Until Antietam

Until Antietam PDF Author: Jack C. Mason
Publisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 0809386879
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
While researching this book, Jack C. Mason made the kind of discovery that historians dream of. He found more than one hundred unpublished and unknown letters from Union general Israel B. Richardson to his family, written from his time as a West Point cadet until the day before his fatal wounding at the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history. Using these freshly uncovered primary sources as well as extensive research in secondary materials, Mason has written the first-ever biography of Israel Bush Richardson. Mason traces Richardson’s growth as a soldier through his experiences and the guidance of his superiors, and then as a leader whose style reflected the actions of the former commanders he respected. Though he was a disciplinarian, Richardson took a relaxed attitude toward military rules, earning him the affection of his men. Unfortunately, his military career was cut short just as high-ranking officials began to recognize his aggressive leadership. He was mortally wounded while leading his men at Antietam and died on November 3, 1862. Until Antietam brings to life a talented and fearless Civil War infantry leader. Richardson’s story, placed within the context of nineteenth-century warfare, exemplifies how one soldier’s life influenced his commanders, his men, and the army as a whole. Winner of the Army Historical Foundation 2009 Distinguished Book Award

Until Antietam

Until Antietam PDF Author: Jack C. Mason
Publisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 0809386879
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
While researching this book, Jack C. Mason made the kind of discovery that historians dream of. He found more than one hundred unpublished and unknown letters from Union general Israel B. Richardson to his family, written from his time as a West Point cadet until the day before his fatal wounding at the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history. Using these freshly uncovered primary sources as well as extensive research in secondary materials, Mason has written the first-ever biography of Israel Bush Richardson. Mason traces Richardson’s growth as a soldier through his experiences and the guidance of his superiors, and then as a leader whose style reflected the actions of the former commanders he respected. Though he was a disciplinarian, Richardson took a relaxed attitude toward military rules, earning him the affection of his men. Unfortunately, his military career was cut short just as high-ranking officials began to recognize his aggressive leadership. He was mortally wounded while leading his men at Antietam and died on November 3, 1862. Until Antietam brings to life a talented and fearless Civil War infantry leader. Richardson’s story, placed within the context of nineteenth-century warfare, exemplifies how one soldier’s life influenced his commanders, his men, and the army as a whole. Winner of the Army Historical Foundation 2009 Distinguished Book Award

Crossroads of Freedom

Crossroads of Freedom PDF Author: James M. McPherson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199830908
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
The Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, was the bloodiest single day in American history, with more than 6,000 soldiers killed--four times the number lost on D-Day, and twice the number killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks. In Crossroads of Freedom, America's most eminent Civil War historian, James M. McPherson, paints a masterful account of this pivotal battle, the events that led up to it, and its aftermath. As McPherson shows, by September 1862 the survival of the United States was in doubt. The Union had suffered a string of defeats, and Robert E. Lee's army was in Maryland, poised to threaten Washington. The British government was openly talking of recognizing the Confederacy and brokering a peace between North and South. Northern armies and voters were demoralized. And Lincoln had shelved his proposed edict of emancipation months before, waiting for a victory that had not come--that some thought would never come. Both Confederate and Union troops knew the war was at a crossroads, that they were marching toward a decisive battle. It came along the ridges and in the woods and cornfields between Antietam Creek and the Potomac River. Valor, misjudgment, and astonishing coincidence all played a role in the outcome. McPherson vividly describes a day of savage fighting in locales that became forever famous--The Cornfield, the Dunkard Church, the West Woods, and Bloody Lane. Lee's battered army escaped to fight another day, but Antietam was a critical victory for the Union. It restored morale in the North and kept Lincoln's party in control of Congress. It crushed Confederate hopes of British intervention. And it freed Lincoln to deliver the Emancipation Proclamation, which instantly changed the character of the war. McPherson brilliantly weaves these strands of diplomatic, political, and military history into a compact, swift-moving narrative that shows why America's bloodiest day is, indeed, a turning point in our history.

Landscape Turned Red

Landscape Turned Red PDF Author: Stephen W. Sears
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547526636
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 363

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Book Description
“The best account of the Battle of Antietam” from the award-winning, national bestselling author of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville (The New York Times Book Review). The Civil War battle waged on September 17, 1862, at Antietam Creek, Maryland, was one of the bloodiest in the nation’s history: in this single day, the war claimed nearly 23,000 casualties. In Landscape Turned Red, the renowned historian Stephen Sears draws on a remarkable cache of diaries, dispatches, and letters to recreate the vivid drama of Antietam as experienced not only by its leaders but also by its soldiers, both Union and Confederate. Combining brilliant military analysis with narrative history of enormous power, Landscape Turned Red is the definitive work on this climactic and bitter struggle. “A modern classic.”—The Chicago Tribune “No other book so vividly depicts that battle, the campaign that preceded it, and the dramatic political events that followed.”—The Washington Post Book World “Authoritative and graceful . . . a first-rate work of history.”—Newsweek

