Behind the Blue and Gray: The Soldier's Life in the Civil War (Young Reader's Hist- Civil War)

Customer Reviews:

AMAZING PHOTOS.......2003-06-17

Although photos were uncommon back in 1860 this book located dozens of them. The story is told in a vivid and fair portrayal.

It's not a book...it's a journey.......2000-09-05

After reading several adult books on the Civil War for research, I began this book by Delia Ray (I like to read children's books as well). I simply need to say that this book is excellent. Civil War reading can be very dry, but not this book. Delia Ray takes us on a soldiers journey beginning with enlistment and ending with a soldiers life after the war, using quotes from actual letters and diaries strategically placed throughout the book. She covers such interesting items as what soldiers ate, how they drilled, their various living quarters, what they did for enjoyment, their attitudes toward their commanders, soldiers of other nationalities, and the enemy. She discusses individual battles, medical treatment, hospital and prison life, with such empathy that when you finish this book you will actually feel as if you were there yourself. The photographs in this book each tell a story in themselves, as well. They are some of the most moving photos I've seen of the Civil War. I simply couldn't put this book down onced I picked it up. I highly recommend this book to both children and adults because like my title says, it's not a book... it's a journey. An all inclusive journey that seems to leave no question concerning the Civil War soldiers life unanswered.

From Home Guards to Heroes: The 87th Pennsylvania And Its Civil War Community (Shades of Blue and Gray Series)

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My Review of From Home Guards to Heroes
Untold Story

From Home Guards to Heroes: The 87th Pennsylvania And Its Civil War Community (Shades of Blue and Gray Series)
Dennis W. Brandt
Manufacturer: University of Missouri Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862

ASIN: 0826216803

Customer Reviews:

My Review of From Home Guards to Heroes.......2007-09-15

From Home Guards to Heroes is a thoroughly researched, creative, and engaging history of the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry and the primary location from which its members came, Adams and York Counties, Pennsylvania. (Reviewer's disclosure: my great-great-great uncle, Daniel P. Reigle, was a member of Company F of the 87th, leading to my personal interest in this unit.)

The foundation of this book is Brandt's extensive research: U.S. census records, nearly 2000 Compiled Military Service Records, and over 1000 pension files for 87th Pennsylvania members, in addition to those records for over 800 men from the Adams/York areas who enlisted in other units in 1861. This study yields descriptive data on the 87th and comparative data relative to men in other units on factors such as their professions, age, physical characteristics, age at death, life expectancy, American-born and foreign-born, and their personal worth in personal property and real estate at the time they enlisted. The data on 1861 enlistments (both 87th and other units) is presented with the 1860 Lincoln vote for each of the fifty-five townships and boroughs in the two counties.

The quantitative research is complemented by extensive use of newspapers, including not only major city newspapers, but the local newspapers in the Gettysburg, York, and Hanover, important for understanding the political landscape and personalities in the area. For example, in addition to the rich contemporary information yielded by those newspapers, this research also yielded the valuable recollections by Michael Heiman in the York Gazette in 1891-1892. Further, Brandt has made use of any available manuscript sources, such as the George Blotcher papers at the excellent library of the York County Historical Trust, the Thomas Crowl papers at the U.S. Army Military History Institute and Penn State University libraries, and other materials provided by 87th descendants. He uses this information to create "sketches" of each company in the 87th, and the primary officers who were instrumental in its formation and its four years of service. I have seen many of these names "on paper" in years of reading about the 87th, but I found Brandt's sketches to provide an entirely new level of perspective on the men themselves.

