by John Horn

SOPO’s Take: Coming soon!

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The nine-month siege of Petersburg was the longest continuous operation of the Civil War. Contrary to popular belief, it was anything but static trench warfare, as John Horn ably demonstrates in Lee Besieged: Grant’s Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864. Large-scale Union “offensives”—grand maneuvers that triggered some of the large-scale battles—broke the monotony of siege warfare. Once his First Offensive (the assaults of June 15-18) failed to capture the city, the Union commander planned and launched his next major effort within hours. This Second Offensive was one of the most dramatic operations of the entire war.

To pave the way for success, Grant brought the city’s bridges under the fire of his siege guns to slow the transfer of enemy troops in and out of Petersburg. He also seized a bridgehead at Deep Bottom on the James River’s north bank to draw Confederate forces out of Petersburg by menacing Richmond. Next, he took more ambitious measures by sending infantry to hem in Petersburg from the Appomattox River above and below the city. The move was designed to cut the critical Weldon and South Side railroads and force the Rebels to abandon Petersburg and Richmond. As his infantry went to work, his cavalry set out to cut the Confederate railroads below Petersburg to slow reinforcements coming up from the south and west.

Grant’s opponent, however, was General Robert E. Lee with his veteran infantry, not the inept John Floyd of Fort Donelson or the distracted John C. Pemberton of Vicksburg. Lee and his infantry subordinate, William Mahone, marched to meet the enemy and, in a stunning turn of events, routed Grant’s foot soldiers at Jerusalem Plank Road. Together, Confederate cavalry leader Wade Hampton and Mahone smashed Grant’s troopers at the battles of Sappony Church and First Reams Station. Thousands of Federal prisoners of war flooded into Confederate camps. Not until April 1865, after seven more offensives, would Grant reach the Appomattox above Petersburg and force Lee to relinquish that city and the capital of Richmond.

This is tactical battle action at its finest. Horn’s explanation for the context and consequences of every decision is grounded in hundreds of primary sources and supported by 40 original maps. Lee Besieged: Grant’s Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18-July 1, 1864 is the first full-length book to put Grant’s second effort into its proper perspective—not only in the context of Petersburg’s siege and the Civil War, but in the context of warfare’s history.

Advance Praise

“I’ve been editing books and magazine articles on the Civil War for decades, but Lee Besieged is in a class of its own. Elegantly written and deeply researched, it abounds with judicious assessments of commanders, strategy, tactics, and leadership at all levels. Horn’s use of more than 1,000 quotations from participants on both sides puts everything in context and takes you back in time like few other books I have read. Highly recommended!” — Keith Poulter, publisher North & South magazine

“The Second Petersburg Offensive of late June 1864 is among the least understood operations of the entire campaign. Through exhaustive research, engaging prose, and thoughtful analysis, John Horn provides the most detailed account yet written of this Union effort to conquer the Cockade City.” — A. Wilson Greene, author of A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg

“John Horn’s Lee Besieged adds considerably to our knowledge of the Petersburg Campaign. It is also the first to deal in depth with Grant’s ill-fated Second Offensive. It is yet another excellent study by Horn.” — Sean Michael Chick, author of The Battle of Petersburg, June 15–June 18, 1864

“John Horn’s Lee Besieged: Grant’s Second Petersburg Offensive adds a much-needed volume to his extensive writings and study of the Petersburg Campaign. Grant’s Second Offensive is often overlooked and hard to comprehend, but Horn’s thorough research and writing carries readers through every aspect of the offensive, providing enjoyment and understanding for the Civil War enthusiast. Firsthand accounts populate the narrative, adding powerful insights into the struggle and fighting of June 1864.” — Jerry Netherland, Petersburg Battlefields Foundation

Hardcover Edition

• Buy the Hardcover Edition

ISBN: 978-1-61121-738-4

Publisher: Savas Beatie

Release Date: June 2025

Pages: 448 pages

The Siege of Petersburg Online Pages Which Mention This Book:

• Lee Besieged: Grant’s Second Petersburg Offensive, June 18–July 1, 1864 by John Horn

by Sean M. Chick

SOPO’s Take: Another in the now well-established Emerging Civil War Series, and the second book by the author in a series of studies covering the 1864-65 Campaigns around Richmond.  Other authors will presumably be called in for their battles/offensives of expertise.  This book provides an introductory look at the Second Battle of Petersburg, June 15-18, 1864.  With maps by the always excellent Edward Alexander, this ECW series book is a GREAT way to understand what happened at Petersburg in those four high-stakes days. Had the Federals broken through here, there would have been no Siege of Petersburg and Richmond would have fallen much more quickly, with massive ripple effects on the rest of the war.  As always, the end of the book contains an excellent section on further reading during the Siege of Petersburg.

Book Summary/Review:

SOPO Siege of Petersburg Book Notes:

SOPO Siege of Petersburg Book Sources:

Publisher Info:

Author: Sean Michael Chick

Pub Date: January 2025

ISBN: 978-1-61121-721-6

eISBN: 978-1-61121-722-3

Binding: Trade paper

Specs: 100 images; 10 maps; 192 pp.

May and June 1864 in Virginia witnessed some of the most brutal and bloody fighting of the Civil War. After the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, North Anna, and Cold Harbor, combined losses for the two armies exceeded 80,000 men killed, wounded, and captured. And the result after all that carnage was a stalemate outside the gates of Richmond.

Federal Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant remained undeterred and set his armies toward their next target: The logistical powerhouse of Petersburg. Grant’s surprising maneuver, which included the construction of a massive pontoon bridge across the broad James River and a surprise march against Petersburg, caught Confederate commander Robert E. Lee by surprise. Petersburg was but lightly guarded and seemed at the mercy of the aggressive Federal commander. Its fall would cut the lifelines into Richmond and force the evacuation of the Southern capital. Ther capture of the city would ensure President Abraham Lincoln’s reelection and eliminate whatever thin hopes the Confederacy still had for victory.

Petersburg was fortified, its garrison small but determined to hold the city. Department commander, Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, realized the danger and shifted as many men as he could spare into the defenses and took the field himself. North of the river, meanwhile, Lee remained unconvinced that Grant had stolen a march on him. Three days of battle (June 15-17) followed. The Federals bungled the effort, and somehow the understrength Confederates managed to fight the Federals to a standstill. Reinforcements from Lee’s army finally arrived on June 18. Petersburg would hold—for now.

Beauregard had won one of the Confederacy’s most impressive victories and one of the Confederacy last strategic victories.

Sean Chick’s A Grand Opening Squandered: The Battle for Petersburg, June 15-18, 1864 provides fresh and renewed attention to one of the most important, fascinating, and yet oddly forgotten battles of the Civil War. Inside are original maps, new research, and dozens of images—many published here for the first time. A Grand Opening Squandered is the first in a series on the Petersburg Campaign, which will provide readers with a strong introduction to the war’s longest campaign.

