Union Casualties at Gettysburg: A Comprehensive Record in Three Volumes

Travis W. Busey and John W. Busey

McFarland

1,588 pp, 2011, Softcover, $125.00

ISBN:978-0-7864-4800-5

Image courtesy of amazon.com

                There are many reference guides to the Battle of Gettysburg when it comes to the losses of both armies, but nothing like this work has ever come before.  Within this three volume set, Union Casualties at Gettysburg: A Comprehensive Record in Three Volumes is the most valuable asset any Gettysburg historian can have when studying the battle.  Listed inside are not only the killed or mortally wounded in combat, but the captured, missing and wounded separated by company, regiment and state.

                Travis W. Busey and John W. Busey are no strangers to the Gettysburg community.  John W. Busey has written many works on the Battle of Gettysburg, most of which are studies into the numbers and losses of the campaign.  His other famous works include Regimental Strengths and Losses at Gettysburg, which he wrote with David G. Martin.  He also wrote These Honored Dead: The Union Casualties at Gettysburg.  Travis W. Busey specializes in vintage photos and pencil drawings and portraits while operating in the art business.  Both live in Centerville, Virginia.

                In John W. Busey’s These Honored Dead: The Union Casualties at Gettysburg, he analyzes the men of the Army of the Potomac who were either killed or mortally wounded.  Here, in this new work along with Travis W. Busey, it is expanded to include the wounded and captured.  What these works do for us is not only give us a better understanding of the aggregate numbers of the regiments and their losses, but it allows the readers and historians to better understand the organization of the strategy and tactics used at Gettysburg.  One thing which I had found while looking through this reference, it the great amount of detail brought about in this study.  When reading the official records of the regiments, there are often descriptions of where the action became heated and where the greatest loss of life was.  Now, along with this guide, you can tell about which company got hit the worst.  Nothing ever before has come along like this where a regiment’s company can be seen as getting hit the worst.  Another part which is interesting is the full record on most of the soldiers compiled in this list.  They tell the story of where they came from, where they were mustered, if they were with a previous regiment, and when they died if they were wounded or captured.  Even on the record of killed, they list what day of combat they fell since most regiments endured fighting for all three days of combat.  The comprehensive index alone gives the names of all of the soldiers listed in the work and the appendices gives us a clearer view on the further details which these authors went to bring us this information.

                John W. Busey brought a great work into the Gettysburg realm when he published These Honored Dead, and now along with Travis Busey, has brought an even more comprehensive record to the hands of Gettysburg historians.  This record is invaluable to the Gettysburg historian and cannot be recommended enough.  You will find yourself constantly going back to the record books here to see what kind of casualties the regiment stood and who survived and where they came from.  Every Gettysburg library should have a copy of these records gracing its shelves.  

Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign

Scott L. Mingus, Sr.

Colecraft Industries, 2006, 102 Pages, $9.95

ISBN: 0-9777125-2-4

Image courtesy of amazon.com

                Many historians of the Gettysburg Campaign often tell narratives on a scope dealing with the entire battle, or just a section of the field.  There are others who write biographies on a certain person either all throughout the Civil War, or just their time at Gettysburg.  While Mingus has done both, he also writes this work on human interest stories which is a great introduction to the people and the special things which they performed during the battle. 

                Scott L. Mingus, Sr., is the award winning author of Confederate General William “Extra Billy” Smith, and The Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign, along with Flames Beyond Gettysburg.  He is also the author of several books on Wargaming in the Civil War and is editor with his wife for “Charge!”: a magazine for miniature Civil War gamers.  He now resides in York, Pennsylvania.

                Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign is a work which is unique and unlike any other.  While other books tend to elaborate on the subject at hand, Mingus gives a quick introduction to the story, tells us what happened and moves on to the next.  However, he has crafted the work in a way which tells the story of the battle without getting involved in any of the major details.  Most people reading history who are the regular book buyers will get lost in the strategy and tactics of the battle and would often find it tedious.  But here, Mingus gives us what fuels the reading of the people.  While someone like myself enjoys reading about tactics and strategy and the mechanics of war, the average reader does not.  Here, in this collection, Mingus grabs the readers, gives them a taste of what happened and moves on to the next subject.  This book is a great introductory for anyone interested in the Battle of Gettysburg.  It is also a book which should be taken along on the battlefield with people as they tour.  The chapters are easily set for the pre-battle stories, the battle broken up by days, and the post battle.  While touring the areas of the battlefield, this could be a resource guide to help you understand the stories of the monuments.  Not only that, Mingus’ narrative is completely readable.  As with his other works, Mingus writes in such a flowing narrative that it is hard not to be enthralled with what is being written.  He also gives you the source right away and does not make you search for his materials in the endnotes which are incredibly helpful when working with short stories instead of a long narrative.  Still, to this day, the average person touring the battlefield is not enamored with strategy and tactics, but the human interest stories.  Too many times, history has alienated people with the tedium of information which leaves out the humanity in the people.  Here, Mingus gives us what makes history enthralling to the public.  Here are the Human Interest stories in a solid volume and easily accessible to the public. 

