May 2023 MBR The Civil War Shelf

The Civil War Shelf

We Fought at Gettysburg
Carolyn Ivanoff
Gettysburg Publishing
c/o Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9780999304945, $38.95, HC, 448pp

https://www.amazon.com/Fought-Gettysburg-Firsthand-Survivors-Connecticut/dp/0999304941

Synopsis: Deftly edited by Carolyn Ivanoff, "We Fought at Gettysburg: Firsthand Accounts by the Survivors of the 17th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry" follows the 17th Connecticut Regiment through the Gettysburg Campaign and beyond in June and July of 1863.

William H. Warren dedicated his life to compiling the accounts of his comrades in the 17th Connecticut. Many are published here for the first time. These are the words of those who lived through the trauma of combat and survived to write about it. Many of these men were wounded, taken prisoner, lost friends, and suffered themselves on this great battlefield of the war. These men tell what they experienced at Gettysburg in their own words. They describe what they saw, thought, and felt on the battlefield.

Their story is told here through fascinating firsthand accounts, numerous photographs, including a photographic index of the regiment, and maps by Phil Laino.

Critique: A seminal and inherently fascinating contribution to the growing library of the American Civil War studies and histories, "We Fought at Gettysburg: Firsthand Accounts by the Survivors of the 17th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry" is informatively enhanced with the inclusion of black/white historical photos, a six page Bibliography, twenty-three pages of Notes, and an eight page Index. Simply stated, "We Fought at Gettysburg: Firsthand Accounts by the Survivors of the 17th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library American Civil War collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Carolyn Ivanoff (https://sites.google.com/site/carolynivanoff) is a retired high school administrator and independent historian. She writes and speaks on American history in a variety of formats and venues. "We Fought at Gettysburg" is her first book.

General Grant and the Verdict of History
Frank P. Varney
Savas Beatie
PO Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611215533, $32.95, HC, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/General-Grant-Verdict-History-Memoir/dp/1611215536

Synopsis: General Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 - July 23, 1885) is best remembered today as a war-winning general in the American Civil War, and he certainly deserves credit for his efforts on behalf of the Union. But has he received too much credit at the expense of other men? Have others who fought the war with him suffered unfairly at his hands?

With the publication of "General Grant and the Verdict of History: Memoir, Memory, and the Civil War", author and historian Frank P. Varney deftly explores these issues.

Professor Varney examines Grant's relationship with three noted Civil War generals: the brash and uncompromising "Fighting Joe" Hooker; George H. Thomas, the stellar commander who earned the sobriquet "Rock of Chickamauga"; and Gouverneur Kemble Warren, who served honorably and well in every major action of the Army of the Potomac before being relieved less than two weeks before Appomattox, and only after he had played a prominent part in the major Union victory at Five Forks.

In his earlier book "General Grant and the Rewriting of History", Professor Varney studied the tempestuous relationship between Grant and Union General William S. Rosecrans. During the war, Rosecrans was considered by many of his contemporaries to be on par with Grant himself; today, he is largely forgotten. Rosecrans's star dimmed, argues Professor Varney, because Grant orchestrated the effort.

Unbeknownst to most students of the war, Grant used his official reports, interviews with the press, and his memoirs to influence how future generations would remember the war and his part in it. Aided greatly by his two terms as president, by the clarity and eloquence of his memoirs, and in particular by the dramatic backdrop against which those memoirs were written, our historical memory has been influenced to a degree greater than many realize.

It is beyond time to return to the original sources (the letters, journals, reports, and memoirs of other witnesses and the transcripts of courts-martial) to examine Grant's story from a fresh perspective. The results are enlightening and more than a little disturbing.

