The Battle of Monroe’s Crossroads and the Civil War’s Final Campaign

Eric J. Wittenberg

Savas Beatie, 2006, 2015 paperback, 336 pp. + 24 pp. introduction, $22.95

ISBN: 978-1-6121-249-5

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Many of my readers are no strangers to the fine work which Eric J. Wittenberg has published throughout his career and this is yet another addition to his cavalcade of Civil War academia.  Originally published in 2006, the 2015 edition makes the work available in paperback.  The Battle of Monroe’s Crossroads is an excellent study into the final campaign of the Civil War.  The general idea is that the Civil War ended with the surrender of General Lee during the Appomattox Campaign and the writing surrounding Sherman accepting Johnston’s surrender has not been justly covered.  Here, in this work, we get a look into the ways in which the final campaign was the last and epic conclusion the Civil War deserved. 

                Eric J. Wittenberg is the author of many works including The Devil’s to Pay: John Buford at Gettysburg, Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Action and Protecting the Flank at Gettysburg.  He has authored many other numerous works with other co-authors including the famous Plenty of Blame to Go Around.  He is the recipient of many awards and has often been chosen as the History and Military Book Club selections.  Some of his awards include the 1998 Bachelder Coddington Award and the Army Historical Foundation’s Distinguished Writing Award.  He is considered an authority on Civil War Cavalry.

                The work opens with an incredible biographical sketch of Judson Kilpatrick whom we got to see in his book on South Cavalry Field at Gettysburg, but is detailed more in depth here.  One of the highlights which has been seen all throughout the work of Wittenberg is the way in which he explains the political and militaristic background of the characters involved in the fighting.  I found this especially well done when talking about Kilpatrick.  I believe he is one of the more forgotten about commanders of the war, and here Wittenberg does him justice.  The narrative of the battle is done in a well written easy to follow style aided by both photographs of the field and maps.  One of the things which struck me as I read through his battle analysis was the humanistic element which he brought to the combat.  When talking about the cavalry charge, it seemed as though the tension from the combatants was reaching out to me as a reader more than any other cavalry charge described in Civil War accounts.  This cavalry charge is, as stated above in the introduction, the last epic conclusion the Civil War deserved.  I can think of no other author who could have written such a fine narrative to describe the events here.

                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the final year of the Civil War.  This is a battle most people do not normally hear about and because of this fine work by Wittenberg, it has been brought to light.  The narrative flows quite nicely with the regular Wittenberg style we have all come to know and love.  This book proves that Wittenberg really is the authority on Civil War cavalry and should be considered as such for this generation and the generation to come.

Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862

Dr. O. Edward Cunningham, Gary D. Joiner, ed., and Timothy B. Smith, ed.

Savas Beatie, 2007, 480 pp. + 26 pp. introduction, $27.95

ISBN: 978-1-932714-34-0

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                While a great deal of attention has been given to the eastern theater of the Civil War in 1862, there has not been as many works dedicated to the west and in particular, the Battle of Shiloh.  O. Edward Cunningham worked tirelessly on this dissertation of his which, for some time, was not accessible for the people to read.  Now, it has been widely published and serves a great purpose in battlefield analysis.  Overall, this work, which was written some time ago, was ahead of its time in many aspects: overall battlefield analysis, narrative style and a well-documented thesis unheard of at his time.  In Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862, a work exists which should be considered the authority on the battle for the current and next generation to come.

                O. Edward Cunningham, Ph.D. studied at Louisiana State University.  While there, he studied under T. Harry Williams.  He was also the author of The Port Hudson Campaign: 1862-183 which was published by Louisiana State University Press in 1963.  Though this work is a milestone in study of the Battle of Shiloh, Dr. Cunningham never saw it reach publication on a mass market and died in 1997.  Gary D. Joiner, one of the editors of the work, is the author of many books, most famously the award winning One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End: The Red River Campaign of 1864 and is a history professor at Louisiana State University.  Timothy B. Smith, the other editor of the work, has written the award winning Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg.  Smith is a former Shiloh Park Ranger and teaches history at the University of Tennessee.

