Ryan T. Quint
Savas Beatie, 2017, 192 pgs., $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-61121-346-1
Image courtesy of amazon.com
Determined to Stand and Fight is another entry into the Emerging Civil War Series which has been bringing introductory material to the eyes of American Civil War Neophytes. Its handling of narrative from unknown battles to the more popular has been one of the more helpful resources to Civil War students. Now, in Determined to Stand and Fight, the Battle of Monocacy is given the treatment; to be fair, even some readers well beyond the level of student are not too informed on this battle. Thankfully, with Ryan T. Quint to thank, we have a volume in this series devoted to this conflict so close to the nation’s capital.
Ryan T. Quint graduated from the University of Mary Washington and is a seasonal National Park Ranger for the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. He is also a guide at the Historic Kenmore which is the home of George Washington’s sister, Betty Lewis. Living in Fredericksburg, Virginia, he is one of the many writers for the Emerging Civil War blog. For those who are not aware, The Emerging Civil War Series is a series of books written by well versed authors on the subject; they are introductory books to students and even readers, on the engagement or subject.
During the Civil War Sesquicentennial, the subject of the Battle of Monocacy came up in newly written works. While this was a welcome addition, there was always something which was missing in those texts. Overall, it seemed to be that the engagement was still just a chapters length of information. When I enjoyed about this book is that it is an entire length work devoted to the engagement. As is usual with the Emerging Civil War works, the battle is separated into easy to follow segments ranging from the battle itself to introducing key people which would help morph the action. One of the most fascinating chapters in the book was about Lew Wallace who was an officer in the Union army. Many readers may recognize that name for something else as Wallace was the author of Ben-Hur. Accompanied by fine maps and photographs, both historical and modern, the narrative within the text is very well written and presented excellently. And towards the back of the book, we have six appendices giving more information to the lesser known battle. Overall, this work will be seen as one of the Emerging Civil War’s more valuable books due to the lack of information usually presented on the subject.
I highly recommend this book not only to Civil War students, but to readers who still do not known entirely what happened at the Battle of Monocacy. This book presents the material in a fine way with a flowing narrative and excellent presentation. In conclusion, Ryan T. Quint should be thanked for the material presented and the information given to the many readers of this series.