The Iron Brigade in Civil War and Memory: The Black Hats from Bull Run to Appomattox and Thereafter

Lance J. Herdegen

Savas Beatie, 2012, 658 pp. + 14 pp. introduction, $39.95

ISBN: 978-1-61121-106-1

Image Courtesy of amazon.com

The Iron Brigade is, without a doubt, the most famous brigade which fought for the Union during the American Civil War.  Strangely enough, throughout the many regimental histories written about the famous brigade, there has always been something missing in the study.  With either a dry narrative, or the lack of a continuous thought process, the previous Iron Brigade studies have fallen short.  Thankfully, Lance Herdegen’s The Iron Brigade in Civil War and Memory is the book on the famous brigade we have all be waiting for.  Throughout the detailed chapters, this book never fails to keep the interest high and fills the pages with the myriad of action which these boys saw during the war.

                Lance J. Herdegen is an award winning journalist and is the former director of the Institute of Civil War Studies at Carroll University.  He experience in journalism is from working as an editor for the United Press International news service.  This covered national politics, civil rights, and is currently working as a historical consultant for the Civil War Museum of the Upper Middle West.  He is also the author of many articles and other books such as Those Damned Black Hats!: The Iron Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign, Four Years With the Iron Brigade, and In the Bloody Railroad Cut at Gettysburg.  He is considered by many to be the expert on the Iron Brigade.

                This book has every bit of information any scholar could want on the Iron Brigade.  Their entire history is placed on the table for all to see.  This tome covers all the action which the brigade saw through the entire war and is sectionalized for the reader by year of conflict.  One of the things which I enjoyed was the section on the Battle of Gettysburg where so many of the Iron Brigade fell.  It has been some time since I have felt emotion reading a brigade history and Herdegen does the job well.  One of the major points which can be appreciated is the section on Gettysburg is not a carbon copy of his other book Those Damned Black Hats!  He offers a different narrative and is not repetitive.  My favorite part of the book had to be the final pages of the narrative talking about the post war for some of these men.  Accompanied by maps and photographs, this book is essential for any study on the Iron Brigade and the campaigns in which they were involved.  The appendices are invaluable as they list off the regiments of the Iron Brigade and which counties the companies were formed within.  Overall, this volume is the full treatment of the Iron Brigade any Civil War student or scholar could ever hope for.

                I highly recommend this book and overall cannot recommend it enough.  From the action packed chapters to the very well organized narrative, there is not enough time for me to say good things about this work.  While there have been previous works on the Iron Brigade, Herdegen proves that he is the all-time master of the Iron Brigade’s history and a phenomenal historian who clearly has an incredible grasp on his subject.  

Strike Them a Blow: Battle along the North Anna River, May 21-25, 1864

Chris Mackowski

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

ISBN: 978-1-61121-254-9

Image courtesy of amazon.com

The Emerging Civil War Series has been a pleasure to read since its inception and now, Chris Mackowski gives us the new installment Strike Them a Blow about the Battle along the North Anna River.  While this book it not titled as a sequel, Strike Them a Blow follows the action of A Season of Slaughter which was about the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse.  The period of May in 1864 for the armies in the eastern theater of the war was grueling and this book adds to the toll which both armies of Lee and Grant took during that infamous month. 

                Chris Mackowski is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Emerging Civil War.  He is also the historian-in-reference at Stevenson Ridge which is part of the Spotsylvania battlefield.  On top of all his work with the Emerging Civil War, he is a professor of journalism and mass communication at Saint Bonaventure University in western New York.  Some of his other works in the Emerging Civil War Series are That Furious Struggle, Simply Murder, and The Last Days of Stonewall Jackson.  He has also authored other books outside of the series: Chancellorsville’s Forgotten Front, The Dark, Close Wood and Seizing Destiny: The Army of the Potomac’s Valley Forge and the Civil War Winter that Saved the Union.

                One of the best things about the Emerging Civil War Series is the way in which they can be used to help tour the battlefield.  After the narrative in every chapter, there are touring tips and this is incredibly useful in a battlefield such as along the North Anna River.  Not only do the chapters help with the tour by sectionalizing parts of the days from May 21-25, but they also provide photographs of the commanders and the locations themselves with some excellent battle maps.  After the guide within the narrative is over, there are a great number of appendices, six to be exact, which explain more about the battle and other aspects of the combat not deeply covered in the narrative.  The best part of the narratives written by Mackowski was the humanity which he brought to the commanders, soldiers and the people of the battle.  One such occasion was a human interest story about a woman who was so staunch in her opinion of Sherman never taking the field.  She claimed that she knew the country better than anyone else and stated that no army could ever take it.  Those small bits of humanity is what makes not only this book, but the Emerging Civil War Series quite excellent.

