and audience
that something was amiss, Booth was already backstage, shoving past novice
actress Jeannie Gourlay and orchestra conductor Billy Withers. He hit "basket boy" Peanut John,
who was holding his getaway horse in an alley behind the theater, with the butt
of a Bowie knife and galloped away. Many
recognized the fleeing Booth even before they realized Lincoln had been shot. Actor Tom Gourlay quickly brought a prop table
that allowed Dr. Charles Taft to climb from the stage into the presidential box
where he was soon joined by Dr. Charles Leale and Ms. Keene. Manager Harry Ford ordered ticket taker
"Buck" Buckingham to find Washington mayor Richard Wallach who was in
the audience. Wallach ordered the
theater cleared and stage manager John B. Wright dropped the plush green
curtain. It would not rise again for
more than a century. An evening that
began with farce ended in tragedy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Bogar skillfully interweaves a summary
of the plot of "Our American Cousin" with the thumb nail biographies
of the players and how they came to be together at Ford's. Some were experienced performers, others
members of Ford's stock company, still making their way through the ranks. Veteran Helen Muzzy had had personal contact
with Lincoln the previous year. Her
brother, a Confederate blockade runner, was sentenced to be hung in Norfolk,
VA. Muzzy and her mother made their way
to Washington to plead personally with Lincoln for clemency. Lincoln spared her brother's life and Muzzy
remained in Washington to work. From the
stage, she would notice Booth just outside the presidential box that night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Young Ned Emerson bore a striking
resemblance to Booth and knew him well.
Rehearsing some lines with actress May Hart the day before in the
alley behind Ford's, he was observed gesturing and pointing by two local women
who reported what they had seen. But he
was never questioned by authorities or called to testify. Another friend of Booth's, John Mathews,
sometimes entertained the assassin in his rented room at the Peterson house;
the very room in which Lincoln would later die.
General and Mrs. Grant, who declined an invitation to accompany the Lincoln's
to the theater, passed a mounted Booth on Pennsylvania Avenue on their way to
catch a train to New Jersey. The night
of the assassination, theater owner John T. Ford was attending to business 120
miles away in Richmond. Bogar's book
abounds with "stranger than fiction" anecdotes such as these. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> With close attention to detail, Bogar
takes readers through the play's dress rehearsal and performance preparations
earlier in the day. That night, as the
fateful moment in Act III, Scene 2 approached, his narrative strategy of short,
staccato sentences, builds an atmosphere of anxiety and dread. From the moment the fatal shot was fired,
Bogar maintains, the world of all the personages in the theater "turned
upside down." Authorities
relentlessly questioned the theater people, looking for links to the
assassination conspiracy. Only Ned
Spangler, a stagehand, would be convicted of any complicity although others had
been associated with earlier plans to kidnap Lincoln.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> What happened to the theater people
after the investigation and trials were all over? Ten of them would be dead within a
decade. Laura Keene kept to a rigorous
performance schedule but died at age forty-seven in 1873. John T. Ford became one of the most
successful theater managers in America until his death in 1894. Harry Hawk, the actor on stage when Booth
leaped into history, continued to work until he stopped acting and started
raising chickens and dogs in Bryn Mar, New Jersey.
