My Reference Shelf

I have one shelf of books that sits right over my desk on which I put what I refer to as my “reference books.”  I like to have them there because my library is in some disarray, and I want to be able to find most of these quickly.  I’m going to share these with you now, for no particular reason.  I’ll move left to right, and provide links to where you can find the books for purchase and/or descriptions.  The ORs aren’t on this shelf, obviously, though I do keep a few volumes on the next shelf up and have the DVD in my laptop all the time (I’ve rearranged things since the above photo was taken, and almost all of my ORs are in storage now, waiting for a good home).  Also further up are volumes of the Army Register and The Rebellion Record and The Union Army and The Military Historical Society of Massachusetts papers and Lincoln’s Collected Works and Lincoln Day-by-Day.  But this shelf is for the most used books.

• The Confederate General (6 volumes)
• Simon & Schuster’s Encyclopedia of the Confederacy (4 volumes)
• Generals in Gray
• More Generals in Gray
• Staff Officers in Gray
• Confederate Colonels
• Lee’s Colonels (4th edition)  There is a new 5th edition
• Units of the Confederate States Army
• Personnel of the Civil War (2 volumes)
• Generals in Blue
• Historical Register and Dictionary of the Army
• Colonels in Blue (3 volumes – sold separately)
• Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue
• Who Was Who in the Civil War (Single volume edition)
• Lest We Forget
• Generals at Rest
• Final Camping Ground
• Civil War High Commands
• The Union Army (2 volumes sold separately)
• Regimental Losses in the American Civil War
• New York in the War of the Rebellion
• A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (Single volume Morningside edition)
• Civil War Naval Chronology
• Statistical Record
• Numbers and Losses in the Civil War in America
• The Civil War Dictionary
• The Civil War Day by Day
• The Encyclopedia of Civil War Usage
• Military Bibliography of the Civil War (4 volumes sold separately)
• The Civil War in Books
• Civil War Guns
• Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War
• Field Artillery Ordnance 1861-1865
• The Civil War Military Machine
• Arms and Equipment of the Civil War
• Battle in the Civil War
• They Fought for the Union
• Arco’s Dictionary of Military Terms (1988 edition)

I have other reference works, encyclopedias, desk references and such, but I don’t use them nearly as much as I use these.

Potomac Crossing 9/19/2009

On Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009, I joined about 25 somewhat adventurous souls and followed in the footsteps of men of the 5th Corps of the Army of the Potomac who crossed the Potomac River 147 years to the day earlier in pursuit of Robert E. Lee’s defeated but dangerous Army of Northern Virginia after the Battle of Antietam.  (That’s right, Union Major General George McClellan did in fact execute a pursuit after the battle – you can look it up).  The occasion was a fundraising event of the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association.  Twenty-five bucks got us a guided tour of the battlefield including the crossing, followed by a reception at the Association president’s home in Shepherdstown hard-by the battlefield.  The inaugural event last year drew 10-15 participants.  This year, there were two groups of 25.  I was in the 2:30 group led by SBPA board member Tom Clemens.  Another group started off at 3:30 and was led by Tom McGrath, author of Shepherdstown: Last Clash of the Antietam Campaign.  What follows here is a simple photo-essay.  See also Jim Rosebrock’s fine post on his blog.

Dr. Clemens first gave us an overview of the battle along the C&O Canal towpath on the Maryland side of the river (click thumbnails for larger images).

Then we waded into and across the clear and fairly calm Potomac in the vicinity of Boteler’s or Packhorse or Shepherdstown Ford.

  

Here are shots up and down river, from about the middle.

 

Once on the (West) Virginia side, Tom re-oriented us at the intersection of the River and Trough Roads.  Then we hiked to the ruins of the cement mill.  Who knew the Rebels were Deadheads?

  

We moved further up to the cement mill kilns.  About where Tom is standing, you can see a change in the color of the stone in a vertical line between the 3rd and 4th kilns.  The three kilns to the right are wartime, the three to the left were added later.  In these three kilns, Union soldiers took shelter from their own artillery fire coming from Maryland.  At least one soldier was killed by a direct hit in these kilns.

  

The remains of the mill-dam are visible from the (West) Virginia side.

