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Adelbert Ames, the Civil War, and the Creation of Modern America

| Filed under: Civil War Era, Civil War Soldiers and Strategies, Military History, Recent Releases, U.S. History
Adelbert Ames, the Civil War, and the Creation of Modern America Cover

A central figure in Reconstruction-era politics, Adelbert Ames and his contributions during a significant and uncertain time in American history are the focus of Michael J. Megelsh’s fascinating study. As Megelsh discusses, Ames’s life took many compelling turns. Born on Maine’s rocky shore in 1835, he served as a Union general during the American Civil War and was heralded as one of the young stars whose leadership was integral in helping the Union to victory. He briefly remained in the army after the conflict, stationed in Mississippi, where he entered the political arena.

 


From the Wilderness to Appomattox

| Filed under: American History, Civil War Era, Civil War Soldiers and Strategies, Military History, Recent Releases
From the Wilderness to Appomattox cover. By Edward A. Altemos

In early 1864, many heavy artillery regiments in the Civil War were garrisoning the Washington defenses, including the Fifteenth New York. At the same time, newly minted Union general in chief Ulysses S. Grant sought to replenish the ranks of the Army of the Potomac, and the Fifteenth became one of the first outfits dispatched to Major General George Meade at Brandy Station.

Drawing on a wealth of previously unmined primary sources, Edward A. Altemos pays tribute to the Fifteenth, other heavy artillery regiments, and the thousands of immigrants who contributed to the Union army’s victory.

 


Through Blood and Fire

| Filed under: Civil War Era, History, Interpreting the Civil War: Texts and Contexts, Recent Releases, U.S. History
Through Blood and Fire by J. Gregory Acken. KSUPress

Charles J. Mills, the scion of a wealthy, prominent Boston family, experienced a privileged upbringing and was educated at Harvard University. When the Civil War began, Mills, like many of his college classmates, sought to secure a commission in the army. After a year of unsuccessful attempts, Mills was appointed second lieutenant in the Second Massachusetts Infantry in August 1862; however, he was seriously wounded at Antietam a month later. Following a nearly yearlong recovery, Mills eventually reentered the service as a staff officer, although he remained physically disabled for the rest of his life. He was initially with the Ninth Corps during the Overland and Petersburg Campaigns and later at the Second Corps headquarters.

 


The Governor’s Pawns

| Filed under: Civil War Era, Interpreting the Civil War: Texts and Contexts, Recent Releases
The Governor's Pawns/Randall S. Gooden. KSUPress

While the taking of hostages by both the Union and the Confederacy was common during the Civil War, it was unique for an individual state government to engage in this practice. The Governor’s Pawns highlights the implementation of a hostage law established by Virginia’s pro-Union government in 1863 and the adoption of that law by the newly formed state of West Virginia. Author Randall Gooden uses genealogical sources to emphasize the personal nature of civilian arrests and hostage-taking and describes the impact on the communities and individuals left scarred by this practice. Readers are taken into the state and national capitol buildings, army camps, jails and military prisons, hospitals, and graveyards that accompanied the tit-for-tat style of pointedly personal warfare.

 


Letters to Lizzie

| Filed under: Civil War Era, Explore Women's History, History, Interpreting the Civil War: Texts and Contexts, Recent Releases, U.S. History
Letters to Lizzie cover

Letters to Lizzie: The Story of Sixteen Men in the Civil War and the One Woman Who Connected Them All contains a collection of letters exchanged between 16 men—15 soldiers and a quartermaster at a military hospital—and one young woman, Lizzie Brick. Since Lizzie herself could not bear arms, she took up her pen and through ongoing correspondence helped these Union soldiers sustain their motivation for the cause.

 


No Place for a Woman

| Filed under: American History, Award Winners, Civil War Era, Explore Women's History, History, Interpreting the Civil War: Texts and Contexts, Recent Releases
No Place for a Woman by Mike Pride. Cover.

Historian Mike Pride traces Harriet Dame’s service as a field nurse with a storied New Hampshire infantry regiment during the Peninsula campaign, Second Bull Run, Gettysburg, and Cold Harbor. Twice during that service, Dame was briefly captured. In early 1863, she spent months running a busy enterprise in Washington, DC, that connected families at home to soldiers in the field.

 


The Brilliance of Charles Whittlesey

| Filed under: Civil War Era, Environmental Studies, Recent Releases, Regional Interest
Charles Whittlesey cover

The Brilliance of Charles Whittlesey offers the first full-length biography of one of the most outstanding and influential Americans of the 19th century, Charles Whittlesey (1808–1886). Whittlesey advanced numerous fields, including geology, exploration, history, archaeology, and military strategy. Much of his work, however, has been treated as a mere footnote of American history and largely neglected by historians.

 


Yours Affectionately, Osgood

and | Filed under: American History, Civil War Era, Interpreting the Civil War: Texts and Contexts, Recent Releases, U.S. History
Burrows Cover

More than 3 million men served in the American Civil War. In Yours Affectionately, Osgood, editors Sarah Tracy Burrows and Ryan W. Keating have assembled a collection of letters from one of those soldiers—Osgood Vose Tracy of the 122nd New York Infantry. Sarah Tracy Burrows, a descendant of Colonel Tracy, has compiled this expansive collection from her family’s private papers. Paired with illuminating discussion and context from noted historian Ryan W. Keating, Tracy’s letters home follow his journey as a soldier and prisoner of war from his enlistment in September 1862 through the end of the war in May 1865, as Tracy then readjusted to civilian life.

 


Slavery

and | Filed under: Civil War Era, History, Interpreting American History, Recent Releases
Slavery: Interpreting American History. Kent State University Press

To fully understand the various ways in which slavery has been depicted and described is a difficult task. Like any other important historical issue, this requires a thorough grasp of the underlying history, methodological developments over time, and the contemporary politics and culture of historians’ own times. And the case of slavery is further complicated, of course, by changes in the legal and political status of African Americans in the 20th and 21st centuries.

 


A Notable Bully

| Filed under: Civil War Era, History, Interpreting the Civil War: Texts and Contexts, Recent Releases, Understanding Civil War History
A Notable Bully/Cray. Kent State University Press

Largely forgotten by historians, Billy Wilson (1822–1874) was a giant in his time, a man well known throughout New York City, a man shaped by the city’s immigrant culture, its harsh voting practices, and its efforts to participate in the War for the Union. For decades, Wilson’s name made headlines—for many different reasons—in the city’s major newspapers.

 


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