July 2023 MBR The Civil War Shelf

The Civil War Shelf

The Men of the 16th Massachuseets
Alden C. Ellis, Jr.
McFarland & Company
PO Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640
https://mcfarlandbooks.com
9781476689937, $49.95, PB, 331pp

https://www.amazon.com/Men-16th-Massachusetts-Roster-History/dp/1476689938

Synopsis: The 16th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was one of a few Massachusetts regiments whose history was not recorded. From 1861-1864, it was deeply embroiled in the operations of the Army of the Potomac. Suffering from a lack of skilled leadership and later from horrific living conditions, the 16th saw heavy casualties. Of more than 1300 men, 112 were killed in battle, 360 were wounded and 52 died from their wounds. Disease claimed 115 and 65 were taken as prisoners of war, 32 of them dying in Confederate prisons. Another 344 went home afflicted with wounds or disease as disability discharges.

"The Men of the 16th Massachusetts: A Civil War Roster and History" by Alden C. Ellis, Jr. is comprehensive biographical study that chronicles for the first time the story of the 16th Massachusetts and the lives of most of its men, with all available genealogical details provided.

Critique: A masterpiece of historical research, "The Men of the 16th Massachusetts: A Civil War Roster and History" is features a number of historical images, and is informatively enhanced for the reader with an impressive Introduction, the history of the regiment laid out in five detailed chapters, a 242 page Roster and Biographical Sketches, a two page Bibliography, and an eighteen page Index. Bringing this Union regiment out of an undeserved obscurity, "The Men of the 16th Massachusetts: A Civil War Roster and History" must be considered an essential, core addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library American Civil War history collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "The Men of the 16th Massachusetts: A Civil War Roster and History" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $29.99).

Editorial Note: Alden C. Ellis, Jr., is the author of one other book about Massachusetts's role in the Civil War (The Massachusetts Andrew Sharpshooters, McFarland & Co.) and served as a consultant and advisor for the Civil War movie Lady in Black.

Northern Duty, Southern Heart
H. Leon Greene
McFarland & Company
PO Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640
https://mcfarlandbooks.com
9781476689616, $45.00, PB, 307pp

https://www.amazon.com/Northern-Duty-Southern-Heart-Proctor/dp/147668961X

Synopsis: Before the Civil War, George Proctor Kane had been a businessman, thespian, political appointee, philanthropist and militiaman. During the war, as Baltimore's chief of police, he harbored the divided loyalties familiar to the border states -- Southern in his sentiments yet Northern in his allegiances.

As the city's top lawman, he sought to reform Baltimore's "Mobtown" image. He ensured that President-elect Lincoln, passing through on the way to his inauguration, was not assassinated. He protected Union troops marching to defend Washington, D.C.

But he was eventually imprisoned as a Southern sympathizer, denied habeas corpus as his captors transferred him from prison to prison.

With the publication of "Northern Duty, Southern Heart: George Proctor Kane's Civil War", Professor H. Leon Greene recounts Kane's enigmatic public life before and during the Civil War, his Confederate activities after prison and his return to serve as mayor of Baltimore.

Critique: Enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of illustrations, and informative Introduction, an Epilogue, a ten page Appendix, twenty-four pages of Chapter Notes, a four page Bibliography, and a sixteen page Index, "Northern Duty, Southern Heart: George Proctor Kane's Civil War" is an impressive and unreservedly recommended contribution to personal, community, and academic library American Civil War History & Biography collections and American Civil War curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, historians, and Civil War enthusiasts that "Northern Duty, Southern Heart: George Proctor Kane's Civil War" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $27.99).

Editorial Note: H. Leon Greene (https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001KJ3GW4/about (is a cardiologist living in Bellingham, Washington. As emeritus professor of medicine, he has published two books, authored or co-authored more than 30 book chapters and sections and more than 250 medical scientific articles.