                I highly recommend this book for even the most avid Gettysburg historian.  These stories have stood the test of time and even the ones we have never heard of before are told with grace in the narrative of Mingus.  There is always something new to learn when it comes to the Gettysburg Campaign and Mingus gives us those new things to learn.  Paired with the second volume of these Human Interest stories, this collection is undoubtedly important to have on the shelf of any Civil War historian.  

The Hospital on Seminary Ridge at the Battle of Gettysburg

Michael A. Dreese, Foreword by Frederick K. Wentz

McFarland

208pp, 2005, softcover, $35.00

ISBN: 978-0-7864-2360-6

Image courtesy of heroesbehindthelines.com

            The “Old Dorm” of Seminary Ridge, part of the Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary, is well known to have played an important part during the battle.  While most Gettysburg historians know the role of the building as a hospital, the details of the building are a bit more sparse to the regular visitor of the Gettysburg battlefield.  In his work, Michael Dreese gives more information on the building and the seminary itself before, during and after the battle and his narrative is haunting.

            Michael A. Dreese is the vice president of the Susquehanna Civil War Round Table and is the leading historian for the 151st Pennsylvania Volunteers.  His other works include The 151st Pennsylvania Volunteers at Gettysburg and  An Imperishable Fame: The Civil War Experience of George Fisher McFarland.  His work on both McFarland and the 151st Pennsylvania has given a clearer view of what happened to the “School Teacher” Regiment. 

            Due to his study on the 151st Pennsylvania and George McFarland, it is only fitting that Dreese would write a book on the Seminary Ridge Hospital since McFarland was the last soldier to leave Gettysburg after spending some time at the Seminary Ridge Hospital.  Dreese opens his work not with the battle, but years before with the formation of the Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary.  What may be surprising to many was that the classes of the seminary during the political discourse, often discussed what was going on in politics at the time.  The evolution of the seminary and the people surrounding it are proof once more that Gettysburg was more than just a battle, it was a people.  This narrative also invokes the statement that there were many people not only in the seminary, but in the Union and Confederate army who had ties to this small Pennsylvanian town.  The narrative throughout the first part of the book is quite tame, but once Dreese approaches the hospital and the conditions after the battle, it becomes haunting.  Whether it was the pictures which aided the stories of the hospital, or the narratives of the men and women themselves, I found myself shaking every now and then.  The graphic nature of this book shows that it is not for the faint of heart and as more books come out about the Battle of Gettysburg, this seems to be a common occurrence.  Due to the placement of the Union army during the battle, many of the soldiers from the Army of the Potomac here were from the First Corps and many from the Confederate side, there are a few listed as died in the hospital, were from Ewell or Hill’s Corps.  The stories which accompanied these men, some of which won the Medal of Honor, shows the great devotion they had to defend their country and fight for their cause.  Sacrificing life and limb not only makes the reader feel closer to the battle, but humbled by their actions and their strife.  Along with the soldiers were the accounts of the Ziegler family as they endured the battle doing what they could to aid the soldiers.  Dreese gives a good balance between civilian and soldier accounts from both sides that it is hard not to feel something as you go through the pages of this book.

            I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Battle of Gettysburg, or anyone interested in Civil War medicine.  Michael Dreese was the perfect man for this job as he tackles yet another part of the battlefield with great vigor and knowledge.  For many people who drive by the building of the seminary and know nothing about it, this book clarifies what we do not know and hopefully inspires us to stop and appreciate what this place did for the soldiers during the battle.    

A Chain of Thunder: A Novel of the Siege of Vicksburg

Jeff Shaara

Ballantine Books, 2013, $28.00, 565 pages.