This is a "real people" approach to the regiment's people and history, and it does not hesitate to share information that is delicate or uncomplimentary. For example, in the unit's rush to organize, there was no attempt to make any pre-enlistment physical examination of the potential enlistees. Brandt presents data to show that this resulted in more than 11% of the 1861 enlistees leaving the service for illness or injury; by comparison, the 7th PA Reserves' Company H, recruited in the same area, conducted full physical exams and experienced less than half that level of attrition. At another level that paints a less-than-heroic picture of some of the 87th's men, the unit was chartered and recruited primarily to provide security on the important Northern Central Railroad between Harrisburg and Baltimore. Although this was critically important to the Union effort in the first year of the war, such duty was not expected to involve major combat, long marches, or significant hardships at great distances from home. As a result, there was significant consternation among some parts of the 87th when their mission changed to becoming a fighting unit in the Union Army. Brandt examines the subject of desertions in detail, both real and on paper only, especially those occurring in the aftermath of the 87th's loss of 293 men captured at 2nd Winchester during the prelude to Gettysburg in June 1863. Drawing on Ella Lonn's classic Desertion During the Civil War for perspective, he provides many details on the individual cases of some men who intended to desert and did so, but also includes cases that illustrate how men could be tagged as "deserters" unfairly due to cumbersome administrative processes,. Finally, the chapter on "South-Central Pennsylvania and Race" will undoubtedly leave readers with roots in the 87th's home territory with a better understanding of the complex views of the community on race, slavery, emancipation, and the meaning of citizenship, but also with some embarrassment in accepting in our 21st Century the opinions of our ancestors in the 19th Century. These are difficult subjects to tackle objectively and fairly, and I commend the author for doing so. It provides additional perspective for the 87th's solid performance as part of the VI Corps in 1864 and 1865.

A difficult choice for the author of any regimental history is how much detail to include on the battles in which the unit participated. Brandt made the choice to not attempt to relate in detail the battles at 2nd Winchester, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, 3rd Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, the Petersburg Campaign including the Breakthrough on 2nd April 1865, and the Appomattox Campaign. He does include a more extensive analysis of Monocacy because of the 87th's pivotal role there in slowing down Early's advance on Washington D.C. This is clearly the right choice, in my opinion, because it enables Brandt to use the space of his book to focus on the 87th, while the reader interested in more depth on the 87th at the major battles can readily turn to other excellent studies.

This book will be of value to anyone studying the genealogy or local history of the York/Adams County area. However, I also believe this book to be of significant value to anyone interested in an indepth understanding and history of a Union infantry regiment. Although the 87th was, of course, a set of specific individuals and events, the themes, dynamics, and patterns likely have a high degree of similarity in other units. I will not only be re-reading this book more than once, but will use it as a valuable reference in my own Civil War genealogy and history research.

Untold Story.......2007-02-10

If you are looking for a Civil War story that is new and different this is the book for you. I was held captive from start to finish. Dennis Brandt tells, after 10 years of research, the story only he can tell. The story of the 87th Pennsylvania. It is a story about the lives of the boys from York and Adams county. Yes, Gettysburg is in Adams County but this is not another tired tale of that great story. It is instead about how the boys started their Army life rather dull, guarding railroads ect. as many battles raged on in other parts of the U.S.A. But our boys get taken captive, they escape, they die and in the end we ponder over whether The Grand Old Flag would still fly over those states south of Mason-Dixon if not for these HEROS.

A Soldier to the Last: Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler in Blue and Gray

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A Fine Biography of a Little Known Confederate General

A Soldier to the Last: Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler in Blue and Gray
Edward G. Longacre
Manufacturer: Potomac Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 157488591X

Book Description

Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler served in two armies, playing a major role in the development of Confederate cavalry in the Civil War's western theater, and, more than thirty years afterwards, commanded troops in the Spanish-American War. After leaving the U.S. Army to join the Confederacy, Wheeler served in artillery and infantry units before joining the cavalry. Subsequently, he fought at Shiloh, the Battle of Murfreesboro, and other engagements. As a cavalry commander in the Army of Tennessee from mid-1862 almost to the war's end, he raided Gen. William T. Sherman's lines of communication and contested his advance in the final Carolinas campaign.

In addition to detailing Wheeler's Civil War experience, Edward Longacre discusses Wheeler's youth and education at West Point, his pre-Civil War service in the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen, his postwar business, his political career as a congressman from Alabama, and his colorful service in Cuba as a major general of volunteers during the Spanish-American War. Longacre also seeks to correct errors and misconceptions about this Civil War figure that have become a part of the public record, making Joseph Wheeler's life and career accessible to a new generation of readers. A Soldier to the Last will be a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in Civil War history and U.S. military history.

Customer Reviews:

A Fine Biography of a Little Known Confederate General.......2007-03-02

My favorite story about Wheeler is when he was at the Battle of Las Guasimas, the first major engagement of the Spanish-American War he is rumored to have seen the Spaniards running away and to have yelled, 'Come on, we've got the damn Yankees on the run!'