                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Battle along the North Anna River and anyone who is touring the battlefields of Virginia.  This book is essential to understanding what happened there and offers many tips and stops while you tour the field.  In the myriad of battle tour guides throughout the Civil War world, Strike Them a Blow will give you the best tour and descriptions about this combat more than any other.  Mackowski should be praised for what he has accomplished here.

Resisting Sherman: A Confederate Surgeon's Journal and the Civil War in the Carolinas, 1865

Thomas Heard Robertson, Jr., ed.

Savas Beatie, 2015, 168 pp. + 18 pp. Introduction, $26.95

ISBN: 978-1-61121-260-0

Image courtesy of amazon.com

There are a great many primary sources concerning members of the Confederate army fighting against Sherman during the infamous Atlanta Campaign of 1864.  This book is different from those in that the journal details the fight for the Carolinas during 1865 and while there are other works which are from a surgeon’s point of view, this diary is handled with great editorial finesse.  Resisting Sherman is taken from the journal of Francis Marion Robertson and not only gives a great human element to the war, but details the last few months of the war which have largely been ignored in the annals of Civil War history.  It is fitting that such a work be released during the last year of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War to celebrate its ending.

                While the journal is told from the perspective of Francis Marion Robertson, Thomas Heard Robertson, Jr., is the direct descendant of the surgeon and has edited this work with extensive footnotes and pertinent information.  He is the president of the Cranston Engineering Group, P.C. of Augusta, Georgia.  He practices civil engineering, city planning and land surveying while being an active historian and preservationist.  He was instrumental in designating the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area which he testified four times before Congress to make it happen.  While Resisting Sherman is his first full length work, he has written many papers and is a popular speaker.

                One of the things which I greatly enjoyed about Resisting Sherman, was the gravitas which the narrative helped to establish.  The whole book opens with a statement on the fall of Charleston later going into the ideals of home becoming the battlefield.  This prologue is written by the editor and helps the reader with information they may not have known before reading the work.  When the journal comes into the text, not only can you grasp the scenes which Robertson has described, but you can feel the humanity in his words.  There have been too many biographies on leaders in the Civil War which takes all of the humanity out of a person.  Here, in this journal, you can sense the danger of what was going on.  Robertson even talks about the overall need for goods in the south like coffee.  But my greatest appreciation for this work comes in the form of the battles in the Carolinas during the last few months of the war.  Thomas Robertson supplements details of the battles and conflicts either in footnotes or in other sections altogether.  When it comes to the reading of the final months of the war and Sherman’s actions, this journal will be seen as essential to the study.

                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Sherman’s army during the last year of the war and any Civil War historian interested in the last year of the war overall.  The detail which both the author and the editor put into this work is fantastic and should be praised for their work.  Resisting Sherman fills in the gaps which other historians have ignored over the years.  Most people consider the end of the war when General Lee surrendered.  This book helps to eliminate those thoughts and it is welcomed in the realm of Civil War academia.     

The Smoke at Dawn

Jeff Shaara

Ballantine Books, 2014, 500 pp. + 22 pp. introduction, $28.00

ISBN: 978-0-345-52741-7

Image Courtesy of amazon.com

I have been a fan of Jeff Shaara for some time now and was quite excited when he announced a return to the Civil War.  I was even more excited when he said it was going to be a series on the western theater of the war.  The third book in the series, The Smoke at Dawn, is about the campaign of Chickamauga and the conclusion of the action there.  As it was with his other novels, this book centers on a series of characters and their points of view which is a formula which has worked for him in the past.  This book deals with Braxton Bragg and Patrick Cleburne for the Confederacy and Ulysses S. Grant and Private Bauer for the Union.  After finishing this book, the question is asked whether or not Mr. Shaara has succeeded in telling a good story.

