General Grant and the Rewriting of History: How the Destruction of General William S. Rosecrans Influenced Our Understanding of the Civil War
Frank P. Varney
Savas Beatie, 2018, 312 pgs, $19.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-419-2
Image courtesy of amazon.com           


 Ever since I got interested in the American Civil War, I’ve been fascinated with the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant.  I am aware that most of it is personal memories that are manipulated to better the image of himself, but I still think that it is an important book.  That doesn’t mean historians cannot scrutinize the work that Grant performed in the writing of this book.  General Grant and the Rewriting of History is the book that tackles the subject of how Grant wrote these words and how he used his own standing do defame General Rosecrans.  Frank P. Varney takes us through this journey and understanding of how such a book became a cornerstone in Civil War era writing.
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            Frank P. Vareny teaches United States and Classical History at Dickinson State University of North Dakota and is also the Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Honors Leadership Program.  He gained his Ph.D. at Cornell University and regularly brings student groups to battlefields.  He is working on an on-site course for both Gettysburg and Chickamauga and has made several appearances before Civil War Roundtables and historical societies around the country.

            One of the first things I learned about the memoirs of U.S. Grant is that they were heavily influenced by Mark Twain.  I have learned since that it’s not quite true, and that has morphed my understanding of this book.  So I’m always excited when a book is released about the creation of this book that so many have in their Civil War collections.  Frank Varney goes deeper than just a simple idea that memoirs are memoirs and should be taken with a grain of salt.  No one wants to write a memoir where they come off looking poorly.  And the same can be said for Grant’s memoirs.  But the main point of this Varney’s book comes in the analysis of what happened to Rosecrans and how Grant treated him in his writing.  While Varney talks about the unreliability of Grant throughout the introduction and the first few chapters, it is his account of the Battle of Iuka where the rivalry between Rosecrans truly begins.  The issues with Rosecrans find its way towards Edwin Stanton, which doesn’t surprise me one bit, and from that, the feud only grows.  

            Varney speaks quite well about the subject matter, and I was pleased to learn that the subject of this book stems from a dissertation he had written.  There is a great passion to the narrative that I have not seen in a book about this subject for some time.  When I started reading this book, I thought it was going to be solely about the memoirs themselves, but instead, it takes the reader through the feud between both Grant and Rosecrans and broadens the horizon when it comes to understanding the memoirs.  The old adage is that “history is written by the victors,” but I never thought I would read an account about how the victors would blame and defame the victors twenty years after the war was over.  I knew about Confederate memoirs often passing blame from one to the other, but for the Union side to play that card as well?  It was surprising to say the least.  It is because of this that I always love reading about Grant’s memoirs and the process through which they were created.

            I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in either the Western Theater of the American Civil War or Ulysses S. Grant.  I think the service Varney has done for the Civil War community here is top notch, and shouldn’t be ignored.  I look forward to what he will offer the scholarship in the future.  Highly Recommended! 

​ The Petersburg Regiment in the Civil War: A History of the 12th Virginia Infantry from John Brown's Hanging to Appomattox, 1859-1865
John Horn
Savas Beatie, 2019, 456 pgs, $39.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-436-9
Image courtesy of amazon.com        

     I enjoy a number of regimental histories as I grew my Civil War book collection, and I seemed to gravitate towards those units that served throughout the war as a whole, whether it be the eastern or western theater.  And each time a new history came out, I would be drawn to it.  These books gave me a chance to see through the eyes of a soldier through personal accounts and battle reports.  Today’s book, The Petersburg Regiment, is one such unit that served for the entirety of the war, and even serving before the war began.  And just like the subtitle of the book, this addition to regimental studies in the war doesn’t disappoint.
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            John Horn gained his B.A. in English and Latin from New College in Sarasota, Florida and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.  John has practiced law around Chicago and has also held a local public office.  He has published a number of articles in Civil War Times Illustrated, America’s Civil War, and has authored some books on the subject as well.  Most recently, his work The Destruction of the Weldon Railroad, was republished in 2015 as The Siege of Petersburg: The Battles for the Weldon Railroad, August 1864.  

            If you were to look at a regimental history from the post-Civil War era of publishing, the chapters titles offer a look into each portion of the unit’s history.  While that may have been the style then, it’s no longer the case.  Horn puts out the regiment’s history in easy-to-follow segments, so that anyone looking to gain information on a specific battle or campaign would be able to find it in the table of contents.  But I’m not here to tell you about the table of contents.  But just by looking at the contents of this book, you’ll find that these men who served in the 12th Virginia, witnessed some of the most iconic battles during the war on the eastern theater.  I’ve always been fascinated with the story about the Bliss Farm during the Gettysburg campaign, and I was pleased to see such vivid accounts of the fight there during the battle.  Yet, one of the more exciting and nerve-wracking portions of the book was the account of the Crater.  To hear some of the stories about these men who were fighting in ditches and trying to find safety in this time was some of the best portions of the book.  Overall, the accounts of the battles were solid, well researched, and accompanied by some fine maps.