                Throughout the narrative of this work, one thing remains clear.  Dr. Cunningham grasped the concept of a clear historical battlefield narrative which was unheard of when he wrote this dissertation in 1966.  At the time of the Centennial Celebration of the Civil War, many other works were filling the market, mainly works on the eastern theater of the war.  What he had written seems more like a scholarly publication from the modern age instead of that style fifty years ago.  But this book is not just about the Battle of Shiloh.  It is about the major events and battles which led up to the combat.  Dr. Cunningham takes the reader back all the way to the conflicts at both Forts Henry and Donnellson giving us a clear coherent analysis on the battle.  It should be noted that the narrative is also aided by excellent maps and photographs.  He goes even farther to give the reader a look into the political troubles which were fueling the Union army in the west, especially when it came to the feuds between Halleck and Grant.  While there are not that many books about the Battle of Shiloh, this one evokes an understanding which I have not yet read in a book about the campaign yet.  Throughout the narrative of the battle, there was never any question of what was going on or who Dr. Cunningham was talking about.  This was a clear narrative that even a Civil War novice could understand.

                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the campaigns of the west, or even all of the Civil War campaigns in general.  Dr. Cunningham, along with Gary D. Joiner and Timothy B. Smith as the editors, have presented one of the best Shiloh books I have read.  It is a welcome addition to the library of any Civil War historian, especially one who wants to read more about the campaigns in the west.  Not to be missed.  

Fight Like the Devil: The First Day at Gettysburg July 1, 1863

Christ Mackowski, Kristopher D. White, and Daniel T. Davis with Foreword by Mark H. Dunkelman

Savas Beatie, 2015, 170 pp.+22 pp. introduction, $12.95

ISBN: 978-1-61121-227-3

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If there is one thing which can be said about the Emerging Civil War Series, it is the constant excellence it brings to both known and unknown aspects of the Civil War.  In Fight Like the Devil, Chris Mackowski, Kristopher D. White and Daniel T. Davis, bring us a known unknown part of the Gettysburg battlefield: The first day of combat.  This book not only gives the reader an excellent readable narrative of the first day of battle, but it also gives an incredible driving tour which closes each chapter.  A book such as this has been long overdue and while there are books about the first day of combat, many of them are quite dense.  Here, in Fight Like the Devil, the authors tackle the first day of combat as a whole which is needed for the Gettysburg beginner.

                Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is an author of many other Civil War studies and is a professor in the school of journalism and Mass Communication at Saint Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York.  Mackowski is also a historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Park where he gives tours of the four major battlefields of the area including Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania.  He also gives tours of the building where Stonewall Jackson died.  Kristopher D. White is a historian for the Penn-Trafford Recreation Board and is also a continuing education instructor for the Community College of Allegheny County near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He served as a military historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park as is a former Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg.  He also has a Master of Arts degree in Military History from Norwich University.  Joining them is Daniel T. Davis who is a graduate of Longwood University with a degree in public history.  He has worked as a historian at Appomattox Court House National Historic Site and the Fredericksburg Spotsylvania National Military Park.

                In the overall study of the Gettysburg Campaign, the first day of combat is usually the most ignored of all mainly due to the film Gettysburg and its counterpart The Killer Angels.  While there was some of the action showed in both the movie and the book, it is quite limited in scope compared to what actually happened that day.  In all reality, any person going to the Gettysburg battlefield for the first time might be confused as to what happened on those first days battlefields north of town.  This book helps to clear the air of any confusion by not only presenting the strategy and tactics of the action, but giving the readers human interest stories and some of the politics behind the goings on of the army.  There have been some narratives which end once the First and Eleventh Corps retreat through the town not telling the reader about the actions on East Cemetery Hill and the Brickyard Fight.  Here, they are covered and done so with tour stops and aided by photographs and maps.  This book is also filled with 8 appendices written by some respected Gettysburg historians including the authors.  Both Eric J. Wittenberg and Matt Atkinson supply some of the appendices in this book along with a foreword by Mark H. Dunkleman.  Overall, the narrative gives a cohesive understanding of the battle along with touring stops easy for anyone to follow.

                I highly recommend this book to any Gettysburg historian and anyone new to the Gettysburg study.  With the lack of concentration on the first day of combat by historians in the past, this book is a welcome addition into the realm of Gettysburg.  I also highly recommend the Emerging Civil War Series which continues to publish this excellence along all areas of Civil War study.  Mackowski, White and Davis should all be praised for the work which they have done here and have done for the series.