He moved to the Channel Islands in 1911 and died there in 1916. Helen Truman, whose secessionist brother was
spared by Lincoln formed a small touring company, retired to Los Angeles, and
died at her home in 1924. The last to
die was program boy Joseph Hazelton who was only eleven in 1865. He moved to California, performed in silent
films, became a radio personality, and insisted to his death in 1936 that John
Wilkes Booth did not die in Richard Garrett's tobacco barn. Hazelton insisted that Booth escaped to South
America and later returned to the United States where he committed suicide in a
hotel in Enid, OK in 1903. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lincoln was
the first of four presidents to die by an assassin's bullet and his death
spawned conspiracy theories over the years that rival the finest theater ever
performed on the American stage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-48566564478290562152013-11-03T20:34:00.000-08:002013-11-03T20:47:05.405-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Bleeding Kansas, Bleeding Missouri:</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Long Civil War on the Border</span></em></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></em></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Edited by Jonathan Earle and Diane Mutti Burke</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">University Press of Kansas, 2013, 360 pp., $37.50</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></strong> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Long before the gunfire in Charleston harbor announced the opening act of the Civil War, the conflict's bloody violence was adumbrated by years of robbery, arson, torture, murder, and revenge waged on the tall grass prairies along the Kansas-Missouri border. The 15 uniformly excellent essays contained in <em>Bleeding Kansas, Bleeding Missouri</em> help explain what united and divided the men and women who inhabited these contested borderlands, why their social and political differences helped ignite a civil war that engulfed an entire nation, and the difficulties they experienced trying to rebuild their homes and reconstruct their lives after hostilities ended.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The editors have chosen not to focus on the military engagements that took place in the region between 1861-1865, wisely leaving those stories to other scholars. Rather, these essays, originally presented as papers at two conferences offering new regional research, examine how the conflict over slavery transformed the border region and eventually the nation, how the residents were affected by the "hard war" practices that evolved there, and why the myths and memories that influenced the rebuilding of the border states live on even to the present day. In the process, readers are offered nuanced definitions of liberty, manliness, loyalty, democracy, citizenship, and freedom that emerged from the borderlands' blood-drenched soil.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The late Michael Fellman, pioneering scholar of the region's vicious irregular warfare, sets the stage for the essays that follow. Immersed for years in the letters, journals, and memoirs of soldiers and civilians who lived and fought in Kansas and Missouri, Fellman takes a particularly harsh view of events transpiring there. For him, the border conflict is a continuation of an age-old practice running throughout Chrisindom from the medieval Crusades through the religious wars of 17th century Europe and the Indian Wars of colonial America; a holy "war of all against all," the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes called it. Along the border, Fellman found, people who were once neighbors, spoke the same language, and shared cultural values "victimized one another, lied, dehumanized their enemies, lost all empathy and retreated into numbness, and buried their consciences behind a high, hard wall of utter antipathy." For those who see the irregular warfare along the border as an aberration, Fellman concludes "such assumptions may reassure us, but they are grounded in a refusal to look into the abyss that is actual war."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kristen K. Epps begins the story during the original settling of the verdant prairie grasslands. Since many of the first pioneers came from the South, they brought their slaves with them. "Even from an early date," Epps observes, "slavery was a visible part of life on what would become the Kansas-Missouri border." Slavery was an integral part of the earliest stirrings of the "Manifest Destiny" spirit that spurred white westward expansion. "Progress was the leitmotif that bound white Americans, of all stripes, to the West," Epps concludes, "and for white Southerners, slavery's spread was part and parcel of that progressive spirit." Nicole Etcheson's reviews the proslavery party in antebellum Kansas and their claim to be the party of law and order. Kristen T. Oertel brings a new dimension to border war studies, arguing that an evolving sense of what constituted black and white manliness brought issues of race and gender into the era's sectional debates. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other essays analyze the debates over the legitimacy of the proslavery Lecompton Constitution of 1856 in Kansas and in Washington, how the Federal government and the state of Missouri responded to the violent cross border anti-slavery activities of Unionist Jayhawker bands in late 1860, and, according to Jonathan Earle, how Kansas played a pivotal role in the political life of Abraham Lincoln. "Without Kansas," Earle claims, "Abraham Lincoln would never have been president of the United States" even though he visited there only once, for a week, in the fall of 1859.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the war began in earnest, determining the loyalties of a divided citizenry in Missouri, a slave state within the Union, became a complicated and increasingly violent process. Christopher Phillips details how occupation by Federal forces, the suspension of civil authority, a provost marshal system, and trade and travel policies "restricted civil liberties at the local level as part of a broader strategy to establish control of a[n]…often armed population whose true loyalties were frequently uncertain and ephemeral." Many in that armed population, men like Bloody Bill Anderson, fought as guerrillas. Joseph M. Beilein, Jr. establishes insightful connections between guerrilla fighters, the women who supported and often clothed them in distinctive garb, and how "this cooperative effort between women and men became the logistical backbone for guerrilla warfare." </span><br />