Paperback Edition

• Buy the Paperback First Edition (Savas Beatie)
• Buy the Paperback First Edition (Amazon)

ISBN: 978-1-61121-721-6

Publisher: Savas Beatie

Release Date: January 2025

Pages: 192 pages

The Siege of Petersburg Online Pages Which Mention This Book:

• A Grand Opening Squandered: The Battle for Petersburg, June 15-18, 1864 by Sean M. Chick

by Bradley M. Gottfried and Linda I. Gottfried

BTC’s Take:

Coming soon.  However, author Brad Gottfried is a well-known author in Civil War circles.  He is the author of many of the Savas Beatie “Maps of…” series and continues work there, hoping to complete the Seven Days and the Peninsula for publication in 2027. In addition, he is known for his “Brigades of..” and “Commanders of…” series on Gettysburg and Antietam, the latter coming very recently. In his latest effort he partners with his wife Linda.  I cannot wait to jump into this one for the Petersburg portion.

Book Summary/Review:

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Publisher Info:

The war effort had sputtered in Virginia for three years until President Abraham Lincoln appointed General U. S. Grant as General-in-Chief of all Union armies. By maintaining his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, Grant established an uneasy relationship with the army’s commander, Gen. George Meade, the victor of Gettysburg. How these men worked together to bring Robert E. Lee to surrender is covered in this volume. The relationship began cordially with Grant initially promising to only provide broad strategic directions to Meade. The latter would then direct his army as he desired. However, as the war churned on and Grant believed Meade’s army was underachieving, he took a progressively stronger role in its activities.

How these two strong-willed military leaders worked together to achieve a common goal was not easy. The thin-skinned Meade constantly worried about losing his job and railed against any hint of disrespect by the press, politicians, or the general public. Grant worried less about image and concentrated on ending the war.

Using a wealth of first-person accounts and maps, this book covers the seminal campaigns of 1864-65 (including the Overland, Petersburg, and Appomattox Campaigns) to help explain the complex and evolving relationship between the two men.

Paperback Edition

• Buy the Paperback First Edition

ISBN: 979-8-234-03694-0

Publisher: Seminole Press

Release Date: May 2026

Pages: 206, many maps and illustrations

The Siege of Petersburg Online: Beyond the Crater Pages Which Mention This Book:

• Grant & Meade: An Uneasy Alliance by Bradley M. Gottfried and Linda I. Gottfried

by Nigel Lambert

SOPO’s Take: Nigel Lambert, despite being a relative newcomer to studying the Siege of Petersburg, has utilized his background as a scientist (now retired) to produce the first monograph to ever come out on the Battle of Hatcher’s Run.  This battle, fought from February 5-7, 1865, has been misunderstood since the week it was fought.  Nigel, utilizing primary sources and and the Official Records, has shed a tremendous amount of light on what actually happened at this battle. He realized early on that the “standard” account of the battle was missing key info in some places and outright incorrect in others. Nigel’s feat is doubly impressive given the relative lack of Confederate sources from this time period. What’s more, this book is available as a FREE download at Nigel’s site https://www.hatchersrunbattle.com/.

Full disclosure: Nigel reached out to me on this site around 2021.  While I provided him some images of pages from regimental histories, that is the extent of my involvement. He and Bryce Suderow collaborated in the intervening years, and Nigel has produced numerous articles on the battle prior to writing his eBook:

Emerging Civil War : a 2024 article describing the Rebel assault on February 5.

Emerging Civil War : a 2024 article describing the battle’s 14 Medal of Honor recipients. 

Emerging Civil War : a 2024 article describing John Pegram’s fateful day.

Emerging Civil War: a 2024 article describing David Gregg’s final mission. 

Emerging Civil War: a 2024 article describing the Union great skedaddle. 

Emerging Civil War: a 2024 article describing the Union reaction to the great skedaddle. 

Emerging Civil War : a 2024 article describing the origins behind the offensive. 

Emerging Civil War: a 2025 article describing the consequences of the battle.  

Emerging Civil War: a 2025 article describing Crawford’s controversial assault on February 7.  

2024 UK American Civil War Round Table Lecture: The Battle of Hatcher’s Run on 5-7 February 1864 – YouTube

2025 UK American Civil War Round Table Podcast: The Battle of Hatcher’s Run With (Nigel Lambert) – YouTube

2025 Podcast  The Petersburg Campaign: Trent’s Reach to Fort Stedman (Sean Michael Chick, Luke Freet, Neil Chatelain, Nigel Lambert)

Nigel Lambert & Bryce A. Suderow (2022) “The Battle of Hatcher’s Run: A Re-Appraisal” North and South Magazine, Series 2, Vol. 2, No. 5, 35-46.

Nigel Lambert (2023) “A Civil War Medal of Honor Mystery” North and South Magazine, Series 2, Vol. 3 No. 6, 88-92.

​Nigel Lambert (2025) “Curious Tales from Hatcher’s Run” Crossfire Magazine, American Civil War Round Table (UK), No. 137, 4-7.

Gerald Prokopowicz’s Civil War Talk Radio, Episode 2207, Oct 22, 2025, Nigel Lambert, Hatcher’s Run: Episode 2207: “Hatcher’s Run” with Nigel Lambert 

Book Summary/Review:

SOPO Siege of Petersburg Book Notes:

SOPO Siege of Petersburg Book Sources:

Publisher Info:

The reason I [Nigel Lambert], a semi-retired UK scientist, wrote a scholarly book on the Battle of Hatcher’s Run is too long a story to relay in detail. My fascination with the Civil War dates back to my 1960s childhood amid the centennial activities. I have since built a sizable library on the war and have had the pleasure of visiting most of the major battlefields on several occasions. Thus, I have a sound overall knowledge of the Civil War.

I stumbled upon the Hatcher’s Run battle during the COVID lockdowns of 2020. At the time, I knew little about the event. I soon realized that history had not treated this battle kindly. Thanks to the internet, many senior US historians supported my curiosity, and I built a substantial Hatcher’s Run database. From 2021 to now (2025), through numerous articles and lectures, I have been at the forefront in raising awareness about the battle. The fact that such a task fell to someone like me shows how neglected the event had become. One of my proudest achievements was updating the Hatcher’s Run Wikipedia page, as it’s often the first stop for curious minds. Previously, the site was a derisory two pages of limited information, another sign of the battle’s neglect. This book represents the most comprehensive account of the battle to date.