                Jeff Shaara is a New York Times bestselling author of many works including A Blaze of Glory and A Chain of Thunder, the other two books in the series on the Civil War in the West.  The fourth and final book in the series, The Fateful Lightning, has just been released.  Shaara is also the author of Gods and Generals, The Last Full Measure, The Steel Wave and Gone for Soldiers.  These are just a few of his works centered around American Military History. 

                I struggled with this book.  I think the main reason I struggled was because the other two in the series were quite good and conformed to a formula which worked for The Killer Angels.  If there is one thing which I can point to as a weakness for this work it is the overly descriptive narrative which he produces.  Throughout the text, there are page long paragraphs describing the thoughts of the commanders and soldiers; all of this is not needed in a book about a campaign.  The book about the Chickamauga campaign is also one of the weaknesses.  The strength of A Blaze of Glory was its focus on the Battle of Shiloh.  This book dragged as it explained the slow movements of the campaign.  The narrative focus of the work was also hindered on its characters.  Starting with Braxton Bragg as the commander for the Confederate forces, any reader would be frustrated with him within the first one hundred pages.  Understandably, Shaara is attempting to create a historically accurate feel to this work, but I’ve never hated a character as much as Braxton Bragg.  Throughout all of his chapters, he was incredibly whiny when it came to the insubordination going on around him.  The chapters about General Grant were useless and provided little to no narrative push as the novel continued on.  The story of Private Bauer was one of the parts of the other books which I thoroughly enjoyed.  In this book, I was confused by his actions.  In A Chain of Thunder, Private Bauer gets transferred to another regiment by his friend who has recently become an officer.  In this book, Bauer requests a transfer to a new regiment which his friend has received a commission as an officer.  When I first read this, I wondered why Bauer would even do that since his friend has been quite abusive to him in the rest of the series.  At the end of the book, Bauer seems to only have followed his friend as a blind pup who enjoys a little abuse.  At the end of the book, Bauer’s story also feels rushed and does not truly end.  It should be mentioned that Bauer is not in the final book so this is his last bow in the series.  The last character who is given a viewpoint is Patrick Cleburne which had the only enjoyable chapters in the book.  I looked forward to his sections of narrative and hoped that there would have been more.  There are other people who were given chapters smattered throughout the book, but those four were the main focus of this book and honestly, it fell flat.

                I attribute this book to be much like a poorly written Martin Scorsese film which peaks early on and drudges toward and end.  By the middle of the book, I wanted it to be over and as I thought of it more and more, I realized something.  In A Blaze of Glory, Shaara states that the Civil War in the West books will be a trilogy.  The Battle of Shiloh would be the first book, the Siege of Vicksburg would be the second, and Sherman’s March to the Sea would be the third.  The front flap of the first edition of the second book even states that this series is still going to be a trilogy.  However, we get The Smoke at Dawn appearing as the third book in a Saga which now encapsulates the Civil War in the West and the only thing I can say is that this book feels forced.  I’m not sure who to blame on this one, whether it be Shaara or his agent.  One has to wonder if his agent forced him to write this book in order to add more during the Civil War Sesquicentennial.  After reading the opening chapters of The Fateful Lightning, I have to say that The Smoke at Dawn does not feel like his usual work. 

                I would usually say whether or not I recommend this book.  I’m not sure.  I think there are people who would like this book but I am not one of them.  Therefore, I do not recommend this book for Civil War fans.  The narrative style was tedious in this work with overly descriptive points that did not need to be made.  The characters, with the exception of one, were awful and I forced myself to get through the book.  It peaks early and drudges on to the finish.  My final opinion would be to tell readers that this does not feel like his usual work.  It is a book which feels forced and I can already say that The Fateful Lightning is miles better than this work within the first few chapters.  

The Battle of Ezra Church and the Struggle for Atlanta

Earl J. Hess

The University of North Carolina Press, 2015, 272 pp. + 16 pp. introduction, $35.00

ISBN: 978-1-4696-2241-5

Image courtesy of amazon.com               

The Battle of Ezra Church and the Struggle for Atlanta is another gem in the collection of works written by Earl J. Hess.  As he has done in the past, Hess has been able to take a subject or a campaign and give it a whole new light.  Just as he had accomplished with field fortifications during the Civil War, he brings the same academia and excellence to this battle in the Atlanta Campaign.  Starting with the maneuvers of both armies all the way to the conclusion of the battle, The Battle of Ezra Church is one of the few accounts of the battle which presents the combat in a thrilling fashion.