Critique: A masterpiece of original and seminal scholarship, "General Grant and the Verdict of History: Memoir, Memory, and the Civil War" is informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of Maps, Illustrations, two Appendices (Rosecranz Revisited & Shiloah and Belmont Revisited), a four page Bibliography, a one page listing of Acknowledgments, and a three page Index. While also available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99), "General Grant and the Verdict of History: Memoir, Memory, and the Civil War" is unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library American Civil War Biography, Memoir, and History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Frank Varney earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University. He regularly leads student groups to Civil War battlefields and makes frequent speaking appearances before Civil War Roundtables and historical societies. Professor Varney is currently developing a course to be taught on-site at Gettysburg, and will do the same for a course on Chickamauga. He teaches U.S. and classical history at Dickinson State University of North Dakota, where he is also the director of the Theodore Roosevelt Honors Leadership Program.

Journalism in the Civil War Era, second edition
David W. Bulla, author
Gregory A. Borchard, author
Peter Lang Publishing Inc.
www.peterlang.com
9781433197932, $134.95, HC, 460pp

https://www.amazon.com/Journalism-Second-Mediating-American-History/dp/1433197936

Synopsis: Now in a newly updated and expanded second edition, "Journalism in the Civil War Era" presents focuses on the historical context of Civil War journalism by placing the newspapers of the era within the entire nineteenth century.

This seminal study gives a broad account of journalism in the Civil War, reflecting on the political, military, legal, and journalistic issues involved in this era. It is written with chapters that examine these various facets of the journalism of the period, but they are connected by the theme of the development of the wartime press, with an emphasis on the professional, political, social, economic, legal, and military factors that affected it.

"Journalism in the Civil War Era" by co-authors David W. Bulla and Gregory A. Borchard provides An in-depth look at the political press in the 1850s and 1860s, and how it played a major role in the nation's understanding of the conflict; Technology's role in carrying information in a timely fashion; The development of journalism as a profession; The international context of Civil War journalism; The leadership journalists displayed, including Horace Greeley and his New York Tribune bully pulpit; The nature of journalism during the war; The way freedom of the press was advanced by polarizing political extremes.

This Civil War study is historical, written in an engaging style, and meant to encourage readers to explore and analyze the value of freedom of the press during that very time when it most comes under fire -- wartime.

Critique: A unique, informative, and fascinating contribution to the every growing library of American Civil War histories and studies, "Journalism in the Civil War Era" is a seminal work of meticulous scholarship must be considered a core and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library American Civil War collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of numerous Illustrations, an Appendix (Journalism and Abraham Lincoln), an eight page Selected Bibliography, and an eighteen page Index, it should be noted for students, academia, dedicated Civil War buffs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Journalism in the Civil War Era" is also available in a paperback edition (9781433187216, $62.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $59.80).

Editorial Note #1: David W. Bulla (https://davidbulla.com/bio.php) is Professor of Communication at Augusta University. His books include Lincoln's Censor, Why Slavery Endures, and Gandhi, Advocacy Journalism, and the Media. He is assistant editor of The Southeastern Review of Journalism History. Dr. Bulla earned a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Florida and his master's degree in journalism from Indiana University.

Editorial Note #2: Gregory A. Borchard (https://www.unlv.edu/news/expert/gregory-borchard) is Professor of Mass communication and Journalism at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His books include A Narrative History of the American Press and Abraham Lincoln and Horace Greeley. He edited the Encyclopedia of Journalism and the journal Journalism History for the History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Dr. Borchard earned a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Florida.

Searching for Irvin McDowell: The Civil War's Forgotten General
Frank P. Simione Jr, author
Gene Schmiel, author
Savas Beatie
PO Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611216202, $22.95, PB, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Searching-Irvin-McDowell-Forgotten-General/dp/1611216206

Synopsis: Irvin McDowell (October 15, 1818 - May 4, 1885) was a prominent figure during the early months of the Civil War. With so much at stake, he was called upon to lead the Union's largest Eastern Theater army.