In constructing a coherent Hatcher’s Run narrative, some statements are currently uncontested. For example, the battle occurred on February 5-7, 1865; John Pegram died on February 6; the Confederates attacked Humphreys’s line late on February 5, etc. Uncontested statements provide a solid foundation for the narrative. Many statements, however, are contested. Often, one can use logic and the established framework to dismiss errant claims. For instance, there is testimony suggesting that John Pegram was killed near Dabney’s Mill before 2 p.m. on February 6. However, the reliable framework shows that at 2 p.m., Pegram was fighting down Vaughan Road over a mile away from Dabney’s Mill, and that he died in the late afternoon.

In many places, my narrative diverges from the more common summary accounts. Bryce Suderow and I addressed these differences in a 2022 magazine article. Typically, I do not repeat these debates here; however, I do share my critical thinking on significant incidents.

There remain significant gaps in the narrative where flimsy or no testimony currently exists. I freely admit these gaps. For instance, there is no record explaining why Pegram split his division on the morning of February 6. We also do not know why Crawford rashly charged the formidable Confederate works at 6 p.m. on February 7. When I propose speculative scenarios, I clearly label them as such.

eBook Edition

• Download the FREE eBook at Nigel’s Hatcher’s Run Site

ISBN: N/A

Publisher: Self-published

Release Date: April 2026 (3rd Edition)

Pages: 227 pages

The Siege of Petersburg Online Pages Which Mention This Book:

• Hatcher’s Run Grant’s 8th Petersburg Offensive February 5-7, 1865 by Nigel Lambert

by Edward B. McCaul, Jr.

SOPO’s Take: Coming Soon!

Book Summary/Review:

SOPO Siege of Petersburg Book Notes:

SOPO Siege of Petersburg Book Sources:

Publisher Info:

Edward B. McCaul, Jr.
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 217
Bibliographic Info: 28 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2026
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9888-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5809-4
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1—Prelude 7
Chapter 2—Situation 14
Chapter 3—Federal Defensive System 29
Chapter 4—Confederate Plan and Preparation 59
Chapter 5—Confederate Attack 84
Chapter 6—Federal Resistance and Counterattack 100
Chapter 7—Confederate Withdrawal 141
Chapter 8—Impact of the Battle of Fort Stedman 150
Appendix I—Brigadier General Griffin Alexander Stedman, Jr. 155
Appendix II—Medals of Honor Awarded for the Battle of Fort Stedman 159
Appendix III—Confederate Dispositions Before the Battle of Fort Stedman 170
Appendix IV—Mining at Petersburg 175
Appendix V—Controversies 182
Chapter Notes 189
Bibliography 201
Index 207

The Confederate attack on Fort Stedman, near Petersburg, Virginia, was a desperate gambit that nearly succeeded in the final weeks of the Civil War. Shedding light on a battle that, despite being well known to historians, has received less attention than it deserves, this book examines the reasons for the battle, the Confederate preparations, the Federal defenses, the Confederate attack, the Federal counterattack, and the impact of the engagement in the overall war.

Although many felt the attack was a “forlorn hope,” both Generals Robert E. Lee and John Gordon had great hopes of success. “The plan was well conceived and the execution of it very well done indeed,” wrote Ulysses S. Grant, but confusion, misorientation, and daylight, along with a stubborn Federal defense, doomed it to failure. This work analyzes the Confederate plan in depth, finding it prescient of much modern day military strategy. A breakthrough was to be followed by expansion of the breach and the entry of fast moving mobile units whose mission was to destroy the enemy’s logistical base. This detailed history makes the case that the details of this overlooked battle are highly relevant to 21st century military theorists.

Paperback Edition

• Buy the Paperback First Edition

ISBN: 978-1-61121-280-8

Publisher: McFarland and Co.

Release Date: April 2026

Pages: 217 pages

The Siege of Petersburg Online Pages Which Mention This Book:

• The Battle of Fort Stedman Lee’s Forlorn Hope, March 25, 1865 by Edward B. McCaul, Jr.

Burnside’s Ninth Corps traveled more and more often than perhaps any other Corps in either army during the entire Civil War.  In Burnside’s Boys: The Union’s Ninth Corps and the Civil War in the East, Darin Wipperman provides a popular history of Burnside’s Ninth Corps backed by a scholarly level of sources. A lack of maps and sometimes lengthy sentence structure prevent the book from being better than otherwise, but readers will enjoy this look at the Ninth Corps across multiple theaters from 1862-1865.

Author Darin Wipperman is a native of Iowa with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science. He worked for the U.S. Government for 17 years and served as an editor and reporter for weekly newspapers in northern New Hampshire. He is also the author of First for the Union: Life and Death in a Civil War Army Corps from Antietam to Gettysburg.

Stackpole has been publishing Civil War books for many years now and has been in existence for 90+ years.  Run by the Detweiler family for many years, it was acquired by Rowman & Littlefield in 2014. The book’s page at Stackpole leads with a curious statement: “Unique among Union army corps, the Ninth fought in both the Eastern and Western theaters of the Civil War.” Veteran students of the Civil War know the 11th and 12th Corps of the Army of the Potomac moved to the Western Theater after Gettysburg and fought at Chattanooga, in the Atlanta Campaign and beyond.

The Ninth Corps’ crossed cannon and anchor badge proudly symbolized its varied service and lengthy travels across both major theaters of the Civil War.  The Corps found its origins from units involved in Ambrose Burnside’s early 1862 invasion of the North Carolina coast as well as Thomas Sherman’s men who saw action at Secessionville near Charleston, South Carolina.  From there, they fought in many of the famous battles in the East with the notable exceptions of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg in 1863. First attached to Pope’s Army of Virginia at Second Manassas and again seeing action at South Mountain, the Ninth Corps saw one of its most iconic and worst days of the war at Antietam, losing 25% of its strength in bloody attacks at what became Burnside’s Bridge and further advances in the direction of Sharpsburg.  Portions of the Ninth Corps were sent forward against the southern end of the famous stone wall at the base of Marye’s Heights at Fredericksburg, all of which met with bloody failure.

The Ninth Corps was transferred to Newport News, Virginia in January 1863.  Two divisions were sent to Kentucky while a third stayed behind and participated in the Siege of Suffolk.  This division would not again serve with the Ninth Corps with the exception of one regiment. The Kentucky stay was brief and most of the two divisions were sent on to the Siege of Vicksburg in June 1863. After the siege was won the Ninth Corps moved east to Jackson, helping to capture the Mississippi capital.  Their next and last assignment of 1863 was to secure East Tennessee for the Union.  This they did, withstanding a siege of Knoxville by Longstreet’s veteran First Corps, ANV in late Fall.  After wintering in East Tennessee the remnants of the Corps were sent to Annapolis to refit and reorganize for the 1864 campaigns. By the time this reorganization finished the Ninth Corps was a vastly changed organization. Men from the Knoxville Campaign, those who stayed in Kentucky during most of 1863, and entirely new recruits and regiments all came together to form this new version of the Ninth Corps.  Every single brigade of white troops was a mix of Ninth Corps veterans and regiments new to the unit.  In addition, a Fourth Division composed entirely of USCT regiments under Edward Ferrero were added to the Ninth Corps.