Antietam

Antietam PDF Author: John Michael Priest
Publisher: Savas Publishing
ISBN: 1940669510
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 538

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Book Description
“The best battlefield first-person compilation I have read . . . Here it all is—the tactics, the movement, the truth about warfare.” —The Civil War Times In Antietam: The Soldiers’ Battle, historian John Michael Priest tells this brutal tale of slaughter from an entirely new point of view: that of the common enlisted man. Concentrating on the days of actual battle—September 16, 17, and 18, 1862—Priest vividly brings to life the fear, the horror, and the profound courage that soldiers displayed, from the first Federal cavalry probe of the Confederate lines to the last skirmish on the streets of Sharpsburg. Antietam is not a book about generals and their grand strategies, but rather concerns men such as the Pennsylvanian corporal who lied to receive the Medal of Honor; the Virginian who lay unattended on the battlefield through most of the second day of fighting, his arm shattered from a Union artillery shell; the Confederate surgeon who wrote to the sweetheart he left behind enemy lines in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that he had seen so much death and suffering that his “head had whitened and my very soul turned to stone.” Besides being a gripping tale charged with the immediacy of firsthand accounts of the fighting, Antietam also dispels many misconceptions long held by historians and Civil War buffs alike. Seventy-two detailed maps—which describe the battle in the hourly and quarter-hourly formats established by the Cope Maps of 1904—together with rarely-seen photographs and his own intimate knowledge of the Antietam terrain, allow Priest to offer a substantially new interpretation of what actually happened.

Connecticut Yankees at Antietam

Connecticut Yankees at Antietam PDF Author: John Banks
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1614239835
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
Stories of New England soldiers who perished in this bloody battle, based on their diaries and letters. The Battle of Antietam, in September 1862, was the single bloodiest day of the Civil War. In the intense conflict and its aftermath across the farm fields and woodlots near Sharpsburg, Maryland, more than two hundred men from Connecticut died. Their grave sites are scattered throughout the Nutmeg State, from Willington to Madison and Brooklyn to Bristol. Here, author John Banks chronicles their mostly forgotten stories using diaries, pension records, and soldiers’ letters. Learn of Henry Adams, a twenty-two-year-old private from East Windsor who lay incapacitated in a cornfield for nearly two days before he was found; Private Horace Lay of Hartford, who died with his wife by his side in a small church that served as a hospital after the battle; and Captain Frederick Barber of Manchester, who survived a field operation only to die days later. This book tells the stories of these and many more brave Yankees who fought in the fields of Antietam. Includes photos

Promise of Glory

Promise of Glory PDF Author: C. X. Moreau
Publisher: Ignition Books®
ISBN: 1937868648
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
"Moreau's research is impeccable and smoothly incorporated, and his descriptions of battle scenes are vivid . . .--Publishers Weekly "Moreau displays an astute grasp of military history. . . . The author invests the cast of authentic historical characters with a wide range of strengths and failings, infusing this gripping narrative with a dramatic human element, resulting in a passionate retelling of a legendary battle.--Booklist August 1862?Federal armies threaten Richmond, the Confederate capital. From the east, the Army of the Potomac, commanded by General George McClellan, has edged closer to the city until the citizens of Richmond are able to listen to their church bells and the report of cannon with equal clarity. Late in the summer, President Jefferson Davis gives command of the Rebel army to the untried Robert Edward Lee. It is a momentous decision. In a series of battles fought virtually in sight of the city, Lee defeats the Army of the Potomac, then turns and drives the Union Army back to Washington, DC. Now, in the first week of September, the days are long and hot. Roads muddied by summer rains dry. There is time yet for one last campaign, a battle that could bring about the end of the war, and ensure a southern nation. This is the story of that campaign. This is the story of the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day of the Civil War. "It is refreshing to read a historical novel that is both faithful to historical fact and yet imaginative enough to make the often dry bones of fact come alive. . . . C. X. Moreau succeeds in that endeavor by portraying the events of the Battle of Antietam, which produced America's single most bloody day, through the eyes of the generals who planned and fought the battle . . . As only a veteran can do, Moreau paints a convincing portrayal of the ebb and flow of battle, providing his characters with credible thought processes as that terrible day proceeded. The terror, dismay, and savage emotion that one would expect to feel on a great battlefield show up in the fictionalized account of the actions of Lee, Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson, Burnside, Hooker, and McClellan. Those who enjoy good historical fiction will find this an entertaining book.--The Chattanooga Times "What distinguishes this novel from a straight historical account is Moreau's telling of the story through the eyes and emotions of an array of officers and soldiers, their detailed words and thoughts. The inner conversations and quotes spring from the author's close reading of the record, and?in obviously large measure?from his imagination. His intuition rings true."--The Virginian Pilot