ISBN: 978-0-345-52738-7

Image courtesy of Barnes and Noble

                In A Chain of Thunder, Jeff Shaara continues his series on the War in the West bringing us the campaign which opened the Mississippi and introduces us to some very interesting characters.  Through his usual narrative, there comes some clarity which has left Civil War novices confused about the Vicksburg Campaign and the novel stands as a great introduction for those people interested in something besides the War in the East.  The second part of his series is a welcome addition not only to the bookshelves of Civil War buffs, but the literary world as well.

                Jeff Shaara is a New York Times bestseller and began his career with the work preceding his father’s called Gods and Generals and finished the story with The Last Full Measure.  Shaara has won numerous accolades for his works on the revolution called Rise to Rebellion and The Glorious Cause.  After his series on the Civil War in the West, he will be pursuing the Texas conflict and the Korean War.

                For the first time in his career, Jeff Shaara has given us the outlook of a woman.  She does not have just one chapter, but many telling the story of the civilians who had to hide out in the caves and sometimes gave their services as nurses.  The narrative of the hospitals is gruesome and not for the faint of heart, but even more so, the narrative of life in the caves is even worse.  There are some points in literature which stick with you for the rest of your life and his description of life in the caves and the starvation of the men and women of the city of Vicksburg is one of those passages.  Whether it be the slaughter of the horses so they could eat all the way down to killing dogs for food, the disturbing image comes when there is no reservation about eating these animals.  Even the conditions of the high command of the Confederate army is deplorable.  In this volume, Shaara chooses to use Pemberton as the voice of the Confederate command structure instead of Johnston and rightfully so.  Pemberton was more the defender of Vicksburg than any other commander.  He does, however, give Pemberton the same treatment his father gave Longstreet in The Killer Angels.  He has taken a character which was not always in good light and given him a favorable view.  In the end, you feel sorry for Pemberton and wonder what he could have done to further his fight.  But knowing there was nothing for him to do was quite sad and some say could change the opinions of people about the man.  On the Union side,  we have the regulars from the last book, A Blaze of Glory, with Private Bauer from the 17th Wisconsin and General Sherman.  Something, however, can be said about reading a book with the opposition has the upper hand constantly in the campaign.  While there are small battles throughout the siege which the Union army loses, there is something in the back of the reader’s mind saying that they still have the upper hand in the situation which makes this book a bit more history than novel.  Which brings me to the major point of my review.  A Chain of Thunder is a good book, but is more nonfiction novel than an actual historical fiction book.  I learned more about the Vicksburg Campaign in this book than I have learned from any of his other works and once again, Shaara shines when he only has to worry about a single campaign or battle instead of stretching the work over a few years.

                I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of historical fiction because while being such, it is quite different from what the standard is for those types of works.  The detail in which is gives to the campaign of Vicksburg is quite good and while he makes the reader feel sympathy for the Confederate army, there is still an even divide between the Union and Confederate accounts.  Jeff Shaara’s War in the West series is a very welcome addition to my own Civil War library and should be a welcome addition to any other history fan as well.

Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions: Farnsworth’s Charge, South Cavalry Field, and the Battle of Fairfield, July 3rd, 1863

Eric J. Wittenberg

Savas Beatie, 2011, 240 pgs.

ISBN: 978-1-611210-70-5

Image courtesy of Gettysburg150app.com

                While touring the fields of Gettysburg, there are two places a regular tourist would skip over.  The first is East Cavalry Battlefield.  Due to the distance from the regular field of Gettysburg, there are many who just skip the area and move onto the other portions of the battle.  The other place is a location where many drive through just to get to the area of Little Round Top.  This area is known as South Cavalry Field and it is largely ignored to this day.  Thankfully, Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions by Eric J. Wittenberg, fixes that problem as being the authoritative work on this area of the field.

                Eric J. Wittenberg is the winner of the Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award and is a member of the Governor of Ohio’s Advisory Commission on the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War.  Right now he is practicing law and jokes that one day he will stop practicing and get it right.  He is the greatest authority on the cavalry actions at the Battle of Gettysburg along with his other major work Protecting the Flank which was about East Cavalry Battlefield and also highly recommended.  It was this work on the South Cavalry Field and the Battle of Fairfield which won him the Bachelder-Coddington Award in 1998 and has now given us a Sesquicentennial Edition with many needed additions.