As the 1864 Overland Campaign kicked off the Ninth Corps was part of an awkward command arrangement.  Corps commander Ambrose Burnside reported directly to Ulysses S. Grant because he ranked Army of the Potomac commander George G. Meade.  This arrangement proved so unwieldy that Grant quickly abandoned the idea after three weeks of combat, getting Burnside to waive his rank and report directly to Meade. Through the month of May 1864, the Ninth Corps was heavily engaged at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, the North Anna River, Totopotomoy Creek, and Cold Harbor, before moving on to the Petersburg Campaign.

The Ninth Corps was present throughout the Siege of Petersburg.  They participated in three attacks on June 17, 1864 over much the same ground east of Petersburg, each with only one division. The Ninth Corps had center stage for the disastrous Battle of the Crater, and Burnside ultimately lost command of his longtime corps as a result. Soldiering on under longtime Burnside staffer John Parke, the Ninth Corps came to the rescue of Fifth Corps at Globe Tavern on August 19, 1864, suffered another disaster at Pegram’s Farm on September 30, 1864, and suffered relatively few casualties serving as a distraction during the Sixth Offensive in late October 1864. The Ninth Corps had two final major acts at Petersburg in 1865.  On March 25, after losing Fort Stedman and portions of their works, the Ninth Corps mounted a massive counterattack, took back their positions, and captured several thousand Confederates in a major victory.  In what seems to be one of the least known parts of the Third Battle of Petersburg on April 2, 1865, the Ninth Corps divisions of Potter and Hartranft attacked Fort Mahone, gaining a lodgment in the Confederate works and keeping thousands of Confederates busy who were desperately needed elsewhere. The Ninth Corps played a backup role in the Appomattox Campaign.

By my count, this is one of only a handful of modern studies on entire Corps of Civil War armies.  I recall a Second Corps study not too long ago, and Savas Beatie published a two-part history of the much maligned Eleventh Corps by James Pula. Wipperman himself penned a study of the Union First Corps entitled First for the Union: Life and Death in a Civil War Army Corps from Antietam to Gettysburg.

Burnside’s Boys utilizes a “you are there” approach to the Ninth Corps’ experiences during the war.  Although leadership decisions are sometimes discussed and dissected, especially at Antietam and the Crater, the author mainly follows the common fighting men of the Corps.  Utilizing dozens of first-person accounts, many from archival sources, the author was able to provide a wide variety of experiences at every fight and many places in between. Unit histories written by men who fought in regiments were widely used, as well as letters, diaries, and reports to Adjutant Generals of the various states from which Ninth Corps regiments hailed.

This may be a personal preference, but I found the writing style to be somewhat disjointed on occasion.  A better editor might have helped smooth out some fairly unwieldy sentences in places. I’m guilty of too-lengthy sentences myself, and I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t mention this.  In addition, I found several words misused in a few places, preemptory order for peremptory order (39), internment for interment (199), ordinance for ordnance (4, 237, 242).  Though there were a more than acceptable number of first-person accounts, the letters of Charles J. Mills are absent.  Mills was a staffer in the First Division and later at Ninth Corps HQ during the Overland Campaign and the first half of the Siege of Petersburg.  To be fair to the author, there were only 300 copies of the first edition of a book of Mills’ letters, and Greg Acken’s recent updated version was not yet available.

I don’t want to spoil Darin Wipperman’s conclusions about the various battles in which the Ninth Corps fought.  I thought the author did a fair job of evaluation for the most part and did not fall into the trap of making excuses for his topic of study. In one instance, at the Crater, one of the most important battles in Ninth Corps’ history, I did find myself disagreeing quite often with Mr. Wipperman.  I feel he isn’t nearly harsh enough with regards to division commander James Ledlie.  Ledlie was one of the most incompetent division commanders to ever serve with the Army of the Potomac.  He was in over his head, he had provided evidence of his incompetence several times during the Overland Campaign and at Second Petersburg on June 17, 1864, and his actions were inexcusable on July 30, 1864.  Burnside is given too much of a pass for picking his leading division in the attack by drawing straws.  Under no circumstances should Ledlie have been leading a critical charge where time was of the essence. The author also bizarrely (to me, at least) blames Gouverneur Warren for much of the failure because he did not support the attack well enough.  Ord’s Eighteenth Corps was detailed as the reserve force in the attack, but Eighteenth Corps commander Edward O. C. Ord receives very little comment. Warren is called “cowardly” later in the book as the Ninth Corps came to the rescue of the Fifth Corps at Globe Tavern.  Gouverneur Warren was a lot of things, hesitant, perfectionist, obstinate, but cowardly is not a remotely applicable word to use in his case. The author also claims Meade should have resigned for his role in the Crater disaster.  I do not recall ever reading this take on the affair.

The maps, done by Hal Jespersen, are excellent, as is always the case with his work.  The issue is, there are not nearly enough of them.  Wipperman often goes into good detail on the fighting in each battle, but without maps to pair with the text many readers will have trouble visualizing the action.  A good example occurs at Second Manassas, the first large scale battle in which the Ninth Corps participated.  The text was excellent, but it had been years since I last looked at a map of Second Manassas.  I knew Jackson’s wing was positioned behind a railroad line and that the Ninth Corps was involved in disjointed attacks during the first day of fighting, but I did not know where the various units of Ninth Corps attacked specifically. A map of the battle would have gone a long way to helping my understanding of the situation.  The maps were often positioned multiple pages after a particular battle’s details began to appear in the text.  I found myself looking ahead trying to see if a map was upcoming or not for each new battle. The biggest misses were Second Manassas, Second Petersburg, Globe Tavern, and Pegram’s Farm.  The Ninth Corps played big roles at these fights and one map each would have added tremendously to the book.

I’ve spent a lot of time (maybe too long) on some perceived negatives, but I want to make sure I end on multiple positive notes.  This was a good book and followed the Ninth Corps’ career throughout the Civil War.  It excels in describing the quiet times in between battles and what the Ninth Corps was doing.  A good example is the movement of Ninth Corps from North Carolina to Virginia in 1862 prior to Second Manassas.  These affairs often do not get mentioned in battle and campaign histories, so the book fills many important gaps in the story.  There was one appendix in the book. Important and otherwise memorable soldiers of the Ninth Corps receive paragraph length discussions of their postwar activities. Ambrose Burnside, by far the most important man in Ninth Corps history, is present, as well as division commanders including Robert Potter, Orlando Willcox, Edward Ferrero, and Samuel Sturgis.  The bibliography, as I mentioned earlier, is chock full of good and sometimes rarely used sources from men who fought in the Ninth Corps.  Daniel Larned, Burnside’s personal secretary for much of the war, is utilized to good effect in multiple places.

