Booknotes: Texans at Antietam

New Arrival:
• Texans at Antietam: A Terrible Clash of Arms, September 16-17, 1862 edited by Joe Owen, Philip McBride, and Joe Allport (Fonthill Media, 2017).

Texans at Antietam is a documentary history of Hood's Brigade at Antietam. From the description: "The soldiers in Hood’s Texas Brigade who fought at Antietam on September 16- 17, 1862, described intense and harrowing experiences of the fierce battle in the days, weeks and decades after the battle. Their experiences were written in official reports, diary entries, interviews, newspaper articles, and letters to families at home. These memories provide a fascinating and descriptive account of the battle against the Union Army of the Potomac at Miller’s Cornfield, the Dunker Church and other locations at the battlefield." Comments from those that opposed the brigade from the Union side are are included in the volume.

The book is divided into chapters by unit (1st, 4th, and 5th Texas, the 18th Georgia, and the Hampton Legion infantry), with additional chapters comprising 'general and commander' correspondence and testimonials from individuals outside the brigade and from both sides. In addition to the series of documents presented therein, the unit chapters include background and organization information. The editors also added select biographical summaries to the leader correspondence chapter.

The vast document collection contained in the volume was drawn from both published and unpublished sources, and the text is annotated. Just how thorough the source search was conducted is something I can't personally speak to with any kind of authority, but Ted Alexander, who is an authority, offers effusive praise of the editors's research efforts in his introduction. Photographs and a map also grace the book's pages.