                Not only does this work surround itself with South Cavalry Field, but it also deals with the Battle of Fairfield and Farnsworth’s Charge.  The general consensus of the battlefield is that the action ended when Longstreet’s Assault cleared.  Then Longstreet held his head low and Lee admitted his fault and while that it great theater, it is not what happened.  Wittenberg clearly states that the actions of the cavalry south of the field had an impact on what happened during the last hours of combat.  One of the best things he mentions is that the action was really one last great push in the battle.  What is also put to rest is that the only action seen on the southern end of the battlefield was done on the second d ay of battle with Little Round Top and Devil’s Den.  The section of the book which deals with Farnsworth’s Charge is compelling reading along with the accounts wondering if Farnsworth shot himself to avoid capture.  This myth has long been in the pantheon of Gettysburg writing and now Wittenberg has put the myth to death.  Compiling accounts of many Union medics and even some Confederate writers, it is clear that Farnsworth did not shoot himself since as one of the medics put it, there were no self-inflicted wounds on the man.  His coverage on the Battle of Fairfield is also well needed and will be hailed by historians all around as the finality on the engagements.

                Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions is highly recommended for those who are obsessed with Gettysburg.  It is a great addition to any library due to the clarification he gives to the battlefield and the areas around it.  His account of the Battle of Fairfield is second to none.  Let us hope that this edition never goes out of print as it will be crucial for the understanding of the battlefield for generations to come.  I can only speak of high praise for Wittenberg and his work on both of his books concerning the cavalry at Gettysburg.  Soon, his new work on Buford at Gettysburg will be released and it is something I am greatly looking forward to reading.

A Blaze of Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Shiloh

Jeff Shaara

Ballantine Books, 2012, 437 Pages, $28.00

ISBN: 978-0-345-52735-6

Image courtesy of amazon.com

                There are many Gettysburg historians who credit their first exposure to the battle from The Killer Angels still to this day years after its publication, but Michael Shaara never wrote another novel on the American Civil War.  Instead, his son took up the mantel and gave us works such as Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure.  Since then, Jeff Shaara has written many works on the military engagements of the United States from the American Revolution all the way to World War II.  Now, during the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, he returns to where he got his start but sets his focus on the war in the west.  Initially planned as a trilogy, it is now a four part saga starting with A Blaze of Glory which is a novel about the Battle of Shiloh.  Not only does he go back to his roots with this novel, he goes back to the roots of his father and mimics the writing style of The Killer Angels by writing a novel only about the battle instead of a number of years.

                Jeff Shaara is a New York Times bestseller and began his career with the work preceding his father’s called Gods and Generals and finished the story with The Last Full Measure.  Shaara has won numerous accolades for his works on the revolution called Rise to Rebellion and The Glorious Cause.  After his series on the Civil War in the West, he will be pursuing the Texas conflict and the Korean War.

                Much like the rest of the works in his line of fiction, he sets chapters apart with characters who are the main points of his narrative.  There is an even separation between north and south characters  which works to his advantage in this manner and spends a good amount of time telling the reader how the battle was planned between Generals Johnston and Beauregard.  On the other side of the battle, the high command of Generals Grant and Sherman deal with the political interference of Henry Halleck before the attack made at Shiloh.  The other major characters are soldiers in the armies and one other commander for the Confederacy, Nathaniel Bedford Forrest.  Because Shaara spends this work only on the Battle of Shiloh, those who are looking for a narrative on the Battles of Fort Donelson and Henry will be disappointed.  This book shines because it only deals with one major battle unlike some of his other works which span years at a time.  Many claim Shaara’s The Steel Wave as one of the best of his works due to the fact that he only deals with the invasion of Normandy.  When Shaara reaches the battlefield, and the action erupts, he spends a good time surrounding the first day of combat and the one flaw readers can tend to find is that he does not spend enough time surrounding the second day of the fighting.  He also deals with the character of Nathaniel Bedford Forrest in a way that readers would not gain the information that he was one of the heads of the Ku Klux Klan.  While this is important to know that for the history of the country, the Civil War history should not deal with him in that manner unless the book has something to do with reconstruction.  I was greatly impressed with the fact that he was able to deal with Forrest in a humane way and not bring out the darkness in the man just because he was a character in his work.  One of the other main points in the book which was done well was the death of General Johnston.  You could feel the tension of what happened when he died due to the narrative which Shaara presents.

                I highly recommend this book to anyone who is an avid reader of Civil War fiction and are always looking for new things outside the realm of the Eastern Theater of the war.  It is a rarity to see works which will stand up against the ethos of the nonfiction realm of the Civil War and while Shaara has received criticism in the past for his works, I feel as though the works bring people into the war and into the study of the conflict.  As stated before, many Gettysburg historians can credit their interested into the battle because of his father’s book.  Now, he is carrying that even farther with his work in the west, a place where many people tend to forget when it comes to this great conflict.