Some highlights from the readers:
From Harry:
Edward Steere The Wilderness Campaign: The Meeting of Grant and Lee
and Richard Moe The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers
.From Simon:
Edwin B. Coddington The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command
.From Paul:
James V. Murfin The Gleam of Bayonets: The Battle of Antietam and Robert E. Lee's Maryland Campaign, September 1862
. From Chris:
George R. Stewart Pickett's Charge
, David Hinze & Karen Farnham The Battle Of Carthage: Border War In Southwest Missouri
, Alice Rains Trulock In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War
, Christopher Losson Tennessee's Forgotten Warriors: Frank Cheatham and His Confederate Division
and William D. Matter If It Takes All Summer: The Battle of SpotsylvaniaFrom Michael:
J. Tracy Power Lee's Miserables: Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox
From Bill:
Phil Gottschalk In Deadly Earnest: The History of the First Missouri Brigade, CSA
.
The first thought that came to me was Coddington, but I thought it was a little questionable because he died before he had a chance to follow it up. I think the same is true of Trulock. I stayed away from biographies because they are often written by non-ACW writers. That being said, when will we next here from Donald Pfanz?
ReplyDeletePhil Gottschalk is deceased, so there will be no more books by him, although I think he planned one on the Missouri State Guard.
ReplyDeleteI thought about not mentioning biographies but thought that it would be okay since regimental histories had been mentioned. Plus, I thought those biographies were truly outstanding and hope people go out and read them.
ReplyDeleteI agree about Pfanz. I really would like to see him write another book because the one on Ewell was so excellent. It has been since 1998 and I remember reading in a magazine article that he was working (I thought) on another Army of Northern Virginia related biography.
Another excellent book I would like to add (I keep on coming across them) is 'Pale Horse at Plum Run: The First Minnesota at Gettysburg' by Brian Leehan. Truly an excellent, detailed, and incisive account of their heroic actions at Gettysburg. It is a great complement to Moe's wonderful book.
Thanks,
Chris
Stewart may be a little unfair because althout Pickett's Charge was his only Civil War hit, he has written other great books on American History. His book on the Donner Party comes to mind... If we are to speak of writers that died before their prime I think we have to mention Cunningham who's book on shiloh was published after his death and whose book on port republic campaign did not receive too much attention
ReplyDeleteGreat topic! Here are two more "one hit wonder" nominations:
ReplyDeleteHale, Douglas. The Third Texas Cavalry (1993)--an excellent regimental history
Johnson, Ludwell H. Red River Campaign: Politics & Cotton in the Civil War (1958. Although several books have been written about the Red River campaign since 1958, none of them surpass Dr. Johnson's work in my opinion.
Two of my favorites are Robert Willett's The Lightning Mule Brigade and Martha Crabb's All Afire to Fight.
ReplyDeleteI believe Stewart's Pickett's Charge book was his only American Civil War book. So I think he was an excellent 'one hit wonder' when it came to his one book on the Civil War.
ReplyDelete'Mother, May You Never See the Sights I Have Seen: The Fifty-Seventh Massachusetts Veteran Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac, 1864-1865' by Warren Wilkinson I believe could also be an excellent choice. It is one of the greatest regimental histories of the war. This was the only book that he finished in his lifetime as his attempted book on the Eighth Georgia was completed by Steven Woodworth.
Another good book is 'The Little Jeff: The Jeff Davis Legion, Cavalry Army of Northern Virginia' by Donald A. Hopkins. Really one of the better books that White Mane ever published. Very useful and interesting on a quite unknown subject.
Chris