Colonel Hans Christian Heg and the Norwegian American Experience
Odd S. Lovoll
Minnesota Historical Society Press
345 Kellogg Boulevard, West, St. Paul, MN 55102-1906
www.mnhs.org/mhspress
9781681342504, $24.95, PB, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Colonel-Christian-Norwegian-American-Experience/dp/1681342502

Synopsis: Hans Christian Heg (December 21, 1829 - September 20, 1863) was a Norwegian American abolitionist, journalist, antislavery activist, prison reformer, politician, and soldier. Best known for leading the Fifteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment on the Union side during the Civil War, Heg died of wounds received at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863.

While Heg's achievements earned him a statue on the Wisconsin state capitol grounds, behind his public persona was a life emblematic of his generation. Heg's family hailed from Lier, Norway; economic as well as religious challenges led them, like so many others, to leave their homeland for the promise of a better life. Heg himself trod multiple paths: joining in the California Gold Rush, pursuing a political career in support of the Free Soil Party and then the newly formed Republican Party, and taking up the role of Wisconsin state prison commissioner. Like his fellow immigrants, he made a living and nurtured a family at the same time that he was defining what it meant to be both Norwegian and American.

Heg's remarkable leadership of the Fifteenth Wisconsin, the "Norwegian regiment," is the stuff of legends. But "Colonel Hans Christian Heg and the Norwegian American Experience" by Odd S. Loveoll is more than a biography of one man: it is the story of a generation of immigrant citizens who contributed politically, economically, and socially to the American Midwest and beyond.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a Preface, sixteen pages of Notes, and a fourteen page Index, with the publication of "Colonel Hans Christian Heg and the Norwegian American Experience", author and historian Odd S. Lovoll rescues from an undeserved obscurity a significant American Civil War battlefield figure with this impressive biography of a Union General who died in service. Nicely illustrated with historic black/white photos, "Colonel Hans Christian Heg and the Norwegian American Experience" is a fascinating and welcome pick for personal, professional, community, and academic library American Civil War History/Biography collections. It should be noted for students, academia, Civil War
historians, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Colonel Hans
Christian Heg and the Norwegian American Experience" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99).

Editorial Note: Odd S. Lovoll (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odd_S._Lovoll) is the author of several books on the Norwegian American immigrant experience, including Norwegians on the Prairie, Norwegian Newspapers in America, and Across the Deep Blue Sea. He was born in Sande, in More og Romsdal, Norway, and immigrated to the United States in 1946. Lovoll was educated at the University of Bergen and the University of Oslo before receiving an M.A. from the University of North Dakota and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He taught for three years at Minnesota and then spent 30 years as a professor of history at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he is professor emeritus. Lovoll also served for 20 years as publication editor for the Norwegian-American Historical Association.

Heavy Marching
Lucius S. Moseley, author
Sara DeLuca, editor
University of Wisconsin Press
728 State Street, Suite 443, Madison, WI 53706-1418
www.uwpress.wisc.edu
9780299342708, $29.95, HC, 306pp

https://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Marching-Letters-Moseley-Wisconsin/dp/0299342700

Synopsis: Lucius "Lute" Moseley was a nineteen-year-old student at Beloit Academy when he enlisted in the Union Army. Moseley grew up on a family farm outside Beloit, Wisconsin, where his father operated the first dray service before opening a blacksmith shop and lumber yard. His father lost most of his modest assets through litigation of a building contract he had received, which likely influenced his son's decision to enlist in the army.

From 1862 to 1865, Moseley fought in the Civil War as an infantry soldier in Wisconsin's 22nd Volunteers. Briefly captured and interred in a Confederate POW Camp, he returned to action and participated in Sherman's Atlanta campaign. He marched in the Washington, D.C., Grand Review before returning to the Beloit area, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Mosely wrote detailed missives to his family in Beloit about his wartime experiences, demonstrating a flair for describing both camp life and battles. Frank and forthright, he was remarkably articulate, insightful, and thoughtful, whether describing mundane activities or the nearly unfathomable death of President Lincoln. These 125 letters, never before made available to scholars or students of the war, became touchstones and sources of pride for the Moseley family-and provide a uniquely candid and vivid view of this tumultuous period in US history.

