​Meade and Lee After Gettysburg: The Forgotten Final Stage of the Gettysburg Campaign, from Falling Waters to Culpeper Court House, July 14-31, 1863
Jeffrey Wm Hunt
Savas Beatie, 2017, 312 pp., $29.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-343-0
Image courtesy of amazon.com
 
The Gettysburg Campaign is one of the more written about conflicts in the American Civil War yet for all the books and articles written about it, there are still things we have yet to learn.  In Meade and Lee After Gettysburg, Jeffrey Wm Hunt explores the end of the campaign from July 14th – July 31st, 1863, as the campaign was winding down, and some of the small battles which occurred.  While most books on Gettysburg do talk about these small battles, Hunt’s work strives to give us an in-depth account of what happened in those places instead of trying to sum them up in one chapter.  Now there are books about the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, but this one is brings a fine analysis to certain battles on the way towards Virginia.
                Jeffrey William Hunt is the Director of the Texas Military Forces Museum located in Camp Mabry in Austin.  He is also an Adjunct Professor of History at Austin Community College.  He has a degree in government and a Masters Degree in History from the University of Texas.  In 2013, he was named an honorary Admiral in the Texas Navy by Governor Rick Perry.  He is the author of The Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmetto Ranch, and has also contributed to Essential Civil War Curriculum, the Revised Handbook of Texas, and the Gale Library of Daily Life: American Civil War.
                As I stated in the introduction, most books on the Gettysburg Campaign cover the end of the conflict with a simple chapter chronicling Lee’s escape into Virginia while only mentioning a few battles on the way.  Hunt’s work looks to fix that.  Throughout the work, Hunt starts to describe these final moves from Gettysburg to Culpepper Court House as a grand game of chess, which I thought was quite provoking on thinking of these weeks.  The mindset of George Meade presented here was fascinating.  There are some authors who just give the impression that once Meade won the Battle of Gettysburg, he was finished with the task at hand, but Hunt says otherwise.  Meade attempted to outthink his enemy, push towards certain points of the map which would not seem usual.  He wanted to trap Lee and bring that victory which the high ranking officials in Washington so wanted to see.  The narrative in the work shows that strategy playing out in the mind of Meade with great fascination.  I also enjoyed the narrative when it came to General Lee and his men, defeated, yet still trying to make their way across the Potomac, back into Virginia.  From the Battle of Falling Waters in 1863, to the Culpeper Court House, these conflicts are analyzed to a solid point, using the Official Records, regimental histories, and other primary sources to such a finite point, that the research within this book is amazing.
                I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Battle of Gettysburg.  This is the book which should be read after reading any work about that seminal battle.  The narrative is striking, the maps are well drawn and beautiful, and the research is top notch.  Jeffrey Wm Hunt should be praised for his work here and I cannot wait to see what else he is working on.

​All the Fighting They Want: The Atlanta Campaign from Peachtree Creek to the City’s Surrender: July 18 – September 2, 1864
Stephen Davis
Savas Beatie, 2017, 176 pp., $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-319-5
Image courtesy of amazon.com
 