Darin Wipperman’s Burnside’s Boys: The Union’s Ninth Corps and the Civil War in the East, the second of his books to focus on a specific Union Corps in the war, has plenty of good features.  An exciting narrative bolstered by many first-person accounts help modern day readers understand what it was like to be a soldier in Burnside’s wide-traveled Ninth Corps.  A shortage of maps hurts a bit, but the maps which do exist are fantastic.  Wipperman has a unique perspective on the Ninth Corps’ role in some fights, and readers will be interested to see how he differs from conventional takes on specific battles. Anyone with an interest in the Ninth Corps or Ambrose Burnside will want to own this book.  Those who enjoy higher level unit histories than the regiment or battery level will also find it enjoyable.  Ultimately, despite some minor issues, I recommend this book to interested readers of Civil War history.

Editor’s Note: A copy of this book was provided gratis for the purposes of this review.

William Venner’s second unit history for McFarland, The 11th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War: A History and Roster, is an excellent unit history featuring many first-hand accounts from the men of the “Big Bethel Regiment.” The book is an interesting and detailed look at the 11th North Carolina Troops, who suffered severely at Gettysburg and Bristoe Station, among other fights, and surrendered with the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox.  The author utilizes “over 1,500 first person accounts” throughout the text, both by men of the regiment and their Union foes.  Venner weaves these together into a cohesive and entertaining whole.  Add good maps and a comprehensive roster and McFarland has produced another really good unit history.

Author William Thomas Venner has written quite a few articles and books on various topics.  He has a nicely done web site profiling his work. In addition to several unit histories and articles in America’s Civil War and Civil War Times, he has also written on archaeology and has some fictional works. His other regimental histories for McFarland cover the 7th Tennessee and the 30th North Carolina.

Publisher McFarland, located in Jefferson, North Carolina, has a long history of producing Civil War books, especially unit histories.  McFarland books tend to be a bit more expensive than most non-academic presses, but this is due to their business model: “From the beginning, McFarland has been a library-oriented publisher, producing comprehensive reference works and scholarly monographs on a variety of subjects.” Despite the heftier price, most of the Civil War books I’ve read from this publisher have been very well done and often cover obscure topics which might otherwise never see the light of day. Typically, the prices for McFarland Civil War books only increase on the used book market.

The “Bloody Bethel Regiment” had an interesting and storied history.  The original 1st North Carolina Volunteers fought in the first real land battle of the Civil War at the Battle of Big Bethel in June 1861 before mustering out in November of the same year.  The core of this regiment then formed the new 11th North Carolina Troops, mustering in on March 31, 1862.  They hoped to be sent to the main army fighting in Virginia like their illustrious predecessor. Instead they floundered in the swamps of North Carolina and later Virginia for the better part of a year, fighting in some defensive battles, gaining experience, and joining Pettigrew’s North Carolina Brigade in December 1862.

Pettigrew’s Brigade was called into the Army of Northern Virginia as part of Heth’s Division, Third Corps in time to participate in the Gettysburg Campaign.  They had wished for this in 1862.  By the time the Gettysburg Campaign had ended, most of the men probably wished they were back in some backwater of the war instead.  The North Carolinians fought and eventually flanked the 19th Indiana of the legendary Iron Brigade at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, with both sides suffering massive casualties. They  rested and refit on July 2 before taking part in the famous Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Charge on July 3, again suffering horrific casualties in that ill-fated assault.  Their poor luck continued on the retreat.  Fighting as part of the rear guard at Falling Waters on July 14, 1863, they were outflanked by Union cavalrymen on both flanks and suffered many men captured before they could cross the pontoon bridge into Virginia. The year 1863 continued to be unkind to the Bethel Regiment, when, at Bristoe Station on October 14, they participated in the botched attack against Union troops stationed along a railroad embankment and were nearly cut off in the ensuing chaos. Mercifully for the 11th North Carolina their major fighting for 1863 was over.

The next year promised more of the same bloody fighting.  They fought in the Wilderness both days, being severely driven back on day 2, and had several fights at Spotsylvania, first on the far left near the Po River and then against Burnside’s Ninth Corps on the right. The Bethel Regiment fought on June 1 and 2, 1864 at Cold Harbor before being moved down the Chickahominy on picket duty near Bottom’s Bridge on June 9.

The Petersburg Campaign began on June 12 as Grant moved to cross the James River.  As part of Heth’s Division, the 11th North Carolina stayed east of Richmond at White Oak Swamp to protect the Confederate capital from a coup de main by Grant’s army.  They didn’t reach Petersburg until June 18, 1864, moving with Heth’s Division to occupy Lee’s far right south of Petersburg in the Dimmock Line near the lead works. They spent portions of the Siege here, portions on the east side of the Petersburg lines, and even made a move to Deep Bottom and the New Market Heights lines briefly before defending the Boydton Plank Road late in the Siege.  The 11th North Carolina fought at Globe Tavern on August 21 which resulted in a failed assault and at Second Ream’s Station on August 25, where they scored a smashing success against the vaunted Union Second Corps. They and the rest of MacRae’s Brigade tried a flank attack with Weisiger’s Brigade at Boydton Plank Road on October 27, 1864, but found themselves nearly surrounded and lost many captured before escaping.

The last year of the war saw the 11th and MacRae launch an unsuccessful attack against Second Corps units along Hatcher’s Run on February 5, 1865.  They settled back into earthworks near the Burgess Mill Pond for the remainder of the Siege, with the 11th being sent a little left up the Boydton Plank Road to cover recently departed Confederate brigades on April 1, 1865.  They were in a bad spot and knew it.  The Federal Breakthrough occurred just to their left against Lane’s Brigade, and the 11th North Carolina was shattered soon after by Truex’s Brigade of the Sixth Corps.  The survivors rallied to participate at Sutherland’s Station but were again routed.  The remaining men moved west along the south bank of the Appomattox River until they found a crossing point, joining Lee’s Army but surrendering less than a week later at Appomattox.