Critique: Fascinating, informative, unique, memorable, "Heavy Marching: The Civil War Letters of Lute Moseley, 22nd Wisconsin" is deftly compiled and edited by Sara DeLuca. This compilation of personal letters from the battlefields of the American Civil War is a welcome, seminal, and highly recommended acquisition for personal, professional, community, college, and university library American Civil War History/Biography collections.

Editorial Note #1: Lucius "Lute" Moseley (1843-1923) fought in the Civil War as a soldier in the Union Army from 1862 to 1865. After the war, Moseley became a farmer, and would remain in Beloit for the rest of his life.

Editorial Note #2: Sara DeLuca (https://www.wpr.org/people/sara-deluca) is the author of the memoir Dancing the Cows Home, the family biography The Crops Look Good, and three chapbooks of poetry. Her work appears in Atlanta Review, Lullwater Review, North Coast Review, and elsewhere.

Such a Clash of Arms
Kevin R. Pawlak
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781636242668, $24.95, PB, 128pp

https://www.amazon.com/Such-Clash-Arms-September-Illustrated/dp/1636242669

Synopsis: By the late summer of 1862, it appeared as though the United States would be permanently split in two, and by the beginning of September, General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was on the doorstep of Washington, D.C. Panicked and defeated Federal soldiers huddled behind the capital's defenses. Rather than attacking the city, Lee turned his attention north into Maryland, seeking a decisive battlefield victory to influence public opinion at home and diplomatic opinion overseas. Major General George B. McClellan led the reorganized Army of the Potomac into the state to meet Lee.

Over a span of 18 days, the two armies fought four significant battles, including the climactic engagement along Antietam Creek outside Sharpsburg on September 17, 1862. The battle there still holds the distinction as the bloodiest single day in American military history. Forced from Maryland, Lee withdrew into Virginia, leaving President Abraham Lincoln free to follow up this strategic victory with the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, a measure that changed the nature of the American Civil War.

Critique: With the publication of "Such a Clash of Arms: The Maryland Campaign, September 1862", civil war historian Kevin R. Pawlak provides a compendium of illustrations and maps paired with a detailed text. While also available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.95), "Such a Clash of Arms" is a particularly recommended pick for community, college, and university library American Civil War history collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Kevin Pawlak (https://emergingcivilwar.com/contributor/kevin-pawlak) is the Director of Education for the Mosby Heritage Area Association and works as a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Antietam National Battlefield. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association and the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Kevin also serves on the advisory board at Shenandoah University's McCormick Civil War Institute and Shepherd University's George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War.

In the Shadow of the Round Tops
Allen R. Thompson
Knox Press
c/o Permuted Press
https://permutedpress.com/knox-press
c/o Simon & Schuster (distribution)
https://www.simonandschuster.com
9781637585238, $24.00, PB, 528pp

https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Round-Tops-Countermarch-Reconnaissance/dp/1637585233

Synopsis: James Longstreet's countermarch and Samuel Johnston's morning reconnaissance are two of the most enigmatic events of the Battle of Gettysburg. Both have been viewed as major factors in the Confederacy's loss of the battle and, in turn, the war. Yet much of it lies shrouded in mystery.

Though the battle of Gettysburg is one of the most well-documented events in the history of the American Civil War, the vast majority of our knowledge comes from the words of the veterans and civilians who experienced it. Without action photography, video, or audio recordings, our primary window into what happened is the memory of those who were there. The story of the Battle of Gettysburg is simply the compilation of the memories of those who fought it. But memory is anything but objective.

Recognizing the multitude of factors that affect human memory, with the publication of "In the Shadow of the Round Tops: Longstreet's Countermarch, Johnston's Reconnaissance, and the Enduring Battles for the Memory of July 2, 1863", Allen R. Thompson explores how the individual soldiers experienced, remembered, and wrote about the battle, and how those memories have created a cloud over James Longstreet's bewildering countermarch and Samuel Johnston's infamous reconnaissance.

