Preview: Conner & Mackowski, “Seizing Destiny”

One of my favorite Civil War studies, and after over 100 years still the finest on this campaign, is John Bigelow Jr.’s Chancellorsville. The problems associated with finding a copy with maps aside (I have a cheap Konecky reprint and found a faded set of maps on Ebay), one of the book’s great strengths is the detailing of the reorganization and morale building of the Army of the Potomac by Major General Joseph Hooker in the wake of the disastrous Fredericksburg Campaign. This aspect of the Winter of 1863 is the focus of a new book from Savas Beatie by Albert Conner, Jr. and Chris Mackowski, Seizing Destiny: The Army of the Potomac’s “Valley Forge” and the Civil War Winter that Saved the Union. Consulting “hundreds of primary sources”, the authors “let the soldiers speak” to tell “the full story of how the citizen soldiers of the Army of the Potomac overcame adversity, seized their destiny, and saved the nation through leadership, perseverance, patriotism, and faith.”

What you get: 316 pages of text; three appendixes including an order of battle; full bibliography and index; bottom of page footnotes; eight Hal Jesperson maps; and numerous illustrations scattered throughout.

Preview: Mackowski & White, “That Furious Struggle”

Prolific authors and Emerging Civil War series editors Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White have released through Savas-Beatie the next in their series of compact narratives, That Furious Struggle: Chancellorsville and the High Tide of the Confederacy, May 1-4, 1863.  Chris and Kris have both worked at the battlefield, and offer an insider’s look.. The 155 pages of text are peppered with over 150 illustrations and maps. Also included: an order of battle; appendices on rivers and fords, Stoneman’s raid, Jackson’s Flank Attack, the Chancellor family, and prominent area resident Matthew Fontaine Maury; and a suggested reading list. GPS coordinates and tour stops are keyed to an overall tour map.

Preview: Mackowski & White, “Chancellorsville’s Forgotten Front”

Yet another new release from Savas Beatie is from the prolific team of Chris Mackowski and Kris White, Chancellorsville’s Forgotten Front: The Battles of Second Fredericksburg and Salem Church, May 3, 1863. Most of the visitors to this website are likely aware that the Battle of Chancellorsville was not fought solely on the National Park Service land west of Fredericksburg, yet most visitors to the battlefield spend their time almost exclusively on the grounds of Hazel Grove, the Chancellor House, the Chancellorsville VC, Jackson’s wounding site, and perhaps even make the trek to Guiney Station. But as this book title notes, the battle had a “wholenother” front, in the city proper, Marye’s Heights, and the area of Salem Church. Granted, the fighting in the city is difficult to envision for a visitor, and the Salem Church area is unrecognizable and, well, dangerous to roam over. Unlike the Emerging Civil War series, Forgotten Front is a traditional battle study, in hardback, 332 pages of text plus five appendices covering the actions that have perhaps received less than their fair share of attention. Illustrations, photographs, and maps accent the narrative of what the author’s claim were simultaneously the Army of the Potomac’s finest hours and biggest lost opportunity of the campaign. A glance at the bibliography indicates that numerous newspaper and manuscript collections were consulted by the authors. Check it out.

Preview: Mackowski & White – “The Last Days of Stonewall Jackson”

The latest entry in Savas Beatie’s Emerging Civil War series is The Last Days of Stonewall Jackson: The Mortal Wounding of the Confederacy’s Greatest Icon, by Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White, a new edition of the similarly titled Thomas Publications release from 2010. This update includes 50 pages of new material, nearly 200 illustrations, and several new appendices.

A foreword by NPS historian Frank O’Reilly is followed by ninety-five pages of text in fourteen chapters describing Jackson’s counter-attack at Chancellorsville, his wounding, surgery, journey to Guinea Station, illness, death, and funeral, with attention paid to the fate of Blue Light’s arm, the Chandler’s plantation, and a history of the preservation of the Jackson Shrine. Appendices cover timelines of the shrine and Jackson’s life, a tour of Lexington, VA, Jackson in memory and memorials, “what-ifs”, and Jackson’s surgeon Dr. Hunter McGuire. Kris and Chris have packed a lot of info into 149 pages.

You can read more by this prolific duo at their blog, the appropriately titled Emerging Civil War.