Even Mr. Longacre has to admit that this is just a rumor and it's isn't known if it's true or not. But it's too good a story to let it die. And it is true that of the six ex-Confederate generals appointed to be general officers by President McKinley, Wheeler is the only one to have seen actual combat.

The bulk of this book is on Wheeler's activities during the Civil war where he began as a Second Lieutenant and worked his way up to Major General (when he was 26 years old). He was active in most of the battles of the west from Shiloh to the final surrender to Sherman in the Carolinas campaign after the defeat at Atlanta.

The war in the West has never received the attention paid to Lee and the battles in the East. And Wheeler has been overshadowed by Morgan and Forrest as cavalry leaders in the West. This book is a welcome addition to the literature.

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Contributions to the USA and CSA during the Civil War
An important, unique contribution to Civil War studies.
This book adds little value to Civil War research

Vaqueros in Blue and Gray
Jerry D. Thompson
Manufacturer: State House Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Mexico | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

A saga of the brave Mexican-Texans during the Civil War, this edition contains a list of four thousand Confederate and Union Hispanics from Texas.

Customer Reviews:

Contributions to the USA and CSA during the Civil War.......2003-02-26

The book Vaqueros in Blue and Gray provides an insightfully resource of the contributions made by Hispanics to both the United States of America (USA) and the Confederate States of America (CSA) during the American Civil War. From an Anglo standpoint, I feel that this book better helps Civil War researchers better understand the Civil War and the contributions made by Mexicans and others with surnames like Sanchez, Martinez, and Moreno to both the CSA and USA.

An important, unique contribution to Civil War studies........2000-07-03

This history of Hispanic involvements in the Civil War includes the first comprehensive list compiled over Confederate and Union Hispanic participants who served, providing a history which will particularly appeal to students of Texas state history. Vaqueros in Blue & Gray originally appeared in 1976; this new edition provides a new introduction, foreword, and the list of participants.

This book adds little value to Civil War research.......1999-01-20

The author focuses on Texas-Mexicans, who enlisted in the Union and Confederate armies. No grand motives were involved. The enlistees joined for a variety of reasons: bonus money, clothing, food, escape from a ruthless peonage system, and because of a paternalistic tradition stemming from their Mexican heritage. Regardless, the Texas-Mexican committment was weak throughout the Civil War. An exception was the Benavides brothers, particularly, Santos, who was the highest ranking Texas-Mexican in either army.

While American-Mexican soldiers served in various state units - Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Vermont, et. al., this book is about the Texas-Mexicans who served along the Rio Grande River, dividing Texas and Mexico. In the course of their service, these confederate soldiers were chiefly involved in border incidents, fighting bandits, chasing rustlers, etc. It's clear Texas officials used Texas-Mexican soldiers not to fight the Union but to protect Texas land and property.

Approximately 2600 Texas-Mexicans served the South and 950 served the Union. The illiteracy rate for Texas-Mexicans was as high as 95% and their lack of English kept them in the lowest ranks throughout the war. Of the 62 men in one confederate regiment, only 3 were born in Texas. Many had been born in Mexico and ranged in age to 50 years. The Texas-Mexicans thought of their army service as a job through which they could send money to their families in Mexico - an early Bracero program.

When pay and morale deteriorated, the Texas-Mexicans deserted the confederate and union armies. They simply rode out of camps carrying clothing, arms, and riding the best horses. The desertion rate was of serious concern. In some units it ran as high as 100%, as Captain Adrian Vidal's "Independent Partisan Union Rangers" deserted in its entirety.

Prejudice against the Texas-Mexicans soldiers was overt and contributed to the desertion rate. One officer's comment is pertinent, "I consider them (Texas-Mexicans) as dishonest, cowardly, and treacherous." His feelings were supported by many Anglos in both armies. In this context, the Texas-Mexicans were given old and outdated arms and scrub horses - those not considered good enough for other army units.

The author knows the framework of his subject. Where he fails is in trying to put the results of his knowledge into a semblance of lucidity. The book is hard to read and doesn't hold a casual reader's interest. There is no explanation of the relationship of the battles described to the overall strategy of the South. Further, there are no maps with which to follow the battles narrated by the author.