This is the second of three Confederate unit histories author William Thomas Venner has written under the McFarland banner. It follows McFarland’s standard “history and roster” format with 210+ pages of text and another 120 or so of roster and casualties suffered by date.  Venner faced some unexpected danger with a cousin in college and it made him realize people react very differently under pressure.  Given that knowledge he emphasized including first person accounts from as many members of the 11th North Carolina as possible, managing to insert over 1,500 first person accounts into 200+ pages of text.  I didn’t count and will take his word for it but noticed there are first person accounts on pretty much every single page.  It was impressive and the author backed up his boast. An interesting and useful twist is the use of accounts from the units across the firing line.  This was done intentionally and done often, helping the reader gain a better appreciation of what was happening in the Bethel Regiment’s fights.  This isn’t a traditional battle history. Venner often focuses on the quieter times and how men felt about them.  His accounts of the desertion prevalent in 1865 were especially well done. The author has done something else I have often thought about doing for many Confederate regiments at Petersburg.  He used the Compiled Service Records to find out how many men could have been present on any given day.  He often gives unit strengths, casualties, and commanders by company throughout the text. Anyone who has studied the Petersburg Campaign in any detail knows how difficult it often is to discover who was commanding a given regiment on a given date, much less the companies of said regiment. The maps are generally well done too, often showing exactly where in the battle line the 11th North Carolina was located.  Illustrations of the men from the Big Bethel Regiment are scattered throughout the book, but come mostly from Clark’s classic if sometimes flawed book series on Confederate units from North Carolina. There were a wide variety of other sources used.

The 11th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War: A History and Roster is well-edited, with few to almost no noticeable spelling or grammatical mistakes.  One small issue occurred several times (at least pages 38 and 47) when Kinston, North Carolina was called “Kingston.” This minor error in no way detracted from the book. Another item which caused this reader some confusion surrounded a small skirmish on July 8, 1864.  Venner indicates this fight occurred “near the Weldon Railroad tracks not far from Ream’s Station.”  I believe this fight occurred along the main Confederate Dimmock line in the vicinity of the railroad, which is several miles from Ream’s Station.  The way the text was written, I originally interpreted it to mean that MacRae’s Brigade marched out to some earthworks in the direct vicinity of Ream’s Station outside of the main Confederate works, but this doesn’t appear to be the case.  Perhaps this whole matter hinges on whether one considers several miles away “not far from” Ream’s Station. Readers of unit histories often get a postwar afterword or even a large chapter, but nothing like that exists in this book.  It ends shortly after Appomattox and moves right to the appendices. But these are quibbles in what was an enjoyable and successful book.

I cannot yet compare this book to Craig S. Chapman’s 1998 unit history More Terrible Than Victory: North Carolina’s Bloody Bethel Regiment, 1861-65, but I plan to read that book next and will perhaps offer a comparison in my review there. At a high level, Chapman offers 50% more text and more maps, but completely lacks a roster. He seems to spend more time on Bristoe Station and the 1864-65 campaigns than Venner.  Venner includes more first-person accounts and images and spends more time on Gettysburg than any other battle. More to come there after I read Chapman’s book in detail.

There are two appendices in this book, and both are well done and useful for researchers.  The first appendix looks at 11th North Carolina casualties throughout the war, grouping them for particular battles or periods of time. Nature and locations of wounds are added where known, with enlistment dates and companies also present.  The roster proper is the second appendix.  It includes the name, rank, date of birth, residence, and occupation of each soldier at the time of enlistment.  Remarks add detail about what happened to the soldier during the war.  Men in boldfaced type were killed during the war.

William T. Venner’s The 11th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War: A History and Roster is chock full of “you are there” accounts of both the battles and the quieter times in the life of the Big Bethel regiment. The letters of Lewis Warlick were used extensively throughout the book, though his voice is missed while he was detained as a POW after Gettysburg. The Big Bethel regiment yearned to be a part of the fighting in Virginia while they whiled away 1862 and part of 1863 in the swamps of North Carolina and Virginia.  They got all of the fighting they could have ever wanted as part of Heth’s Division, Third Corps, ANV from Gettysburg to Appomattox, losing two thirds of their strength in their first major campaign. Venner spends quite a bit of time at the Siege of Petersburg for those interested in this topic.  Although the book ends abruptly after Appomattox, the lists of casualties by date and the well-done roster ease the sting of the sudden ending.  Anyone interested in first person accounts of the war in the Eastern Theater will want to own this book.  Enthusiasts of North Carolina in the Civil War will likewise enjoy this one as it is also somewhat of a history of the Pettigrew/Kirkland/MacRae Brigade. The book is worth the price and well done. I highly recommend it.

Editor’s Note: A copy of this book was provided gratis for the purposes of this review.

Unit:

Unit Affiliation:

• (MacRae), Heth, Third

Title: The 11th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War: A History and Roster

Author: William T. Venner

SOPO’s Take: William Venner’s second unit history for McFarland, The 11th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War: A History and Roster, is an excellent unit history featuring many first hand accounts from the men of the “Big Bethel Regiment.” The book is an interesting and detailed look at the 11th North Carolina Troops, who suffered severely at Gettysburg and Bristoe Station, among other fights, and surrendered with the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox.  Utilizing “over 1,500 first person accounts” throughout the text, both by men of the regiment and their Union foes, Venner weaves these together into a cohesive whole.  Add good maps and a comprehensive roster and McFarland has produced another really good unit history.

William T. Venner’s The 11th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War: A History and Roster is chock full of “you are there” accounts of both the battles and the quieter times in the life of the Big Bethel regiment. The letters of Lewis Warlick were used extensively throughout the book, though his voice is missed while he was detained as a POW after Gettysburg. The Big Bethel regiment yearned to be a part of the fighting in Virginia while they whiled away 1862 and part of 1863 in the swamps of North Carolina and Virginia.  They got all of the fighting they could have ever wanted as part of Heth’s Division, Third Corps, ANV from Gettysburg to Appomattox, losing two thirds of their strength in the former campaign. Venner spends quite a bit of time at the Siege of Petersburg for those interested in that campaign.  Although the book ends abruptly after Appomattox, the lists of casualties by date and the well done roster ease the sting.  Anyone interested in first person accounts of the war in the Eastern Theater will want to own this book.  Enthusiasts of North Carolina in the Civil War will likewise enjoy this one, as it is also somewhat of a history of the Pettigrew/Kirkland/MacRae Brigade. The book is worth the price and well done.

Book Summary/Review:

BTC Siege of Petersburg Book Notes:

BTC Siege of Petersburg Book Sources:

Publisher Information:

This history of the 11th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War—civilian soldiers and their families—follows the regiment from their 1861 mustering-in to their surrender at Appomattox, covering action at Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. Drawing on letters, journals, memoirs, official reports, personnel records and family histories, this intensely personal account features Tar Heels relating their experiences through over 1,500 quoted passages. Casualty lists give the names of those killed, wounded, captured in action and died of disease. Rosters list regimental officers and staff, enlistees for all 10 companies and the names of the 78 men who stacked arms on April 9, 1865.

William Thomas Venner has researched and written widely about the American Civil War. His articles have appeared in Civil War Times Illustrated, Journal of Field Archaeology, and America’s Civil War. A retired teacher of history and archaeology in schools and at the college level, he lives in Huntersville, North Carolina.