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No analysis of the border war would be complete without understanding how it was reconstructed and remembered in the post-war years. Aaron Astor shows how white supremacy lived on in Western Missouri in the pages of <i>The Lexington Weekly Caucasian.</i> According to Astor, the newspaper "quickly established itself as one of the leading papers west of St. Louis and acquired a national reputation for vituperation, sarcasm, and militancy." In the face of such strident opposition, newly emancipated and enfranchised African Americans sought to assert their new rights by organizing politically. But, according to John W. McKerley, "although Missouri's new constitution was arguably the most progressive in the former slave states in the period before the Reconstruction Acts, it failed to address many of the needs of black people." Factionalism between black and white Republicans quickly allowed Democrats to regain power in state government "leaving black men and women to continue their struggle to find a measure of power and protection in a new white supremacist order."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, even though the <i>Kansas City Star </i>opined that the September 1898 Blue Springs picnic "differed in nothing from the dozen other country picnics which have been held this year," Jeremy Neely's fascinating essay reveals that this gathering was anything but ordinary. Organized by Frank James (older brother of Jesse), it brought together former Civil War comrades who had ridden with William Clark Quantrill. These get togethers, held until 1929, allowed aged bushwhackers "to share jokes and war stories" that, in the minds of many Lost Cause believers, justified their ruthless activities along the Kansas-Missouri border, including the notorious sack of Lawrence, KS on Aug. 23, 1863. For Neely, these reunions "illuminated the complex ways that memories of the border war served at once to unify and divide people along the Missouri-Kansas line well into the twentieth century." Neely finds that old stock Southern sympathizers defended "Quantrill and his men by emphasizing their courage and honor -- these were men who never harmed women, it was often said -- and by explaining their actions as justifiable responses to plundering Kansans and Unionists." It is small wonder that the bitter embers of the Civil War on the Kansas-Missouri smoldered for years after official hostilities had ended.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-23161361227285234302013-10-18T13:05:00.004-07:002013-10-18T13:15:52.272-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Summer Lightning:</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Guide to the Second Battle of Manassas</span></em></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></em></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Matt Spruill III and Mat Spruill IV<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 24px;">University of Tennessee Press, 2013, 324 pp., $32.95</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Review by Gordon Berg</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>The sesquicentennial commemoration of
the Civil War is bringing thousands of battlefield trampers to the sites of the
war's major engagements. This has helped
spawn the golden age of battlefield guidebooks, and the Spruill family seems to
have perfected the genre. The latest
offering from these two former army officers offers readers a user friendly
compendium to the August 28-30 1862 Second Battle of Manassas that enhances the
quality of any on-site visit. Since it's
arranged in chronological order, the book is useful when visiting all or only a
portion of the Virginia battlefield.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The model the Spruills employ is that of
a military staff ride. They primarily
use after-action reports written by participants and compiled in the <i>Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.
</i>Where reports are unavailable, postwar memoirs and speeches fill the
gaps. The authors provide a minimum of
contextual continuity, rightly preferring the story of the battle to be told by
those who were there. Portraits of the
major actors, along with period and contemporary photos, help readers to
visualize the action as well as read about it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The key ingredient of the guide,
though, is the simple, yet informative, tactical maps "designed to be a
frame of reference that will allow a reader to visualize the events transpiring
around them as they read the various accounts of the participants." The Spruills even give instructions on how
to use them as "a brief snapshot in time of many unit movements."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The authors characterize Second Manassas
as "a fluid battle" fought over acres of ground. For 21st century visitors, a well planned
twenty-stop driving guide is "designed to place you on the ground where
the combat and events took place."
Detailed instructions are provided for each stop: which way and how far
to walk, where to look and what's important that you'll be seeing, and where
you are in relation to other action nearby. There is also an Order of Battle for both armies, casualty estimates,
and information about some related sites away from the battlefield.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Spruills are dedicated battlefield
preservationists and any review of their book would be remiss if it didn't
include their plea for the public to become active in trying to save hallowed
Civil War ground for future generations.