These bluffs played a critical and tragic role in the retreat of the Federal forces.  An officer of one of the units,  the 118th PA Corn Exchange regiment, was also present with the 71st PA at Ball’s Bluff, where he was captured.  Talk about deja vue.  You can read his accounts in this book.

Hikers head up a ravine and then towards the Osbourne farm, scene of the furthest Union advance.  The Osbourne house shows evidence of the battle, and its fields were the scene of the repulse of the Federals.

   

All in all, a fine tour on a beautiful day.  The SBPA is planning on a repeat next year, so mark your calendars.

Books and More Books

Today’s mail brought seven, count ’em, seven new books for review.  One is for a full review in Civil War Times; five are for my regular Six-Pack column in America’s Civil War (in a departure, I’ll review five new books and only one older, but that one is among my all time favorite biographies); and one for this blog, fellow blogger John Hoptak’s own Our Boys Did Nobly, pictured at left.  As the subtitle says, this 345 page paperback is the story of Schuylkill County, PA Soldiers at the battles of South Mountain and Antietam.  I just flipped through it, and see that Mannie Gentile has put art back into maps!  I’m gonna move John’s book up to second on my list, right after Suzy Barile’s Undaunted Hearts.  Thanks for the nice inscription, John!

Numbers & Losses Per Livermore

 

Source: Thomas Livermore, Numbers & Losses in the Civil War in America 1861-1865, p. 77

New Battle Blog on Petersburg

Brett Schulte has announced his new project on the Petersburg Campaign, Beyond the Crater.  I’ve had it on my blogroll for a while, but was holding off an announcement until Brett was ready to go live.  Read his description as he can certainly do a better job on it than I.  I think it’s “I”.  Or is it “me”?  No, I think it’s “I” as in “I can”.  Anyway, check it out.

Map courtesy of NPS.

Back

I’m back from my jaunt to Maryland, West Virginia and South Central PA.  I had a fine time – thanks to the Clemens Clan of Keedysville for putting me up, and putting up with me.  I toured Antietam’s Bloody Lane trail on Friday, and on Saturday SHAF had a productive board meeting in the morning.  Afterwards I met up with fellow bloggers at the blogger’s canon at Antietam National Battlefield (see Mannie’s blog for a photo), and then enjoyed a dip in the Potomac at Boteler’s/Packhorse/Shepherdstown ford (see photo above and Jim’s blog post).  See also Brian’s and Craig’s posts.  Hopefully I’ll get around to posting photo essays soon.

Housekeeping

Just a few items to get on the record before I head to Sharpsburg for a couple of days.  I’m driving down tomorrow and bumming around the field a bit, and staying at a friend’s home Friday night.  I have a Save Historic Antietam Foundation (SHAF) board meeting on Saturday morning, and the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association (SBPA) river crossing and picnic in the afternoon.  Then it’s north to Gettysburg Saturday night and a little time on the field on Sunday before heading home.  Hopefully I’ll have some photos to post next week, but I’m notoriously slow about that stuff.

My e-quaintance from across the pond, Johnathan Soffe of First Bull Run.com, has a new feature he’s working on – listing sources to verify the presence of various Confederate companies and organizations on the field at Bull Run.  This could lead to a more accurate accounting of Confederate troops.  Check out his first attempt on the 1st VA Cavalry here: scroll down to “download pdf” at the bottom of the right hand column.

I’ve been contacted by a descendant of a member of the 5th Alabama who has sent me an interesting letter by him describing the battlefield of First Bull Run shortly after the battle.  The letter is in his family’s possession and has never been published.  It so happens that his ancestor was a member of the Greensboro Guards, designated Company D of the 5th.  A very nice collection of Company D diaries published as Voices from Company D, edited by G. Ward Hubbs, has some Bull Run material and the letter writer’s descendant is working on putting together some biographical information on his ancestor, so I think I’ll make a series of posts out of these.

With that of Montgomery Meigs I’ve finished posting the Bull Run testimony before the Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War.  I hope you’ve been reading on order, because that way you can see how the committee are building their cases and singling out their scapegoats – very interesting stuff.  I’ve separated the testimonies in the index by Patterson’s and McDowell’s commands, but think I’ll go back and number them sequentially so future readers can peruse them in order if they choose.

