Booknotes: Colonels in Blue - Missouri and the Western States and Territories

New Arrival:
• Colonels in Blue - Missouri and the Western States and Territories: A Civil War Biographical Dictionary by Roger D. Hunt (McFarland, 2019).

I've been out of town for the past two weeks and a bunch of new books (at least nine) arrived during that time, so I have some catching up to do in the Booknotes category. I had some prearranged posts ready to go so the site wouldn't go completely dark during the break but basically only did comment approval while I was away. I'm just now getting back into the swing of things.

Roger Hunt's Colonels in Blue series (now seven volumes in size) is a valuable biographical registry of Union officers who did not progress beyond the rank of colonel during the war. Colonels in Blue - Missouri and the Western States and Territories has chapters covering the states of Missouri, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Oregon, and Texas along with the territories of Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Washington. Given that geographical lineup, I would imagine that this volume has more obscure figures per page than any other book in the series.

Individual entries include (if known) a brief Civil War service history, birth and death date and place, occupation(s), any public offices/honors, educational background, burial place, a miscellaneous section, and reference list. An abundance of photographs, many apparently published for the first time, are also provided.