"The battlefields themselves provide the most direct contact we
have with those veterans and the Civil War," and they remind us that this
and other guide books are written "to provide that connection with past
events on the actual spot where they happened." In this, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Summer Lightning</i><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">succeeds
admirably.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-500622233428408002013-10-01T07:54:00.005-07:002013-10-01T08:23:28.388-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">Barksdale's Charge:</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em><span style="color: #990000;">The True High Tide of Confederacy at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Phillip Thomas Tucker<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Casemate, 2013, 315 pp., $32.95<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong>Review by Gordon Berg</strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Conventional Civil War wisdom has it
that Pickett's Charge represents the Confederacy's "high tide" at
Gettysburg. But Phillip Thomas Tucker's
thoroughly researched, if highly over-written, analysis of the attack by
Brigadier General William Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade against Union forces
in the Peach Orchard on the afternoon of July 2 presents substantial evidence
for his claim that Barksdale's attack "came closer to achieving decisive
success and winning it all for the Confederacy than any other assault of the
battle."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tucker has clearly spent substantial
time in the Mississippi Department of History and Archives unearthing
interesting, if not always informative, anecdotes about the 1,600 officers and
men of the 13th, 17th, 18th, and 21st regiments, four of the eleven Mississippi
regiments in the Army of Northern Virginia. Veterans of every major engagement in the east since the war's opening
salvoes, the yeoman farmers and sons of Mississippi's planter elite had
"acquired a reputation for ferocity, combat prowess, and lethality"
at the mouths of Union cannons on Malvern Hill and in the rubble strewn streets
of Fredericksburg. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">They were led by a successful lawyer and
politician with an egalitarian sensibility. Sprung from humble roots, Barksdale's only previous military experience
was as a staff officer during the Mexican War. Nevertheless, he quickly became a successful combat commander and a firm
disciplinarian with a reputation as a soldier friendly officer who could always
be found at the front of his men. At the
end of the Seven Days campaign, Robert E. Lee declared that Barksdale exhibited
"the highest qualities of a soldier."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The sweltering afternoon of July 2 found
Barksdale's Brigade, part of James Longstreet's First Corps, in the cool shade
of Pitzer's Woods facing Joseph and Mary Sherfy's peach orchard. What they saw across a gently rolling field
was a field commander's dream: an entire Union Corps, Daniel Sickles' Third,
thrust out in a salient "hanging in the air," and vulnerable on three
sides. Tucker correctly concludes that
"More than any other Southern unit because it directly faced the Peach
Orchard, the Mississippi Brigade was now in the key position to exploit the
tactical vulnerability of Sickles' salient." After breaking through Sickles' front, Tucker
contends, "the successful assault could be continued east all the way to
Cemetery Ridge and the fulfillment of Confederate dreams."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tucker insightfully conveys the feelings
of Barksdale and his men as they waited impatiently for the order to
advance. When the order finally came,
Tucker asserts, "it was Barksdale's charge more than any other that would
reap the fruits of victory, or else signal the failure of Confederate
strategy." What happened next and
why has been the subject of debate among old soldiers, historians, and Civil
War enthusiasts ever since. Those questions include whether the honor of achieving the Confederate high water mark. In addition to Pickett's Virginians and
Barksdale's Mississippians, some historians bestow the honor on the Georgia
regiments of Brigadier General Ambrose Wright.
All agree, however, on the bravery of the Mississippians in the face of
superior numbers and overwhelming artillery fire. The Brigade lost about 800 officers and men,
including its commanding general.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Unfortunately, Tucker's scholarship is
often overtaken by his purple prose. He
seems to have never met a cliche he didn't like or an adjective he didn't
use. An editor with an old fashioned red
pencil would have benefited author and reader alike. Nevertheless, this monograph takes a detailed
look at an event in a battle about which so much has been written.</span><span style="font-family: Times-Roman, serif; font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-1602671149511487782013-09-15T20:06:00.002-07:002013-09-15T20:06:54.733-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">The Fall of the House of Dixie: </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em><span style="color: #990000;">How the Civil War Remade the American South<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Bruce Levine<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Random House, 2013, 464 pp., $30.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong>Review by Gordon Berg</strong><br />
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Accolades come easily for Bruce Levine's latest book. His research is exhaustive, his arguments erudite, his anecdotes illuminating, and his prose crystalline. The result is an exemplary work of historical synthesis, tracing “the origins and development of America's 'second revolution.'” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Levine sets antebellum Southern society firmly on the shoulders of slavery. His spokespeople, many of them elite Southern women, describe a system they deemed benevolent, permanent, ordained by God, and sustained by economic necessity. But the social and political fissures that brought down the House of Dixie, Levine argues, existed throughout the antebellum years because they were part and parcel of the region's economy and culture. <br />