JCCW – Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs

Testimony of Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs

Report on the Conduct of the War, Vol. 2, pp. 246-247

WASHINGTON, July 14, 1862.

General M. C. MEIGS recalled and examined.

By Mr. Chandler:

Question. It would appear from some of the testimony we have taken in regard to the circumstances attending the battle of Bull Run, that one of the causes of the delay of our army at Centreville from Thursday until Sunday was occasioned by a lack of supplies. Do you remember anything in regard to that?

Answer. This is the first I have heard of it. I was called upon to supply a certain number of wagons and horses, the most of which I had to purchase after I was called upon for them. I did all I could. I do not think I supplied them quite as early as I had hoped to do, or as was desired. But my impression has been that before General McDowell moved we could see where were the means of transportation that had been asked for. I may be mistaken about that. I did all that I could, and I think that General McDowell was quite satisfied; at least I never heard any complaint from him in regard to it. We supplied all the wagons that could be obtained, and I think we supplied all that were asked for. The army that moved was larger than it was first intended to move.

Question. Do you recollect the number of troops that were moved out to Centreville?

Answer. My recollection is, that it was first intended that 30,000 men should go, but that some 33,000 or 34,000 actually marched.

Recent Arrivals

Publishers don’t send a ton of books for review here, but when they do they seem to do it in bunches.  Over the past few weeks I’ve received three, and since I’m not sure exactly when I’ll get to them I think it’s fair to give you a little information on them in the meantime.  I’ll discuss them here in order of receipt.

A Separate Country  is by Robert Hicks, author of the bestseller The Widow of the South.  The novel centers around the life of John Bell Hood in post-war New Orleans.  But skimming through the book I get the idea that this is something other than a simple imagination of Hood’s life, as it seems to be told from several perspectives and is maybe something of a mystery.  Forty reviewers on Amazon average to a little over three out of five stars.

The Mule Shoe  has the potential to be really interesting in a good way, or really interesting in a train-wreck way.  It’s a novel by Perry Trouche, a Charleston, SC shrink.  It appears to be an examination of a fictional rebel soldier as he descends into, well, I want to say psychosis but will probably wind up being lashed for my imprecision.  The bulk of the book is set against the fighting at Spotsylvania, where the voices in the protagonist Conner’s head and his visions force a resolution. 

Last is Undaunted Heart, by Suzy Barile, an English and journalism instructor in North Carolina and the great-great-granddaughter of Ella Swain Atkins and General Smith Dykins Atkins, the subjects of her non-fiction study.  Atkins was in command of a brigade of William Sherman’s cavalry that occupied Chapel Hill, NC after the surrender of Joseph Johnston’s army at Bennett Place; Ella was the daughter of the president of the University of North Carolina.  They did some courtin’ & sparkin’ and were married, much to the chagrin of many.  I have heard some of the basics of their courtship and marriage before, but Undaunted Heart promises to tell the rest of the story.

Capt. James B. Ricketts’s Capture by the 7th GA

Capt. Maddoe letter*

The 7th Ga. Inf. was the regiment that took the first battery of the enemy on position in the field – capturing the battery of Capt., since Mag. Gen’l., Rickett, U.S.A.  It was stationed near the Henry house.  Gen’l. Bartow was leading the regiment at that time, and was shot through the heart while he had the colors of the 7th Ga. in his hand. 

We  (illegible word) found Capt. Rickett in the rear, shot through the leg & very much frightened, thinking that we would kill him, as he had reportedly told his men we serve them, if we captured any of them.

He immediately denounced his own cause & justified ours by saying he was an honest man, because he belonged to the Regular army and was honor-bound to obey orders, no matter what the cause. 

“Have you had any water, sir?”

“Yes thank you, I am an honest man.”

Others came up

“Gentlemen, I am an honest man.”

An old comrade came up, dressed in Confederate uniform.

“Why Cap’t. Rickett!  How do you do, sir?”

“You know I am an honest man.”

The Capt. Was nearly frightened to death & in momentary expectation of being bayoneted.

From South Carolina Department of Archives & History, Columbia SC.

Misc. Records

1864-1903  Box 9

[Contributed by Dr. Thomas Clemens, Keedysville, Md]

[*The writer may be 3rd Sgt. Charles K. Maddox of the 7th Georgia]