            But that’s not the only thing this book gave us.  One thing that regimental histories seems to drop during their accounts of the war tends to be the humanity of some soldiers.  The best ones stand out, but most others are there for research purposes.  I’m happy to say that The Petersburg Regiment is one of the regimental histories that humanizes the men in the ranks.  This isn’t just some informative reference guide that deepens histories of the battle.  These people described in this account are people.  By the end of reading this, I felt that some of these men were alive, jumping out of the page, and for that, it is a book that I would recommend.  Horn did an amazing job giving life to those who have passed so long ago.  The narrative is something to behold, and should be read by any regimental enthusiast.

            I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the life of Civil War regiments.  Not only does Horn excellently describe the battles these units took place in, but he brought them to life.  If there is anything an author should be praised for, it is the ability to create a story from the history.  Highly recommended!

The Maps of Fredericksburg: An Atlas of the Fredericksburg Campaign, Including all Cavalry Operations, September 18, 1862 - January 22, 1863
Bradley M. Gottfried
2018, 332 pages, $37.50
ISBN: 978-1-61121-371-3
Image courtesy of amazon.com

If there is one collection of books that have been released in the past fifteen years that I consider essential, it is the Maps of… books by Bradley M. Gottfried.  Not only has he supplied some of the most detailed and researched maps, his narratives that move along with the work are also astounding and can aid anyone who reads them to have a greater understanding of the battles they’re looking into.  Today’s entry into the series is The Maps of Fredericksburg and Gottfried has entered yet another essential into his series.  

            Bradley M. Gottfried holds a Ph.D. in Zoology from Miami University and has served as a teacher for higher education for more than forty years.  He is also a board member of the Central Virginia Battlefield Trust.  Gottfried has authored other works on the American Civil War including Stopping Pickett: The History of the Philadelphia Brigade, Brigades at Gettysburg, and the aforementioned Maps of…series, part of the Savas Beatie Military Atlas titles. 

            When I talk about the Battle of Fredericksburg with other civil war aficionados, the conversation usually strays towards the leadership of Ambrose Burnside, and or Mayre’s Heights.  But even though we continue telling those stories, I know there’s more to the battle than that.  Gottfried helps with those tidbits of knowledge that I was unaware of.  He details each and every movement that pushes itself towards the battle, and even parts of the aftermath.  When one talks about Fredericksburg, they often forget about the participation of Jackson’s forces, and for that, Gottfried has plenty to offer.  While the maps are something to behold, the narrative also offers a well written and cohesive study on the campaign as a whole, starting with the retreats from Maryland all the way to the beginning of the battle.  He chronicles the replacement of McClellan and the assumption of command for Burnside.  It was rather touching to hear the story about the review McClellan gave to the army before leaving, and how the regiments came to him as he made his departure.  That is one of the places where Gottfried’s narrative shines; his ability to take human interest stories and still insert them into a series of maps is what makes this book come alive for many.  Map sets eight through twelve talk about the attacks happening on the southern portion of the line when the battle first began, and is the lesser talked about aspect of the battle.  It was rather refreshing to see that amount of attention set before that portion, and presented in such a way to garner interest.  For those who are new to the battle, it should offer them a chance to reach out to other studies of the fight and gain deeper understanding.  And that’s another gift that Gottfried gives us in these maps.  The narrative is beautiful, yes, but he also gives us motivation to learn more about the campaigns through his extensive research.  

            Mayre’s Heights is presented here just as well as the attack to the south with Jackson and Meade.  And while each map is different, it says something about the command leadership that most of them look fairly the same from page turn to page turn.  That’s not a negative on Gottfried, but on Burnside.  When you hear the horror stories about this battle, it’s right there in front for you to see.  And the portion of the book dedicated to the aftermath of the fight, chronicling the infamous “Mud March” is even more haunting.  There is no doubt for anyone to see as to why Burnside’s tenure as commander for the Army of the Potomac lasted as long as it did.  I remember seeing the political cartoon with Lady Columbia pointing the finger to the high command and asking how it would answer for all Union dead at Fredericksburg.  And as I read through the portions of Mayre’s Heights and the aftermath, it was one of the prevalent images flowing through my head.  
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            I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the American Civil War as a whole, along with the rest of the excellent atlas series published by Savas Beatie.  The maps are beautiful, giving not only a perfect picturesque representation on the battle, but a wonderful narrative as well.  Not only should Gottfried be praised, but Savas Beatie for continuing to publish these materials.  I look forward to the work of Gottfried, not only in his atlas series, but in his future endeavors as well.  Highly recommended!