Booknotes IV (Mar '15)

New Arrivals:

1. To the Bitter End: Appomattox, Bennett Place, and the Surrenders of the Confederacy by Robert M. Dunkerly (Savas Beatie, 2015).

Unlike many new book series that quickly settle into a modest steady state, the output of Emerging Civil War just keeps accelerating. This entry covers the 1865 surrenders, from the famous capitulations at Appomattox and Bennett Place to less well known but still significant ones at places like Citronelle, Alabama and Jacksonport, Arkansas.

2. Blood on the Bayou: Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and the Trans-Mississippi by Donald S. Frazier (State House Pr, 2015).

Blood on the Bayou is the third installment of Frazier's "Louisiana Quadrille", the first two being Fire in the Cane Field (2009) and Thunder Across the Swamp (2011). Military coverage includes Milliken's Bend, Major's Raid, the Battle of LaFourche Crossing, Brashear City and the dramatic Confederate campaign that temporarily recaptured the LaFourche District, the Battle of Fort Butler, Kock's Plantation and more.  Frazier also discusses slavery and emancipation in SE Louisiana during this period. It looks great. After all this, there's still plenty left for inclusion in the final volume, which will undoubtedly address the 1863 Texas Overland Campaign and the 1864 Red River Campaign.