Pressed by the media and President Abraham Lincoln to move into Virginia and defeat the Confederates gathering there, McDowell led his neophyte army out to the plains of Manassas and was soundly defeated. McDowell went on to hold an independent command in northern Virginia during the Peninsula Campaign and serve in the Army of Virginia under Maj. Gen. John Pope during the disastrous Second Bull Run Campaign.

Despite his significant contributions, a lack of personal papers left him in obscurity. With the publication of "Searching for Irvin McDowell: The Civil War's Forgotten General", co-authors Frank Simione Jr. and Gene Schmiel used available sources to create a reliable and readable synthesis of the man and his career to fill a sizable gap in the historiography.

Unless or until his private papers surface, "Searching for Irvin McDowell" will stand as the best treatment available.

Critique: No personal, professional, community, or academic library American Civil War collection can be considered comprehensive or complete without the inclusion of "Searching for Irvin McDowell: The Civil War's Forgotten General" by co-authors and Civil War historians Frank P. Simiones Jr. and Gene Schmiel, and published by the principle American Civil War History publisher Savas Beatie. Informatively enhanced with the inclusion of two Appendices ("General McDowell at Liberia" & "McDowell's Strange Hat"), a seven page Bibliography, and a twelve-page Index, "Searching for Irvin McDowell" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.99) for students, academia, historians, Civil War buffs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject.

Editorial Note #1: Frank Simione Jr. retired from ATCC, a bioscience industry non-profit biological resource center in Manassas, Virginia. During his 42-year career he published technical papers, review articles, manuals, and book chapters. Frank's interest in the Civil War spans more than half a century.

Editorial Note #2: Gene Schmiel (https://civilwarhistory-geneschmiel.com) is a retired U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Officer and former assistant professor of History at St. Francis University (PA) with a Ph.D. degree in History from The Ohio State University. Gene is the author of many books about the Civil War, including Citizen-General: Jacob Dolson Cox and the Civil War Era.

Private No More
Sharon A. Roger Hepburn, editor
University of Georgia Press
320 South Jackson Street, Athens, Georgia 30602
www.ugapress.org
9780820363448, $114.95, HC, 162pp

https://www.amazon.com/Private-No-More-Infantry-Perspectives/dp/0820363448

Synopsis: Edited by Professor Sharon Hepburn (Radford University, Virginia),"Private No More: The Civil War Letters of John Lovejoy Murray, 102nd United States Colored Infantry" is a collection of letters contains insights into the experiences of an African American soldier and his regiment during the Civil War. John Lovejoy Murray, a private in Company E, 102nd USCT, died of disease in a Charleston hospital on April 12, 1865. Through John Murray's letters, readers can experience the war through the eyes of a literate northern Black soldier.

His is the story of the soldiers who did not receive accolades for their heroic actions in battle, the ones who spent more time on picket and fatigue duty than on the front lines, the ones who died from disease more than they did of battle-related wounds.

Murray's letters are significant because they are ordinary in some respects yet extraordinary in others. Some of the activities and sentiments portrayed in the letters are hardly distinguishable from those described in letters written by White soldiers. In other ways, the letters represent a perspective distinctly from a Black soldier in the Union army.

Although many of his experiences may have been typical, John Lovejoy Murray himself, a literate, freeborn, northern Black man, was atypical among Union Black soldiers.

Critique: A valued contribution to the growing body of American Civil War history, biography and memoirs, "Private No More: The Civil War Letters of John Lovejoy Murray, 102nd United States Colored Infantry" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library American Civil War collections and supplemental curriculum 19th Century African/American studies lists. It should be noted for the benefit of students, academia, historians, and Civil War buffs, that "Private No More" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9780820363455, $24.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.72).

Editorial Note: Sharon A. Roger Hepburn is professor of history at Radford University. She is also the author of "Crossing the Border: A Free Black Community in Canada:, which received the 2008 Albert B. Corey Award. She has a page on the Radford University website at: https://www.radford.edu/content/chbs/home/history/faculty/sharon-hepburn.html

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