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 380
Bibliographic Info: 46 photos, 20 maps, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9515-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2089-3
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction 1
1. Big Bethel: The Regiment Gets Its Name 5
2. The Bethel Regiment Forms 17
3. Defending North Carolina’s Coastline 28
4. The Fight at White Hall, North Carolina, December 16, 1862 39
5. The 11th North Carolina Joins Pettigrew’s Brigade 47
6. Heth’s Division: The Army of Northern Virginia 61
7. Gettysburg: July 1, 1863 75
8. Gettysburg: July 3, 1863 90
9. Falling Waters, July 14, 1863 102
10. Bristoe Station, October 14, 1863 115
11. Winter 1863-1864 126
12. The Wilderness and Spotsylvania, May 5–May 20, 1864 133
13. Summer 1864 151
14. Late Summer 1864, August to ­Mid-September 163
15. Fall 1864, Jones Farm and Burgess Mill 175
16. Winter 1864-1865 190
17. The End: April 1865 203
11th North Carolina Infantry Casualties 221
11th North Carolina Infantry Roster 258
Chapter Notes 331
Bibliography 352
Index 357

“A very good regimental history…excellent battle maps…recommended”—Civil War News

“WOW!”—Lone Star Book Review.

Paperback Edition:

• Buy the Paperback Edition

ISBN: 978-0-7864-9515-3

Publisher: McFarland

Release Date: 2015

Pages: 380 pages, 46 photos, 20 maps, appendices, notes, bibliography, index

The Siege of Petersburg Online: Beyond the Crater Pages Which Mention This Book:

Unit Affiliation: (Hagood), Hoke, Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia

Title: Charlestonians In War: The Charleston Battalion

Author: W. Chris Phelps

SOPO’s Take: A concise but readable account of the Charleston Battalion, a unit which was later consolidated with a three company sharpshooter battalion to form the 27th South Carolina.  The latter unit is covered in the book, but not in the same level of detail as earlier.  The book is at its best in a social study of the company makeup and in the descriptions of the Charleston Battalion’s fights at Secessionville in 1862 and the Second Assault on Fort Wagner in August 1863.  These guys were the antagonists in the movie Glory. The Petersburg section is somewhat disappointing, covering only four or five pages and making some mistakes as to when the Battle of Fort Harrison and the Battle of Darbytown and New Market Roads occurred. There is a nice roster of the battalion before the consolidation into the 27th South Carolina.

Book Summary/Review:

BTC Siege of Petersburg Book Notes:

BTC Siege of Petersburg Book Sources:

Publisher Information:

“In Charlestonians in War: The Charleston Battalion, Chris Phelps has crafted an excellent study of this noteworthy Confederate military organization. Making extensive use of primary sources, he has deftly balanced operational details with social background and created a unit history that would be of interest to scholars and general readers.”
—W. Eric Emerson executive director, South Carolina Historical Society

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Charleston, as the site where the Ordinance of Secession was signed, faced the full wrath of Union forces. In response, the Charleston Battalion, comprised of volunteers from all strata of local society, formed a loyal, effective fighting unit. They served with distinction in several campaigns in Virginia and North Carolina and defended their hometown against Union invaders.

Local author W. Chris Phelps explores the formation and the many campaigns of this diverse group of Charleston citizens led by Peter Charles Gaillard. The battalion distinguished itself by defeating overwhelming Union assaults against Charleston at Secessionville in 1862 and Battery Wagner in 1863 and later performed gallantly in the defense of Petersburg in 1864 and Wilmington in 1865.

Through Charlestonians in War, these brave men finally receive their due. W. Chris Phelps describes the origins of the battalion and focuses on its capable commander, Peter Charles Gaillard, who later became mayor. In-depth studies of the battalion’s various battles, at home and away, are also included. This book features a foreword by Charleston’s mayor, Joseph P. Riley, Jr.

Hardcover Edition:

• Buy the Hardcover Edition

ISBN: 978-1-58980-166-0

Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company

Release Date: 2004

Pages: 304 pp., maps, illustrations

The Siege of Petersburg Online: Beyond the Crater Pages Which Mention This Book:

• 27th SC: Charlestonians In War: The Charleston Battalion

James S. Pula’s The 117th New York Infantry in the Civil War: A History and Roster is an extremely readable and well-written new unit history of the 117^th New York, or Fourth Oneida, supplanting the original unit history written by the unit’s surgeon James A. Mowris in 1866. This eventual Army of the James regiment participated in many of the backwaters of the war in its early days but also saw major fighting at Petersburg and Fort Fisher. The author utilized numerous first-person accounts of the soldiers themselves, including Mowris’ original book as a key foundation, and improved upon it greatly.  The soldiers of the Fourth Oneida would heartily approve. Excellent maps, dozens of images of the men, and a well done and well researched roster add to what was already a great unit history.

Author James S. Pula “is a professor emeritus of history at Purdue University Northwest.” He has received multiple awards, including “the Distinguished Service Award from the American Council for Polish Culture, three Oskar Halecki Prizes for various books, and the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.” Pula has also authored or edited at least two previous works on Oneida County, NY, the county from which the 117^th New York was raised, with one of those focusing specifically on Oneida County in the Civil War.

Publisher McFarland, located in Jefferson, North Carolina, has a long history of producing Civil War books, especially unit histories.  McFarland books tend to be a bit more expensive than most non-academic presses, but this is due to their business model: “From the beginning, McFarland has been a library-oriented publisher, producing comprehensive reference works and scholarly monographs on a variety of subjects.” Despite the heftier price, most of the Civil War books I’ve read from this publisher have been very well done and often cover obscure topics which might otherwise never see the light of day. Typically the prices for McFarland Civil War books only increase on the used book market.

The 117^th New York, often referred to as the “Fourth Oneida” for being the fourth regiment raised in Oneida County, New York, was organized in July and August 1862, mustering in on August 20. Unlike some other newly raised regiments in the summer of 1862 the regiment avoided being sent to the slaughter at Antietam. Instead, the Oneidas spent the first seven months of their existence in the Washington defenses. In early 1863, they moved to swampy southeastern Virginia where they participated in the Siege of Suffolk and the Blackberry Raid on Richmond.  Next the 117th was sent to the Siege of Charleston, arriving just after the famous attack on Fort Wagner made famous in the movie Glory. There they stayed on Folly and Morris islands during the latter half of 1863 into 1864. The men had been spared any serious fighting and suffered very few casualties in their first year and a half of service.  That was all about to change.