                Earl J. Hess is the Stewart W. McClelland Chair in History at Lincoln Memorial University.  He has authored many works on the Civil War including Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign and The Civil War in the West.  He is also the author of the acclaimed fortification series on the war which includes Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War, Trench Warfare Under Grant and Lee, and In the Trenches at Petersburg.  The Battle of Ezra Church is also part of the Civil War America series printed by The University of North Carolina Press. 

                As he has done with his previous works, Hess approaches this battle with the same academic excellence he has always done.  Not knowing too much about the battle myself, I found the narrative easy to follow through his descriptions of the commanders both North and South.  The chapters separate the battle by date and brigade which only added to the understanding of the combat element of the battle.  It also gives the narrative a great amount of focus to know that in certain chapters, only certain brigades and dates will be spoken about.  The book is also aided by photographs, portraits and maps of the battle giving the reader a better idea of what the area looked like.  What amazed me the most was the overall even tempered writing style of the work.  Never throughout the narrative did I feel as though Hess took preference of the Union or Confederate forces.  Each side was given its due narrative.  Hess was also fair in his descriptions sourcing many primary accounts allowing the reader to create their own opinion of the people involved.  There have been too many books where the author ends up telling you what you should think about the people involved.  Here, Hess writes professionally and leaves the judgment to the reader. 

                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the American Civil War in the East and anyone who loves to read about the Atlanta Campaign.  It is meticulously researched and sourced giving the narrative a nice flow.  Earl Hess has succeeded in his style of presenting new material in conflicts and areas of the war which many feel no longer need to be covered.  I believe I can safely say that The Battle of Ezra Church and the Struggle for Atlanta is the finest work on this engagement yet written.  

Lincoln’s Autocrat:  The Life of Edwin Stanton

William Marvel

The University of North Carolina Press, 2015, 614 pp. + 18pp. introduction, $35.00

ISBN: 978-1-4696-2249-1

Image courtesy of amazon.com

When it comes to Civil War biography, there is no one more delved into than President Lincoln.  The same, however, cannot be said for the members of his cabinet.  Even one hundred and fifty years later, the members who surrounded Lincoln have not gotten the scholarly treatment which they deserved and instead have been subjugated to be analyzed within the fabric of a Lincoln biography.  In William Marvel’s book Lincoln’s Autocrat, a full analysis of the life of Edwin Stanton is finally given for the modern Civil War historian.  Throughout the pages, the career of the lawyer turned Secretary of War shines and gives some insight into the decisions which he made in his tenure in the cabinet.

                William Marvel is no stranger to readers of Civil War academia.  Many of his other works include A Place Called Appomattox, Andersonville: The Last Depot, Lincoln’s Darkest Year, and Tarnished Victory.  Marvel has also written what many consider to be the best one volume biography on Ambrose Burnside simply called Burnside.  This biography on Edwin Stanton is also part of the Civil War America series which is printed by The University of North Carolina Press.  It is a series which publishes works about the social, political and militaristic aspects of the Civil War. 

                Within the opening lines of the introduction, Marvel states that this work is only the fifth biography in one hundred and fifty years to focus on Stanton in full.  For such an interesting character as Stanton was in his lifetime, it was surprising to me to hear that so little had been written about this man.  As I read through the work, I was astounded at what I had never known before about Stanton and his career before the Civil War.  As stated before, you can see some of the events in his life before the war which helped to aid his decisions as a cabinet member.  The book itself is a wealth of information which cannot even be rivaled by the most intricate of Lincoln biographies.  What Marvel has done in this work can easily be considered one of the best biographies to come out in the recent years.  There have been other works which focus on Stanton as a scoundrel and allow history to paint him in a poor light.  Here, Marvel showed us Stanton the human giving us sound proof for the reasoning which he had due to his past and his times.

                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the American Civil War.  To have a book like this about Stanton gives readers a different look into the way in which the war was fought and handled.  The descriptions and research of Stanton after the war gives readers of this period something new to see in the man whom history has largely ignored.  This should be considered the definitive biography on Stanton and should stand as a classic of academia not only in the Civil War genre, but the biographical style as well.  Incredibly researched, amazingly written and packed to the seams with information, Lincoln’s Autocrat should be on the shelf of every Civil War historian.