A Fierce Glory

A Fierce Glory PDF Author: Justin Martin
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 0306825260
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
On September 17, 1862, the "United States" was on the brink, facing a permanent split into two separate nations. America's very future hung on the outcome of a single battle--and the result reverberates to this day. Given the deep divisions that still rive the nation, given what unites the country, too, Antietam is more relevant now than ever. The epic battle, fought near Sharpsburg, Maryland, was a Civil War turning point. The South had just launched its first invasion of the North; victory for Robert E. Lee would almost certainly have ended the war on Confederate terms. If the Union prevailed, Lincoln stood ready to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. He knew that freeing the slaves would lend renewed energy and lofty purpose to the North's war effort. Lincoln needed a victory to save the divided country, but victory would come at a price. Detailed here is the cannon din and desperation, the horrors and heroes of this monumental battle, one that killed 3,650 soldiers, still the highest single-day toll in American history. Justin Martin, an acclaimed writer of narrative nonfiction, renders this landmark event in a revealing new way. More than in previous accounts, Lincoln is laced deeply into the story. Antietam represents Lincoln at his finest, as the grief-racked president--struggling with the recent death of his son, Willie--summoned the guile necessary to manage his reluctant general, George McClellan. The Emancipation Proclamation would be the greatest gambit of the nation's most inspired leader. And, in fact, the battle's impact extended far beyond the field; brilliant and lasting innovations in medicine, photography, and communications were given crucial real-world tests. No mere gunfight, Antietam rippled through politics and society, transforming history. A Fierce Glory is a fresh and vibrant account of an event that had enduring consequences that still resonate today.

The Cornfield

The Cornfield PDF Author: David A. Welker
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504062388
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 585

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Book Description
The Civil War battle in western Maryland that killed 22,000 men—and served no military purpose. For generations of Americans, the word Antietam—the name of a bucolic stream in western Maryland—held the same sense of horror and carnage that the date 9/11 does for Americans today. But Antietam eclipses even this modern tragedy as America’s single bloodiest day, on which 22,000 men became casualties in a war to determine our nation’s future. Antietam is forever burned into the American psyche as a battle bathed in blood that served no military purpose and brought no decisive victory. This much Americans know was true. What they didn’t know was why the battle broke out at all—until now. The Cornfield: Antietam’s Bloody Turning Point tells for the first time the full story of the struggle to control “the Cornfield,” the action on which the costly battle of Antietam turned. Because Federal and Confederate forces repeatedly traded control of the spot, the fight for the Cornfield is a story of human struggle against fearful odds, men seeking to do their duty, and a simple test of survival. Many of the firsthand accounts included in this volume have never before been revealed to modern readers or assembled in such a comprehensive, readable narrative. At the same time, The Cornfield offers fresh views of the battle as a whole, arguing that two central facts doomed thousands of soldiers. This new, provocative perspective is certain to change our modern understanding of how the battle of Antietam was fought and its role in American history.

Antietam: The Bloodiest Day

Antietam: The Bloodiest Day PDF Author: Line of Battle
Publisher: Nick Vulich
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 145

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Book Description
Antietam: The Bloodiest Day outlines the battle and explains how it came about. In less than an hour, you will meet the main participants, understand Union and Confederate troop movements, and learn why Abraham Lincoln thought McClellan’s great victory was a lost opportunity. For those readers who want to know more and understand how contemporary readers learned about the battle, we included the original accounts printed in the New York Herald and the New York Tribune. It's not the complete story, but enough to bring you up to speed, understand the issues of the day, and maybe encourage you to explore more on your own. Each book includes a timeline to help you see the bigger picture so you can watch events unfold **************************************************************** Whether you are a Civil War buff or are just looking for a simple overview of the battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg, you will enjoy this book. It is written in a simple, conversational style that makes it easy to understand the complex troop movements of the Union and Confederate armies. Line of Battle – Book 1

To Antietam Creek

To Antietam Creek PDF Author: D. Scott Hartwig
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421408767
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 808

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Book Description
A richly detailed account of the hard-fought campaign that led to Antietam Creek and changed the course of the Civil War. In early September 1862 thousands of Union soldiers huddled within the defenses of Washington, disorganized and discouraged from their recent defeat at Second Manassas. Confederate General Robert E. Lee then led his tough and confident Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland in a bold gamble to force a showdown that could win Southern independence. The future of the Union hung in the balance. The campaign that followed lasted only two weeks, but it changed the course of the Civil War. D. Scott Hartwig delivers a riveting first installment of a two-volume study of the campaign and climactic battle. It takes the reader from the controversial return of George B. McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac through the Confederate invasion, the siege and capture of Harpers Ferry, the daylong Battle of South Mountain, and, ultimately, to the eve of the great and terrible Battle of Antietam.