Another defect is that there are no accounts of the daily lives of the Texas-Mexican soldiers: how they behaved under fire, what they ate, what they thought, how they spent their leisure time, and so forth. The book is also cluttered with footnote references as if the author believed 271 footnotes bestowed literary merit on 120 pages of text. The index is rudimentary and of limited value to the reader. In the author's defense, he obviously did a lot of research. However, no writer can enlighten a subject when the subject is presented with little form and substance.

The military events in the Civil War numbered 10,455 which doesn't include naval actions or countless other scrapes and clashes that didn't find their way into official records. This book adds nothing to the history of the "Vaquero" and does a disservice to Texas-Mexicans by denigrating their will to survive despite the foolishness foisted on them by the Anglos.

One irony that escapes the author is that the war between the states may have ended slavery in the United States but the Texas-Mexicans who fought in the Civil War continued in peonage well into the 20th century. They lived as they did before the war, clustered in small villages along the muddy waters of the Rio Grande, many in poverty, and many others suppressed economically and politically.

Book Description

Ambrose Bierce didn't just write about the Civil War, he lived through it--on the battlefields and over the graves--and in doing so gave birth to a literary chronicle of men at war previously unseen in the American literary canon. The fact that some of these stories verged on the supernatural, others on factual reporting, and others on the fine line between humor and morbidity in no way detracts from their resonance to both the history of the war between the states and the imaginative historical literature in the tradition of Washington Irving.

Shadows of Blue & Gray collects all of Bierce's Civil War stories (twenty-seven in total) with six of his memoir pieces on his own experiences on the front lines.

This collection includes such classics as "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," "A Horseman in the Sky," "Parker Addison, Philosopher", and "A Bivouac of the Dead"; as well as lesser known stories and sketches such as "The Mockingbird" and "Two Military Executions" and memoirs of his experiences at Shiloh, Chickamauga, and Franklin.

Customer Reviews:

short stories.......2007-03-28

A very good way to get a look at the civil war through short stories. Should be mandatory reading in every high school in the nation.

Chilling to the bone!.......2006-05-14

Ambrose Bierce participated in many of the great Civil War battles. While I realise this book is written as fiction I would submit to the reader that it is fact. Ambrose has this gifted way of speach that brings to life the horrors he witness. You will shiver with goose bumps! You won't sleep with the lights out after reading his stories. No way!
I could not put this chilling book down. It was as if it was possess! Ambrose disappeared in 1914 a old man who walked into Mexico. Maybe he is still walking and telling these stories. I would like to think so.

LEST WE FORGET, OR BE SWAYED BY THE HISTORY BOOKSý.......2003-05-06

It's easy to look back and view wars as things of glory - the history books tend to lead us in that direction by viewing the action from lofty heights, speaking in terms of armies and strategies and generals. The reality - as those who have `been there' know too well (and no, I'm not claiming to be a veteran) - is that the old adage is all too true: war is definitely hell, and we should never, ever forget that fact.

Ambrose Bierce is known today mainly through his fiction - many fine examples of which appear in this collection - and through THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY. He `might or might not' be the subject and/or inspiration for Carlos Fuentes' novel THE OLD GRINGO, also made into a film. His stories have a decidedly `creepy' feel to them - he was no Edgar Allan Poe, perhaps, but he was a talented writer nonetheless...and as not only the short stories, but also the non-fiction pieces collected here demonstrate, he was a careful and articulate observer. We are truly blessed that he chose to recount what he had seen, both in the form of short stories and memoirs. His disappearance in 1914 in Mexico has added to his mystique over the ensuing years.

The most famous of the short stories contained in this volume is undoubtedly `An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'. I remember reading it in high school (NO, I won't say how long ago that was...) - and it was filmed to great effect by director Roberto Enrico in 1962, and was subsequently aired in the US as an episode in the last season of THE TWILGHT ZONE on CBS. It won an Oscar in 1964 as Best Foreign Short Film. The story is a masterpiece of suspense - it's a great literary epitaph for Bierce.

Bierce served in the Civil War - he enlisted at its outset and saw quite a bit of action. He rose through the ranks to lieutenant and served on the staff of various high-ranking officers. It is his observations and experiences - and his empathy with the troops, the enlisted men, the common man - that lend such a value to his writings. Too much `Hollywood-izing' has been forced upon the truth - about the Civil War and almost everything the film industry touches. It's a treasure to have the pieces here to vividly remind us of what the experience was really like.

