Seizing Destiny: The Army of the Potomac’s “Valley Forge” and the Civil War Winter that Saved the Union
Albert Z. Coner Jr. with Chris Mackowski
Savas Beatie, 2016, 370 pp., $34.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-156-6
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One of the most memorable hardships in American History is the camp at Valley Forge for the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.  It sticks in our mind as one of those stories of endurance and the American Spirit.  Albert Z. Conner Jr. and Chris Mackowski bring us Seizing Destiny, the story of the winter of 1863 following the aftermath of defeat at Fredericksburg in December of 1862.  The Battle of Fredericksburg, being one of the worst Union losses in the war, brought down the morale of the Army of the Potomac, the leadership of General Joseph Hooker brought around a rebirth in this demoralized army. 

                Albert Z. Conner Jr. is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute along with a degree from Georgetown University.  He is a Vientam veteran and an intelligence officer.  He has worked as a military historian and has studied the armed forces of several other nations.  He is the former president of the Fredericksburg Civil War Roundtable and Stafford County Historical Society.  He is also a volunteer at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.  Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is a professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York.  He is the co-founder of the Emerging Civil War blog and series.  He has also written Chancellorsville’s Forgotten Front: The Battles of Second Fredericksburg and Salem Church, May 3, 1863.

                When I first began studying the American Civil War, I gravitated, as many do, towards the Battle of Gettysburg.  Throughout my reading of that campaign, I began to gain a picture of a certain commander which has painted my view of him since that time.  General Joseph Hooker has always been an interesting character and was always painted as incompetent on the field, but rumors flew around in these works that he was an incredible intelligence officer.  While reading Seizing Destiny, my opinion about the man began to change.  I had never known about this winter of 1863 and the ways in which the morale was boosted for the Army of the Potomac by Hooker.  Though the defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville did not help his posterity or stature, this book hopefully repairs some of the damage history has done to Hooker’s reputation.  This work also answers the question about why we have forgotten this moment in the annals of Civil War history.  The authors speak of the journalist William Swinton and the reporting of the incident.  Whether or not it was done purposefully remains to be seen.  Nevertheless, Seizing Destiny is one of the Civil War works which was needed in this time to help us understand the period between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville and how it affected not only the commanders, but the soldiers as well.
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                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Civil War.  Far too often, when reading Civil War narratives, the period between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville gets skipped over and the battles are placed back to back, but here, Conner and Mackowski give us the fair due of this time period with hopes of better understanding the hardship of the Civil War’s “Valley Forge.”  The narrative is excellent and accompanied by well drawn maps and accounts.  Highly recommended!   

A Long and Bloody Task: The Atlanta Campaign from Dalton through Kennesaw Mountain to the Chattahoochee River, May 5 – July 18, 1864
Stephen Davis
Savas Beatie, 2016, 174 pp., $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-317-1
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One of the highlights of the Civil War Sesquicentennial was the growth in the study of the Western Theater.  When I first started learning about the war and reading as much as I could, I found that the studies of the Western Theater were lacking, but now they seem to be growing more every year.  The Emerging Civil War Series has given us another work which brings focus to one of the pivotal moments in the Western Theater in A Long and Bloody Task.  Focusing on time from the Atlanta Campaign, Stephen Davis takes the reader through moments which have been etched in history as the beginning of the end.

                Stephen Davis has been studying the Civil War since the fourth grade.  He holds a Masters Degree in American History from the University of North Carolina and earned his Ph.D. at Emory University.  He is the author of Atlanta Will Fall: Sherman, John Johnston and the Heavy Yankee Battalions and What the Yankees Did to Us: Sherman’s Bombardment and Wrecking of Atlanta.  He served as a Book Review Editor for Blue and Gray magazine and has authored many articles.  Steve is also a popular speaker at Civil War Round Tables and served as a historian and content partner for the Civil War Trust Atlanta Campaign Battle App.

                Throughout the text, Davis gives us excellent narratives on the battles which took place at the onset of Sherman’s campaign.  From Resaca to Kennesaw Mountain, each of the chapters greatly details the actions of both sides in this conflict.  As is usual with The Emerging Civil War Series, each page is accompanied by photographs from the author, highly detailed maps, or historical pictures to aid the reader.  Along with the information about the battles, we get some interesting information about the commanders who led these men.  One of the people in the American Civil War whom I feel is always handled with little information is Joseph Johnston.  In A Long and Bloody Task, I got a great deal of information about the man and the troubles he undertook in the Western Theater against Sherman.  One of the appendices even focuses on the career of Joseph Johnston during this campaign and the complications around it.  The driving tour at the back of the book is excellent as they always are with this series of works giving those who have never visited these sites a well traveled itinerary.  Overall, for anyone not well versed in these battles, this book is full of rich information which gives a greater understanding of the Western Theater from May to July of 1864.
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                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Western Theater who wishes to know more.  I also highly recommend this book to Civil War beginners who have it in their sights to visit the many battlefields, especially the Western Theater.  The information in this book is well researched and well written as the narrative flows greatly and in an understandable way for the reader.  Stephen Davis has shown again that his grasp on the details of the Atlanta Campaign are truly masterful and should be applauded.    