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Sustaining a long and bloody conflict stressed these fissures to the breaking point. “A war launched to preserve slavery,” Levine observes, “succeeded instead in abolishing that institution more rapidly and more radically than would have occurred otherwise.” <o:p></o:p><br />
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Southern elites failed to understand the indomitable spirit of their slaves, determined to achieve freedom for themselves. As the war dragged on, white supremacy and a rigid caste system led non-slave holding and poor whites to question why they were fighting to sustain a planter aristocracy of privilege and pride. And the doctrine of states rights insured that the parochial interests of the individual states regularly trumped the collective needs of the Confederate nation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The evolution of Union war policy also contributed to Dixie's fall. Levine traces Lincoln's conservative social and military war aims that evolved into a revolutionary policy to liberate and emancipate America's slaves The Emancipation Proclamation, issued as a war measure, allowed former slaves and free blacks to fight in the Union Army. Northern soldiers would now carry the promise of freedom and citizenship in their knapsacks. Many Northerners also changed their understanding of the war, believing that only by destroying slavery could a new, more perfect, Union be created and preserved.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Was it worth all the spilled blood and expended treasure? Levine uses the words of Frederick Douglas who wrote “The world has not seen a nobler and grander war.” Those who fought to bring down the House of Dixie, Douglas proclaimed, were “writing the statutes of eternal justice and liberty in the blood of the worst tyrants as a warning to all aftercomers.”<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-39916975661977632472013-09-15T19:59:00.003-07:002013-09-15T20:10:31.250-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">Kennesaw Mountain: </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"><em>Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign</em></span></b><br />
<strong><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;"></span></strong> </div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Earl. J. Hess<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">University of North Carolina Press, 2013, 344 pp., $35.00</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<strong>Review By Gordon Berg<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
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In the
summer of 1864, two great armies engaged in a deadly, red-dirt minuet<i> </i>through
the hills of North Georgia. Union
General William T. Sherman, had his sights set on Atlanta; his opponent,
General Joseph E. Johnston, had his sights set on Sherman.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Their <i>dance
macabre </i>halted on June 27 before the twin peaks of Kennesaw Mountain, near
Marietta. Frustrated by weeks of non-decisive
flanking movements, Sherman broke from form and hurled 15,000 hard western men
against a well-positioned, deeply entrenched, foe. When the day ended in blood and rain, the
troops who fought there would be forever changed by their experiences. Their story is told in a succinct battle
narrative by veteran Civil War historian Earl J. Hess with clarity and dignity
as befits the uncommon valor he describes.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeEE7Dd_RST4_EO_55duuG0dFubB6_ImSy7Mg_HmU89_bWCicy06YEotz7qOi-tbv5NkHtBXEPOCruShIGfFg0UBF0assKG4KsoV4Wm-o0u6zkDi20NI8wnuPzTPAwz2VQ5sTWmmAh13W/s1600/hess_kennesaw-197x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeEE7Dd_RST4_EO_55duuG0dFubB6_ImSy7Mg_HmU89_bWCicy06YEotz7qOi-tbv5NkHtBXEPOCruShIGfFg0UBF0assKG4KsoV4Wm-o0u6zkDi20NI8wnuPzTPAwz2VQ5sTWmmAh13W/s1600/hess_kennesaw-197x300.jpg" /></a>Hess's monograph reads like a staff ride organized by an officer intimately familiar
with the area's topography, so important to the battle's tactics and the
campaign's strategy. Maps and photos
help provide a sense of place but readers without some familiarity of the
Atlanta Campaign might become overwhelmed with the many gaps, ridges, rivers,
roads, and creeks that define the geography of North Georgia.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hess
recounts that the ball for this part of the campaign opened at Kolb's Farm on
June 22. It was a small Union victory
and John Bell Hood's attack drew criticism from other Confederate officers
involved in the battle. But Hess concludes that “Despite the mistakes
and the needless sacrifice of one thousand men...Johnston would have been
forced to evacuate his Kennesaw Line on June 23.” Evaluating the larger tactical picture, Hess
concludes that “Sherman once again was stymied in his efforts to compel the
enemy to leave his Kennesaw Line.” The
inconclusive action at Kolb's Farm prompted Sherman to try and break the logjam
five days later.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For the
fighting men, Hess contends, “Kennesaw Mountain loomed large in the lexicon of
battle as much for its challenges to the campaigning life of the common soldier
as for the threat of injury and death from bullets or shell fragments.” By deftly interweaving his own piquant
analysis with experiences recorded in diaries and letters of the combatants,
Hess makes a convincing case for the importance of this still unappreciated
battle and argues for a new interpretation of
long-maligned Joe Johnston's tactics.<o:p><br />
</o:p><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-21624270794184798562013-09-06T12:55:00.003-07:002013-09-06T13:05:57.095-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">A Civil War Round Table Quiz Book</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Dave Smith</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Potomac Books, 2013, 400 pp., $24.95</span><br />
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Review by Gordon Berg<o:p></o:p></h3>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2381285335642871510" name="_GoBack"></a>It's probably happened to every Civil War
round table president at one time or another.