Each soldier had a particular view of these historic events. Because many people saw part of the story, but no one saw all of it, each memory is a critical piece to the puzzle. By comparing the veterans' memories and sifting through the factors that affected each memory, the picture of the countermarch, reconnaissance, and the entire battle, comes into sharper focus.

Critique: A seminal work of ground-breaking American Civil War history and scholarship, "In the Shadow of the Round Tops: Longstreet's Countermarch, Johnston's Reconnaissance, and the Enduring Battles for the Memory of July 2, 1863" by Allen R. Thompson is informatively enhanced with the inclusion of a thirty-four page Bibliography, twelve pages of Notes, eight pages of Maps, and an eighteen-page Index. A brilliant and dedicated study, "In the Shadow of the Round Tops" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, community, college, and university library American Civil War history collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, civil war historians, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "In the Shadow of the Round Tops" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.99).

Editorial Note: Allen R. Thompson (https://www.allenrthompson.com) is a practicing attorney in New Jersey. His writing focuses on reevaluating primary source materials to examine the standard interpretations of historical subjects, from legal doctrines to historical events. His articles have appeared in the St. Thomas Law Review and Gettysburg Magazine.

"The Bullets Flew Like Hail"
James L. McLean Jr.
Savas Beatie
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611216677, $32.95, HC, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Bullets-Flew-Like-Hail-Gettysburg/dp/1611216672

Synopsis: On the morning of July 1, 1863, Confederate forces pressed east toward the important crossroads town of Gettysburg. The only Union soldiers standing in their way were stalwart cavalrymen under Brig. Gen. John Buford. Luckily for the Federals, Brig. Gen. Lysander Cutler arrived with his 1st Corps brigade of infantry just in time to relieve Buford's hard-pressed cavalry. The fighting spread quickly. Cutler's stubborn defense, together with the arrival of the famous Iron Brigade, stopped the Confederate advance long enough for other Union troops to reach the field. The desperate fighting that morning helped save the important high ground upon which the battle would be fought - and won - over the next two days.

"The Bullets Flew Like Hail": Cutler's Brigade at Gettysburg, from McPherson's Ridge to Culp's Hill by civil war historian James L. McLean Jr. is the only complete account of this brigade's critical contribution to the grand victory in Pennsylvania.

This completely revised and updated edition describes the brigade's origins, its march to the field, and how it went into action, piecemeal and vulnerable. Two of Cutler's regiments, the 14th Brooklyn and the 95th New York, along with the Iron Brigade's 6th Wisconsin, participated in one of the most famous assaults of the war. The trio of regiments simultaneously charged across open ground, repulsed the attack of Brig. Gen. Joseph Davis's Rebel brigade, and captured a large number of Mississippi and North Carolina troops in an unfinished railroad cut.

By the end of July 1, Cutler's command had faced off against Confederate brigades led by James Archer, Joseph Davis, Alfred Iverson, Junius Daniels, and Alfred Scales. The brigade was one of the last to leave the field of battle and successfully reformed on Cemetery Hill. The brigade was sent to Culp's Hill on July 2, where that evening and during the early morning hours of July 3, Cutler's men assisted Brig. Gen. George Greene's 12th Corps brigade in repulsing spirited Southern attacks against the Union right flank. In doing so, Cutler's veterans held the distinction of being among the few Union troops who fought all three days of the battle. The performance of the brigade came at a great cost. Only five Union and Confederate brigades sustained 1,000 or more casualties at Gettysburg, and Cutler's was one of them.

McLean's study is grounded in primary research and a thorough understanding of the complex terrain across which Cutler's men fought and died. The more than two dozen maps that accompany the text, which depict troop movements throughout each phase of the battle, complement the photos of the battlefield and key personalities who had a hand in the bloody action. The re-release of this outstanding book by Savas Beatie fills an important gap in the Gettysburg literature.