The 117th New York was sent north with other Tenth Corps units in the spring of 1864 to participate in Benjamin Butler’s Bermuda Hundred Campaign as part of the new Army of the James.  They saw combat at Swift Creek and Drewry’s Bluff and suffered more casualties in the trenches at Bermuda Hundred.  After the Bermuda Hundred campaign ended in stalemate, the Fourth Oneida boarded a steamer for White House Landing. They marched west to the major Battle of Cold Harbor, arriving late, and missing most of the famous bloodbath on June 2, 1864.  After some time at Cold Harbor, the 117th New York was sent back to Bermuda Hundred.  From there they marched with their division of Tenth Corps on Petersburg, participating in the Second Battle of Petersburg, or what they called “Petersburg Heights,” on June 15, 1864.  The 117^th New York played a major role in capturing several works on the Confederate Dimmock Line east of Petersburg. The regiment spent many months in the trenches both east of Petersburg and in the Bermuda Hundred fortifications.  They were in a reserve role at the Crater on July 30, 1864 but were in the line of fire and suffered severely for a regiment not actively engaged. The 117^th New York next saw major action at the September 29, 1864 Battle of Chaffin’s Farm.  There, in front of Fort Gilmer, they suffered their greatest casualties of any engagement in which they fought, but helped the Army of the James gain a foothold on the Confederate works guarding Richmond. Less than a month later they again suffered heavy casualties, this time in a “demonstration” against Confederate forces along the Darbytown Road guarding Richmond on October 27, 1864. It was to be the last major action the regiment saw at the Siege of Petersburg.

On December 7, 1864, the 117th New York and its brigade were packed up on steamers and sent south to participate in the First Fort Fisher Expedition. The aim was to cut off Wilmington, NC, the last major blockade running port in the Confederacy.  This first abortive expedition ended in failure over Christmas 1864, costing Ben Butler his job.  The poor men of the 117^th New York were forced to spend several stormy days waiting on the beachhead until conditions improved enough for evacuation.  The 117^th New York and its brigade briefly returned to Deep Bottom north of the James River near Richmond before setting out on the Second Fort Fisher Expedition where they were to play a critical role.  The Fourth Oneida was the rightmost regiment assaulting the land face of Fort Fisher, and together with their brigade they managed to flank the fort and roll up the Confederates from left to right in a lengthy touch and go hand to hand fight.  It was here the 117^th won its greatest fame, losing nearly 100 men killed, wounded and missing.  They then participated in the campaign to capture Wilmington, and moved with Schofield’s “wing” from Wilmington to Raleigh, where they were located when Sherman forced Joe Johnston’s surrender.  The unit was able to head home in June 1865, where they received multiple raucous welcomes from the citizenry of Oneida County.

James Pula’s book on the 117^th New York is not the first to be written about the regiment.  Surgeon James A. Mowris of the 117^th penned a regimental history in 1866, A History of the One hundred and Seventeenth Regiment, N.Y. Volunteers,[Fourth Oneida] from the Date of its Organization. August 1862, Till That of its Muster Out. Pula takes this work as a key foundation and proceeds to add greatly to it, utilizing many letters and diaries of men from the unit.  His is not a traditional military history of the regiment.  The author adds a lot of reminiscences about the difficulties of soldier life and motivations of the men in the ranks in addition to the usual discussions of battles. That said, Pula provides enough of the high-level strategy that readers always understand the 117^th New York’s place in the greater scheme of things.  As a reader, you really feel at times as if you are there in the ranks. It’s almost as if you know some of the more prolific letter and diary writers. Also aiding readers are the always excellent maps of Hal Jespersen, who provides cartography services for many Civil War books. The 117th New York’s position in the larger fight is clearly indicated for their major battles, and often their brigade and division mates’ positions are also shown in some detail. Another small but important detail are the dozens of images of the men who fought in the regiment, often located in the text near where they played an important part in a specific battle, and unfortunately sometimes where they meet their end.   It is clear the author spent a lot of time and research in collecting these images, and they add to the story.  This is an important book because it covers a regiment in the Army of the James.  This army often plays second fiddle to the Army of the Potomac, so it is always good to see these lesser-known regiments getting their just due.  Despite never spending a moment officially in the Army of the Potomac, the men of the Fourth Oneida did important work in the fight to save the Union and free the slaves, especially at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher.

Despite all the good in this book, there were a few minor errors.  On page 74, Baldy Smith’s Corps of the Army of the James is mistakenly called the Twenty-Eight Corps rather than the Eighteenth Corps.  Likewise, on page 128, the 117^th New York received orders on what was clearly September 24, 1864, based on the sources, but the text reads August 24 instead. These were small errors and did not noticeably detract from the enjoyment and information presented in the book. In fact, this reviewer only caught the latter error as a decades-long student of the Siege of Petersburg.

The appendices in the book are standard for a unit history, but they are all well done.  Appendix A lists the brevet promotions members of the 117^th New York received. Appendix B features a succinct list of the campaigns and battles of the regiment, including major fights at Second Petersburg, Chaffin’s Farm, Darbytown Road, and Second Fort Fisher. Appendix C is a chart of the Fourth Oneida’s casualties at each engagement in which they participated, taken from Frederick Phisterer’s classic work New York in the War of the Rebellion. Appendix D is the best of the bunch, a complete and lengthy roster of the unit.  Pula primarily used the final New York State Adjutant General’s report on men who served in the Civil War in New York units as the base of the roster, but greatly supplemented this freely available information with additional sources specific to the 117^th New York, including local newspapers and cemetery records. The result is a solid reference for those researching the unit or an ancestor.

The notes are also fairly standard though the author includes a lot of archival material, primary accounts from soldiers of the 117^th New York, and newspapers local to Oneida County to help tell the tale.  The secondary sources are solid, but the author would have found some use in referencing Richard Sommers’ Richmond Redeemed and Hampton Newsome’s Richmond Must Fall for the Fifth and Sixth Offensives against Petersburg, respectively.  The 117^th New York fought at Chaffin’s Farm and was in reserve at Darbytown Road during the Fifth Offensive and fought at Darbytown Road again during the Sixth Offensive.  The author also utilizes several of his own books on Oneida County as background material for the regiment’s story.  It is obvious he has spent a lot of time studying its history, and this knowledge added particularly to the epilogue of the book.

In this first modern history of the 117^th New York, author James S. Pula has helped readers understand not only the battles of the Fourth Oneida, but also what it was like to be a Civil War soldier in the quiet times.  Boredom, disease, physical privation, and other things caused untold misery, but news of great victories and especially news that men were going home caused joy to equal the intensity of the bad times.  Pula’s book was an easy, enjoyable read which truly puts readers in the ranks with the men.  Great maps and an unusually large number of images of men in the 117^th New York combine with the text to create an upper tier regimental history of a heretofore forgotten Army of the James regiment.  Students of the history of Oneida County, the 117^th New York, and good unit histories will all want to own this book.  For students of the Siege of Petersburg, there are multiple lengthy chapters on the 117^th New York’s role in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign of 1864-65, even if they left for North Carolina before seeing the final victory.  This book is highly recommended if a bit pricey at $49.95.

Editor’s Note: A copy of this book was provided gratis for the purposes of this review.