Books Purchased: July 1-July 31:
Richard S. Shue. Morning at Willoughby Run: The Opening Battle at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863. Thomas Publications (PA); Revised edition (January 1995).
I don’t know too much about this one other than that it depicts the fighting between Heth’s Division and Buford’s Cavalry Division, with the later arrival of the Union I Corps. If anyone has any other info I would appreciate hearing about it.
Mark W. Johnson. That Body of Brave Men: The U.S. Regular Infantry and the Civil War in the West. Da Capo Press, September 2, 2003.
I’ve had my eye on this one for a long time, but it is a pretty hefty book, weighing in at almost 800 pages, and the price had to drop for me to seriously consider buying it. Ebay came through again this month when I picked it up for far less than the listed price of $45. Apparently the author, Mark Johnson, is also a wargamer. He is the designer of Critical Hit’s upcoming Civil War board game entitled ATS Gettysburg, due for a September release. This book covers “the Regular Brigade of the Army of the Cumberland, the 15th 16th, 18th and 19th United States Infantry Regiments”, at least according to one of the reviews at Amazon. It looks like the author covered them in great detail, and I look forward to reading this one.
Herbert M. Schiller. Sumter Is Avenged!: The Siege and Reduction of Fort Pulaski. White Mane Publishing Company, December 1995.
Regular readers of this blog are probably thinking “uh oh, another White Mane offering”, but I’ve been assured by several people, among them Drew Wagenhoffer, that this is a solid book. I just recently finished a book covering the end of the war a far as Savannah, Georgia was concerned, and this one will make a nice change of pace by focusing on the beginning of the war in Savannah.
Richard M. McMurry. The Fourth Battle of Winchester: Toward a New Civil War Paradigm. Kent State University Press, March 2002.
I was intrigued by this title after Dr. McMurry mentioned it in his appearance on Civil War Talk Radio. The book starts with a counter-factual scenario involving Early’s 1864 Raid on Washington, but it is really about the author’s belief that the decisive theater of the Civil War was the west. I enjoyed the author’s extended essay Two Great Rebel Armies, and I am eagerly looking forward to reading this one, most likely in one sitting.
Mary Alice Wills. The Confederate Blockade of Washington, D.C. 1861-1862. White Mane Publishing Company, January 1998.
White Mane is prolific if nothing else. Luckily, Drew Wagenhoffer also has this one covered. According to Drew, White Mane was only superficially involved since they only printed the third edition of this book. It was originally published by Burd Street Press, and Drew included it in his “Best of White Mane” series, so this should be a pretty interesting book. The book doesn’t have as many maps as I would have liked, but depending on the focus of the book, this may end up being a minor issue. This is probably a good time to mention that I find a lot of books to keep an eye out for from Drew’s site. Many of the books that have been appearing in my “Book Purchases” entries have been books already reviews by Drew at one time or another. If you haven’t done so, make sure you go through his archives for some very good stuff.
William Garrett Piston & Richard W. Hatcher, III. Wilson’s Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It. The University of North Carolina Press, March 27, 2000.
I have the other major works on Wilson’s Creek (books by Bearss and Brooksher), but I’ve heard this is probably the best of the bunch. Drew Wagenhoffer rated it at #11 in his list of best books on the Trans-Mississippi early this year, and pointed to it as one of the better campaign studies to attempt to include social aspects of the campaign as well.
J. Tracy Power. Lee’s Miserables: Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox. The University of North Carolina Press, April 27, 1998.
This book has intrigued me for several years, mainly I think due to the interesting title. According to Kevin Levin, this one is an excellent look at the fighting men of the Army of Northern Virginia in the last year of the war, covering their thoughts and feelings on the war, and how they managed to persevere through the large casualties and then the siege around Petersburg. I am especially interested in the Petersburg portion of the book.
Doris Rich. Fort Morgan and the Battle of Mobile Bay. Baldwin Times, January 1, 1972.
Doris Rich’s pamphlet on Fort Morgan is one of those intriguing titles that pops up on Ebay from time to time at a reasonable price (i.e. I paid so little for it that even if it stinks no harm is done). This one is a completely blind buy, and I also managed to get a signed copy which is always pretty cool. If anyone has this pamphlet and wants to give me some ideas of its worth, I’d love to hear from you.
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