Critique: Significantly enhanced for the reader, this new edition of "The Bullets Flew Like Hail": Cutler's Brigade at Gettysburg, from McPherson's Ridge to Culp's Hill includes three informative Prefaces, an Epilogue (The Cost of Valor), a postscript (The Aftermath), nine Appendices, a ten page Bibliography, and a seven page Index. While available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.95), "The Bullets Flew Like Hail": Cutler's Brigade at Gettysburg, from McPherson's Ridge to Culp's Hill" must be considered a core and essential addition to community, college, and university library American Civil War collections.

Editorial Note: James L. McLean Jr. taught mathematics for 30 years. Along with his wife, Judy, he co-owned Butternut and Blue, a Civil War book business, from 1983-2016. Jim and Judy sold new, used, and rare books, and also published nearly 100 titles. McLean has been fascinated with Gettysburg since childhood and has been visiting the battlefield and studying the battle for decades. Jim's articles have appeared in The Lincoln Herald, The General, and The Gettysburg Magazine.

The Civil War on the Water
Dwight Sturtevant Hughes, editor
Chris Mackowski, editor
Savas Beatie
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611216295, $32.95, HC, 336pp

https://www.amazon.com/Civil-War-Water-Perspectives-Anniversary/dp/161121629X

Synopsis: Nothing in the history and traditions of the U.S. Navy from 1776 to 1860 prepared it for civil war. The sea service expanded tenfold from a third-rate force to, at least temporarily, one of the most powerful and advanced navies in the world. Former shipmates now serving in the Confederacy, meanwhile, struggled to construct some semblance of a navy from practically nothing, applying innovative technologies and underdog strategies that would achieve more than anyone thought possible.

The resulting civil war battles on the water stretched from the Arctic Circle to the Caribbean in a stunning display of machine-age technologies that included ironclads, torpedoes, submarines, steam propulsion, and improved heavy artillery. Swift Rebel raiders like the CSS Shenandoah decimated Union commerce while hundreds of storm-tossed blockaders patrolled the meandering southern coastline from Hatteras to Galveston to interdict enemy commerce.

Titanic clashes erupted between seacoast fortifications and President Lincoln's warships at Port Royal, New Orleans, Charleston, Wilmington, and Mobile. Massive amphibious operations on the Virginia Peninsula, in the North Carolina Sounds, and at Fort Fisher presaged 20th-century conflicts. Farther inland, the two services invented various riverine warfare tactics that played decisive roles at Memphis, Forts Henry and Donelson, Vicksburg, Island No. 10, and elsewhere.

"The Civil War on the Water: Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the Historians at Emerging Civil War" continues the celebration of Emerging Civil War's 10th anniversary with a compilation of favorite navy tales and obscure narratives by the group's distinguished public historians. This eclectic collection of more than three dozen essays offers fresh accounts on unfamiliar topics as well as second looks at familiar battles, ships, leaders, and events. There is something here for everyone, neophyte and veteran reader alike.

Critique: Collaboratively compiled and deftly co-edited by American Civil War historians Dwight Sturtevant Hughes and Chris Mackowski, "The Civil War on the Water: Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the Historians at Emerging Civil War" is comprised of forty-five succinct articles that American Civil War buffs and scholars alike will find fascinating, informative, and insightful. A seminal work that is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library American Civil War history collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academicians, civil war history fans and historians that "The Civil War on the Water" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.95).

Editorial Note #1: Dwight Hughes is a public historian, author, and speaker in Civil War naval history. Lt. Cmdr. Hughes graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1967 and served 20 years aboard warships, on navy staffs, and with river forces in Vietnam. He is the author of Unlike Anything That Ever Floated: The Monitor and Virginia and the Battle of Hampton Roads, March 8-9, 1862 (Savas Beatie, 2021) and a contributing author at the Emerging Civil War blog.

Editorial Note #2: Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is the editor-in-chief and a co-founder of Emerging Civil War. Chris is a writing professor at St. Bonaventure University, where he also serves as the associate dean for undergraduate programs, and is the historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania Court House battlefield.

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