The scheduled speaker cancels at the last minute. What to do?
Have a Civil War quiz session.
Who knows enough questions to ask?
Dave Smith does.</div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2381285335642871510" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Born
as part of his own round table's monthly meetings, Smith has gathered hundreds
of interesting questions (and their answers) and topically arranged them for
easy reference. If this were a game, it
would be advertised as "holding hours of wholesome fun for experts and
novices alike" and "makes an outstanding gift for all your Civil War
enthusiasts." But it's not a game
and many of its users may well have significant expertise on a variety of Civil
War subjects, both mainstream and arcane.
Smith's book stands up well under the most scholarly scrutiny.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSFG283bu8t1goq1mCLKrHhoprTnBQ9lbzfJekcNiikW28d9DQSCQUNN6Kcg7SXFcRX-eszXWl50r364EOkRTq5ttzVNp7oUiJ4LYX-PsQp2Eg9Fm_wdtB6byYwEQ6NaVIE5BtC6yz-WR/s1600/book2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSFG283bu8t1goq1mCLKrHhoprTnBQ9lbzfJekcNiikW28d9DQSCQUNN6Kcg7SXFcRX-eszXWl50r364EOkRTq5ttzVNp7oUiJ4LYX-PsQp2Eg9Fm_wdtB6byYwEQ6NaVIE5BtC6yz-WR/s320/book2.jpg" width="211" /></a> To
his credit, Smith seems to have vetted his answers from reputable sources among
his personal 450 volume Civil War library, avoided the obvious slippery slopes
found on the Internet, and, like a reporter he once was, requires multiple
confirmations to substantiate his facts.
The answers are thorough and reflect the complexity of historical
knowledge inherent in long ago events.
Nevertheless, Smith rightly reminds readers "Even the books of
respected scholars are not totally free from errors. Let the reader beware."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Smith
gets it right, mostly. The questions
range from battles and leaders to bridges and railroads. He covers the war on the water and the war on
the home front. There are nine questions
about Joneses and 10 about Smiths. Union
General George Gordon Meade gets a whole quiz to himself; Ben Butler gets
two. There's even a vocabulary quiz. The answers to many will send even the most
enthusiastic buff scurrying to reference books indexes. However, the only person to substantiate
Oliver Wendell Holmes' claim to ordering President Lincoln off the rampart of
Fort Stevens during Jubal Early's raid on Washington was Holmes himself. And the leading scholar on the Lincoln
assassination strongly doubts that Edwin M. Stanton or anyone else said
"Now he belongs to the ages" when the president died.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A
word to writers looking for interesting topics to research. Smith's book is filled with interesting
anecdotes that could be expanded into articles.
