Artillery Hell: The Employment of Artillery at Antietam by Curt Johnson, Richard C. Anderson, Joseph Mills Hanson

Comments:

Updated 9/05/06 Artillery Hell: The Employment of Artillery at Antietam by Curt Johnson and Richard C. Anderson, Jr. Texas A&M University Press: College Station, TX, 1995. 147 pp., 1 map, many illustrations

In what is essentially a reference work, Johnson and Anderson offer the definitive account of the Union and Confederate artillery at the Battle of Antietam. The various chapters play out more as essays than as part of a chapter by chapter book. In a nice set of introductions, Curt Johnson sets the strategic and operational stage while Richard Anderson gives neophytes an excellent rundown on Civil War artillery and projectiles. The previously unpublished 1940 report of Joseph Mills Hanson on the particiaption and deployment of the various artillery batteries of each side fills out the center portion of the book. The authors then go through the artillery order of battle for each side and provide detailed numbers on gun types, number of tubes, and unit strengths, giving exhaustive documentation where sources differ. Reports of artillery commanders that did not make the Official Records serve to round out the last part of the book. All in all, this is a wargamer's and researcher's dream. In fact, I wish books of this type existed for more battles. If you are a Civil War wargamer and/or scenario designer, this is a must-own. If you are an Antietam fan, this is a must-own. Honestly, I consider this one a must-own for anyone interested in the battle of Antietam, artillery, and/or unit strengths and armaments. This is one purchase you will not regret.

by Curt Johnson, Richard C. Anderson, Joseph Mills Hanson	Artillery Hell: The Employment of Artillery at Antietam
Comments: Updated 9/05/06 Artillery Hell: The Employment of Artillery at Antietam by Curt Johnson and Richard C. Anderson, Jr. Texas A&M University Press: College Station, TX, 1995. 147 pp., 1 map, many illustrations In what is essentially a reference work, Johnson and Anderson offer the definitive account of the Union and Confederate artillery at the Battle of Antietam. The various chapters play out more as essays than as part of a chapter by chapter book. In a nice set of introductions, Curt Johnson sets the strategic and operational stage while Richard Anderson gives neophytes an excellent rundown on Civil War artillery and projectiles. The previously unpublished 1940 report of Joseph Mills Hanson on the particiaption and deployment of the various artillery batteries of each side fills out the center portion of the book. The authors then go through the artillery order of battle for each side and provide detailed numbers on gun types, number of tubes, and unit strengths, giving exhaustive documentation where sources differ. Reports of artillery commanders that did not make the Official Records serve to round out the last part of the book. All in all, this is a wargamer's and researcher's dream. In fact, I wish books of this type existed for more battles. If you are a Civil War wargamer and/or scenario designer, this is a must-own. If you are an Antietam fan, this is a must-own. Honestly, I consider this one a must-own for anyone interested in the battle of Antietam, artillery, and/or unit strengths and armaments. This is one purchase you will not regret.