I have truly enjoyed the attention which the Atlanta Campaign has been receiving lately from many different authors.  But one of the series’ which I have found interesting, has been the Emerging Civil War Series due to the presentation it has given many students of the war.  The series has been wholly encapsulating to the point that every battle seems to be getting a treatment from them.  In All the Fighting They Want, Stephen Davis gives us a chance to understand the Atlanta Campaign from Peachtree Creek to the City’s Surrender which not only gives us some much needed information, but is also a great look into the minds of the commanders who fought there.
                Stephen Davis has been a Civil War historian for a great portion of his life.  He earned his Masters degree in American History from the University of North Carolina and earned his Ph.D. at Emory.  He has authored previous works, many focusing on the Atlanta Campaign.  He has written Atlanta Will Fall: Sherman, John Johnston and the Heavy Yankee Battalions, and What the Yankees Did to Us: Sherman’s Bombardment and the Wrecking of Atlanta.  He was a review editor for Blue and Gray magazine and has also authored many articles. 
                Those who have been with me through most of the Emerging Civil War Series have seen how well these books can connect with readers, especially early students of the war.  Presented in this book is the continuation of the information from his companion work A Long and Bloody Task.  In the last work, I noted the brilliance of the writing style which Davis brings to the narrative.  His dominance of the source material and the research is astounding and shows here in this work.  Most works in the series are supplemented with appendices which appear here as well but not as many as usual.  This does not detract from the book as it stands as a great introduction to the campaign along with the other work which came previously.  For many people just getting into the American Civil War, there are some confusions as to the direct actions which took place during the Atlanta Campaign, but in this work, Davis paints a clear picture of the history of the events and even gives us some great studies in command supplying his narrative.  When studying the Atlanta Campaign, there has been some fascination on my part with the study in command and I’m glad to see them here in Davis’ work.
                Once again, Emerging Civil War Series knocks it out of the park.  This is another welcome addition to the work which has been done.  With his previous work, I think All the Fighting They Want will be used by readers and students alike who wish to delve more into the world of the Atlanta Campaign.  As I said in the introduction, I feel like we often overlook the more intricate battles of the campaign, but thanks to Stephen Davis, I have more knowledge about the fighting which occurred there.  I highly recommend this work and hope to read more of Davis in the time to come.

​“The Bloody Fifth” The 5th Texas Infantry Regiment, Hood’s Texas Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia Volume 2: Gettysburg to Appomattox
John F. Schmutz
Savas Beatie, 2017, 368 pp., $32.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-334-8
Image courtesy of amazon.com
 
As the Civil War’s Sesquicentennial has come to a close, there was great concern for me that study might wane when it came to the conflict.  However, some works which have been recently published have shown me that this is not the case, and I can rest easily.  One of the authors who has brought a regimental history to the forefront is John F. Schmutz and his work on the 5th Texas Infantry Regiment.  The book presented today is the second volume in his seminal work around the regiment taking the readers from Gettysburg to Appomattox.  Throughout this book, the author presents the narrative with the ease knowing that the study of the war will always bring out new information.
                John F. Schmutz has enjoyed his career as a corporate attorney with a fascination on the American Civil War for most of his life.  He is a veteran of the United States Army and enjoys playing golf along with international travel.  His first book was The Battle of the Crater: A Complete History which was published in 2009.  The first volume in the 5th Texas Regiment series, “The Bloody Fifth”: The 5th Texas Infantry Regiment, Hood’s Texas Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. Volume 1: Secession to the Suffolk Campaign, was the winner of the 2017 Texas Association of Authors Book Award, Non-Fiction Military History.
                The second volume of Schmutz’s work picks up right as the first left off.  For the most part, there are many readers who have avidly waited for the narrative on the Gettysburg Campaign which is presented in this volume.  I, for one, was one of those people.  I find Mr. Schmutz’s narrative to be what a regimental history needs.  By that, I mean that the facts must be presented, but at the same time, they should hold the interest of the reader throughout.  That is what Mr. Schmutz has done here.  Authors should take note of this book, along with the first volume: this is how regimental histories should be written.  Every detail which Schmutz presents in this work is greatly researched and told in ways which connect with the reader.  On top of that, he is able to present new material from personal recollections and accomplishes such that makes it memorable.  Put that on top of the excellent maps and perfectly placed photographs of those who fought, this is a stunning addition to this work. 
                When I first heard about the work about the 5th Texas Infantry Regiment, I was intrigued.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested not only in regimental history, but in the American Civil War as a whole.  This regiment was at many of the key battles throughout the conflict and much can be learned about the war through the eyes of these soldiers.  Mr. Schmutz’s narrative is incredible, keeping the interest of the reader throughout, and the maps are meticulously drawn and perfectly placed, so the reader has no confusion of what they’re looking at.  One thing is for certain: I look forward to what else Mr. Schmutz can bring us through his research.  Highly Recommended!