Booknotes: Epic Adventures of the American Civil War

New Arrival:

• Epic Adventures of the American Civil War: Warriors, Spies, Chases, Banks, and Desperados by Robert Scott Davis (Edwin Mellon Pr, 2024).

I don't think I've come across this publisher before now, but at the very least I do commend them for having perhaps the best book packaging I've ever encountered as a reviewer well used to receiving items damaged in shipment.

There isn't much of an official book description out there to go on, so I'll just summarize what I see from glancing through the contents. There are 131 pages in total, with 83 pages of main text further enhanced by numerous period photos and illustrations. There is no bibliography, but the endnotes indicate use of a diverse range of source materials, including extensive archival research.

The series of "adventures" referred to in the title are grouped into five chapters. The first chapter addresses naval warfare and the Confederate use of "shallow water commando tactics," the second the Civil War career of Union spy James George Brown, and the third the actions of William Allen Fuller in pursuit of the Andrews raiders during"The Great Locomotive Chase." Chapter Four follows the story of Richmond bank specie lost during the waning moments of the war, and the final chapter looks at the violent lives of Civil War fighters turned postwar outlaws (the focus being on Hamilton County, Tennessee Unionist Joseph G. Ritchey).