So, round table presidents, share this interesting volume with your
members. Just make sure you get it back.</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2381285335642871510.post-23616243358470240222013-07-07T21:06:00.005-07:002016-10-19T22:47:04.264-07:00<b><span style="color: maroon; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: maroon; font-size: x-large;">President Lincoln's Recruiter: <em><br />General Lorenzo Thomas and the United States Colored Troops in the Civil War</em></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Michael A. Eggleston</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">McFarland, 2013, 208 pp., $39.95</span><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Review by Gordon Berg</strong><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When the Civil War began, Colonel Lorenzo Thomas was a paper pusher; as the army's adjutant general, much of his work involved processing resignations from officers planning to join the Confederate States of America. If this were the extent of his wartime activities, he would have hardly merited Michael Eggleston's earnest, if uneven, effort to document his life. But when Edwin M. Stanton was appointed Secretary of War in January 1862, Thomas' life changed dramatically. His duties during the rest of the war more than justify documenting his vital contribution to the eventual Union victory. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Stanton and Thomas instantly disliked each other and, in March 1863, Stanton ordered his nemesis to the Mississippi Valley to get him out of Washington and to recruit African American men into military service as permitted under terms of the Emancipation Proclamation. Eggleston rightly concludes that Thomas "was not simply a senior recruiter, but a man charged with initiating a new Union policy, breaking down opposition to African American soldiers and resolving issues with the new policy." It was a big job and Thomas proved to be just the man to carry it out. According to Eggleston, "he managed to recruit and organize 41 percent of the African Americans who fought in the Civil War." </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoCHHvfAHZlmKg18MPflyCOpzNd-Ht_VeEdyW6V_7YSwV3moHFNn6Kyohcu40hCDivPa0v4QmxtRUEr8qoacRcrdJ97AuglDr47yn167gxvmwDfket4N1MFbH6p7r0M3p5DvCNvoUmu5K/s1600/Lorenzo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoCHHvfAHZlmKg18MPflyCOpzNd-Ht_VeEdyW6V_7YSwV3moHFNn6Kyohcu40hCDivPa0v4QmxtRUEr8qoacRcrdJ97AuglDr47yn167gxvmwDfket4N1MFbH6p7r0M3p5DvCNvoUmu5K/s1600/Lorenzo.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Eggleston does an excellent job describing how the troops were raised and the process that was created to select and train white officers to lead the black regiments. He rightly concludes, though, that Thomas' job involved much more. Thomas had to address issues about unequal pay, the care and feeding of the women and children who frequently accompanied the men into Union camps, finding physicians to treat the sick, procuring quality equipment, and providing remedial education and training for an illiterate soldiery. Eggleston quotes from Thomas' final report dated Oct. 3, 1865, in which Thomas admits, "I entered upon the duty by no means certain at what I might be able to effect." Thomas' effect was indeed substantial; by the end of the war, African Americans comprised 12 percent of the Union Army's strength.<br /><br />The end of the war did not end Thomas' military service or his contentious relationship with Stanton. Thomas resumed his duties as adjutant general until February 1868, when he inserted himself into the bitter confrontation between President Andrew Johnson and the Radical Republicans in Congress. Johnson asked Thomas to serve as Secretary of War, replacing Stanton. Thomas accepted, with the provision that he be restored to his wartime rank of major general. This arrangement violated the Tenure of Office Act, legislation passed by Congress to hamstring Johnson from filling his administration with supporters of his plans to reconstruct the South. Thomas' appointment and the attempt to remove Stanton from office gave Radical Republicans the justification they needed to initiate impeachment proceedings against Johnson.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thomas testified before the Senate to the effect that his actions were designed to test the Act's legality in the courts. According to Eggleston, "Lorenzo Thomas may have turned a number of Radicals toward acquittal." Johnson was acquitted by a single vote and Thomas' poor performance on the stand made him a pathetic laughingstock to many. He returned to the position of adjutant general until he retired in 1869. Thomas died in Washington, DC in March 1875.<br /><br />Unfortunately, several sections of Eggleston's book do not seem germane to the story of Thomas as a "Recruiter of United States Colored Troops." For example, Eggleston describes the significant battles fought by the USCT and the mini biographies of African Americans who received the Medal of Honor, which smack of padding. He also includes a "Biographical Dictionary," which takes up 14 pages with irrelevant personalities, including John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Benito Juarez, Sylavanus Thayer, Carl Schurz and James Monroe. In addition, Eggleston reproduces all 11 Articles of Impeachment, which could easily have been summarized in the text. Last, Appendix B, "Early Recruiting Efforts," documents claims of African American participation in the Confederate Army, which includes sources that readers should investigate and evaluate before drawing any conclusions.<br /><br />Lorenzo Thomas deserves a comprehensive, scholarly biography. To Michael Eggleston's credit, he understands Thomas' important contributions to the Union cause and his monograph should be used by future biographers as an appropriate place to begin their investigations.</span>______________________________________ <br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Gordon Berg is a past President and member of the Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia (<a href="http://www.cwrtdc.org/" target="_blank">www.cwrtdc.org</a>). His reviews and articles appear in the <em>Civil War Times</em> and <em>America's Civil War,</em> among other publications<em>.</em></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1