​The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory that Opened the Door to Gettysburg
Eric J. Wittenberg and Scott L. Mingus Sr.
Savas Beatie, 2016, 504 pp., $32.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-288-4
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There has been some recent attention to the month leading up the Battle of Gettysburg; so many studies have been written about the battle itself that this is well needed attention.  The Second Battle of Winchester is one such work which brings to light some of the details of the footsteps of the battle we all have read much about.  It is the Second Battle of Winchester which allows the Confederate army to punch through to Gettysburg and Eric J. Wittenberg and Scott L. Mingus Sr. have done a great service to the Civil War realm by writing such a work.
                Scott L. Mingus Sr. is a familiar name to many.  His works span Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Confederate Expedition to the Susquehanna River, June 1863 and Confederate General William “Extra Billy” Smith: From Virginia’s Statehouse to Gettysburg Scapegoat.  His is a scientist and executive in the paper industry and has won the Nathan Bedford Forrest Southern History Award.  Eric J. Wittenberg is an accomplished Civil War historian, mainly in the cavalry realm.  He has written many articles in magazines and is also the author of The Devil’s to Pay: John Buford at Gettysburg, and Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions.  He has won the Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable’s 2015 Book Award.
                As I have found with most recent Civil War works, the opening chapter was one of the most rewarding for me as a reader.  The authors took a great deal of time and effort to bring us seven months worth of information from December of 1862 to June of 1863.  This part was invaluable.  However, the book becomes more valuable to the Gettysburg reader as it goes on.  By breaking up the action by days, the book gives a well written and understandable account of the battle and very even tempered on both sides.  While reading through the account of the battle, any reader can understand that this was one of the key battles leading up to Gettysburg.  Both Mingus’ and Wittenberg’s narrative shows a mastery of not only the information, but of their incredible style of the writing.  Up until this point, I had no idea that the Second Battle of Winchester was as exhausting on the men as previously thought.  One of the appendices also offers a driving tour, which many know I find invaluable to any book; other appendices also gives the order of battle and even surgeons and chaplains captured.  These parts not only gave the book something more for the reader, but gave the all around picture needed to understand this engagement.   Add in the well drawn maps and what we have is the most comprehensive book about the battle I have read.
                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Civil War.  Usually I recommend books to certain Civil War audiences, but this one seems to capture something that would make any reader of the genre interested.  I learned much from these pages and have a better idea of what happened on the roads to Gettysburg here.  Both Mingus and Wittenberg are masters of the craft and should be applauded for the work they brought here to Civil War academia.  Highly Recommended!   

​The Last Road North: A Guide to the Gettysburg Campaign, 1863
Robert Orrison and Dan Welch
Savas Beatie, 2016, 172 pp., $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-243-3
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The Emerging Civil War Series has been one of the more recent highlights of informative Civil War writing.  The books not only feature important information on lesser known battles, but give driving instructions for people visiting the sites.  One of the more intriguing projects the team has been handling recently is the Battle of Gettysburg.  With the prospect of releasing one book a year per day in the battle, The Last Road North was released encompassing the whole campaign.  This not only deals with the days of the battle, but the actions immediately before and after the infamous clash.  Unlike the other works in this series, The Last Road North has no appendices and focuses just on the author’s words.
                Robert Orrison has spent most of his life working within the realm of Gettysburg and its campaign sites as he holds a position on the board of the Civil War Trails.  He has been working in the history field for over twenty years and holds a Bachelors of Arts in Historic Preservation from Longwood College and a Masters in Public History from George Mason University.  Dan Welch received his Bachelors of Arts in Instrumental Music Education from Youngstown State University and his Masters of Arts in Military History from American Military University.  He is a seasonal Park Ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park.
                As I began to read The Last Road North, one thing stuck out to me regarding the title.  The first chapter, which handles the Confederate advance into Pennsylvania, is one of the highlights of the work mainly for its tour stops and instructions.  Many who have read books concerning the Battle of Gettysburg and the campaign surrounding it are familiar with many of the stops here, but very few enthusiasts have visited these sites.  The instructions for these sites was one of the highlights of the book for me.  Throughout the work, we have a narrative of the battle fueled by many well drawn maps and photographs all of which are written and presented excellently by the authors.  The concluding chapter about the retreat and aftermath of battle was another fine example of what was accomplished in the first chapter.  By giving the reader a well written documentation of how to travel these destinations, along with a narrative of what happened which elegantly presented as in the previous Emerging Civil War books.  Overall, the greatest value this book can give to those interested in the Gettysburg Campaign is the opening and closing chapter about the advance and retreat from battle. 
                I highly recommend this book to those interested in the Gettysburg Campaign, especially for those who are just getting into the hobby and even those in middle and high school.  The travel directions along with the invaluable information in this book will give you a better idea of what happened on those days.  If you are a reader who wants to learn more about these sites and even visit them, I recommend this book as well.  Most of these battlefields around the campaign are not visited or studied as much as they should and this work fixes that problem.  Highly recommended.