There is humor here as well - Bierce's wit was an acerbic sword, and he unsheathed it on the high and low alike, without sparing himself in the process. His characterizations of the generals under whom he served, as well as the enlisted soldiers, the post-war opportunists, and the intellectual crowd with whom he mingled both in the US and abroad, are rich indeed.

Customer Reviews:

A great look at the common Civil War soldier!.......2003-04-02

Author James Robertson has put together a very interesting book that considers many popular aspects of soldiering in the Civil War. Robertson hits strong topics such as enlisting, camp life, battle, prisons, religion, relationships, family, death and valor. This insightful information is backed by reference, great writing and also some humorous situations that Robertson assembles. This book was a pleasure to read and at times very educational. For the advanced historian, it may be a bit too generalized although a person with some basic knowledge of the war could benefit a great amount. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to understand the common soldier of the Civil War and looking to gain further insight.

Filled With Fantastic Facts.......2000-06-19

"Soldiers Blue And Gray" contains much information on the general aspects of the Civil War. Not directly covering any specific action or battle, it uses quotations from diaries and letters of the period to bring to life such topics as life in camp, prisoners of war, and medical conditions, while covering the point of view of both Union and Confederate soldiers. It is comparable in style to Wiley's "The Life of Billy Yank" and "The Life of Johnny Reb". Easily read and understood, and filled with many facts and figures, it should prove valuable to both the serious researcher and the casual reader.

Yankee Blue or Rebel Gray? A Family Divided by the Civil War

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Yankee Blue or Rebel Gray? A Family Divided by the Civil War
Kate Connell , and Nancy Feresten
Manufacturer: National Geographic Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Our Journey West: An Adventure on the Oregon Trail

ASIN: 0792251792
Release Date: 2003-07-01

Book Description

As cousins take up arms against one another and America's bloodiest war unfolds, young Sam Shaw grows to realize that choosing sides in this conflict is far more complicated than he had thought. Connell details significant battles and profiles key historical figures as she conveys the heart-wrenching turbulence of a family and nation divided.

Best Little Stories of the Blue and the Gray (Best Little Stories)

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Best Little Stories of the Blue and the Gray (Best Little Stories)
C. Brian Kelly
Manufacturer: Cumberland House Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1581825021

Book Description

Best Little Stories of the Blue and Gray is a journalistic history of America's Civil War and the people who fought in it. Drawn from the writings of soldiers, sailors, slaves, politicians, and ordinary citizens as much as from the accomplishments of military leaders, it records the war largely in terms of its human-interest aspects. In more than 100 vignettes, it gives voice to the common people—soldiers and civilians alike—not just military and political leaders. The stories include:

• The Confederacy's Patton brothers, whose heroics inspired their descendant, George S. Patton Jr., of World War II fame

• A general who served faithfully and honorably under Stonewall Jackson even though as a cadet he had been expelled from VMI for talking back to Professor Jackson

• The true story behind the song "Dixie," which was written in the North and was one of Abraham Lincoln's favorite songs

• The Confederate veteran who erected a monument in New England to his former enemy, the soldiers of the Union army

• The onetime Union drummer who apparently was the only Civil War veteran lost when the Titanic sank nearly five decades later

• The Confederate veteran who wrote nearly 1,000 novels and novelettes after the Civil War and was buried at Jefferson Davis's postwar home in Mississippi

• The Southern cemetery in which forty generals—all Union—are buried

• An obscure Confederate general who is honored by a statue in Washington, D.C.

• How California won the Civil War for the Union..sort of...and how Texas gave the Confederacy a huge boost, even though Gov. Sam Houston did not intend to do so

• The Union submarine that sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras while under tow to Charleston, South Carolina, not in battle

• The final—but unsought—sentimental journey for Varina Howell Davis and her husband, Jefferson Davis, aboard a Mississippi River steamboat just days before his death

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Brothers' War: Civil War Letters to Their Loved Ones from the Blue and Gray
Annette Tapert
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679722114
Release Date: 1989-12-17

Book Description

90 uncensored letters humanize the war from the ground up, dramatize its personal impact and reveal the moral certitude of each side. Rare archival photos.

Blue and Gray Laughing: A Collection of Civil War Soldiers' Humor

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Blue and Gray Laughing: A Collection of Civil War Soldiers' Humor

Manufacturer: Rank and File Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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