A basic Civil War library?

[Will Eichler]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

The Civil War Diary of a Common Soldier: William Wiley of the 77th Illinois Infantry - Edited by Terrence J. Winschel

Will Eichler

[BillO'Dea]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

Three about the life that i have enjoyed and gave a feeling for what the Eastern war was like.
Bill O'Dea
Syracuse ,NY
The Diary of a Dead Man 1862-1864-
The diary and letters of Ira Pettit
Complied by J.P.Ray
Eastern Acorn Press 1981

Inside the Army of the Potomac
The Civil War Experiance of Capt. Francis Adams Donaldson
Edited by J. Gregory Acken
Stackpole books 1998

Turned Inside Out
Recollections of a private soldier in the Army of the Potomac
Frank Wilkeson
University of Nebraska press

[bAcK88]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

Here's one that I enjoyed.

Power, J. Tracy. Lee's Miserables: Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox. Univ of North Carolina Press, 1998

[KentuckyReb]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

Myself I'm a big fan of Shelby Foote's three volume set The Civil War: A Narrative. I know it's a big pill to swallow--each volume is thicker than a lot of cities' phone books--but he covers coast to coast, border to border, the homefront, overseas perspectives, the diplomacy and the politics, and of course the military operations both land and sea, on a day-to-day basis from start to finish. It's also a 'warts & all' look at all the characters in the great story, from presidents to generals to privates to the home folks, with just enough prose to Mr. Foote's style to make it iminently engaging without being overly romanticized. No regional bias to be found in it, just straight history. Little will be found there regarding particular regiments--only on an anecdotal basis--but it's an excellent telling of the story of the War.

[theknapsack]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

This one is good, if you can find it.
Strong, Robert Hale. A Yankee Private's Civil War Edited by Ahsley Halsey. Henry Regnery Company, 1961

Strong was in the 105th IL. Infantry, Company B.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

Diary of a Confederate Soldier; John S. Jackman

Johnny Green of the Orphan Brigade, The Journal of a Confederate Soldier; Johnny Green

[Chuck A Luck]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

Fellers,

I've found the following to have a lot of good information:

The "Civil War Diary" by Rice C. Bull, entitled "Soldiering". Perhaps it was on someone's list. If so, I missed it & my apologies.

Here's a nice passage I just ran across (p.162):
"We had so little to pack that when haste required we could be ready to move in fifteen minutes. We kept all our supplies inot in use in our knapsacks and haversacks. If called on to move suddenly we only had to roll up our blanket, take down our tent, strap our blanket and tent cloth to our knapsack, buckle on our ammunition belt, sling on our canteen, haversack, and take our musket and we were ready to fall in. We then had on our backs our house, our furniture, our bed, our clothing, our cooking utensils, our food for three days or more, forty rounds of ammunition, our gun and the many little things from home one has in his knapsack that he feels he cannot throw away until dire necessity forces him to do so..."

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

Diary of a Confederate Soldier; John S. Jackman

Johnny Green of the Orphan Brigade, The Journal of a Confederate Soldier; Johnny Green

These books are an amazing read, not only for their pure historical content, but the fact that both men knew one another and many accounts mirror one another. It is also an excellet example of a war time diary vs a post war "rose colored glasses" memoir.

[ley74]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

"Post of Honor" - Letters of Shepherd Pryor 12th Georgia Infantry

This book is a very faithful transcription of Shep's letters on file at the University of Georgia. Frequently quoted by Wiley and Robertson.

[James Brenner]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

Here are two that are from a little different perspective, but may be a little beyond the intoductory level:

Clarence R. Geier and Susan E. Winter, ed., Look to the Earth, Historical Archaeology and the American Civil War (Knoxville: Univ. of Tenn. Press, 1994)

Clarence R. Geier and Stephen R. Potter, ed., Archaeological Perspectives of the American Civil War , (Gainesville: Univ. of Florida Press, 2000)

Look to the Earth is available from Amazon and I purchased Historical Archaeology at Harpers Ferry NHP.

[UnionRyan]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

I am still new to the reenacting world and I want to thank you for your bibliography. I just finish my senior thesis to graduate college, which took me close to six months to complete. The entire thesis was mainly hitting issues that I have seen in the reenacting world. Mainly authenticity of reenacting, anywhere from soldiering to uniform to general customs of the Civil War era. You guideance helped me find the research I needed. I have must respect to all of you who help new comers like myself learn the proper information.

Respectfully,

Chad Ryan

[theknapsack]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

Anyone portraying an Illinois soldier should get this book:

Arming the Suckers 1861-1865 by Ken Baumann Morningside House, Inc. 1989

The above book is a compilation of what arms every Illinois regiments recieved. All branches of service.

Heres a few more great reads:

Sunday Mercury: Writing and Fighting the Civil War Soldier Correspondence to the New York Sunday Mercury Edited by William B. Styple With chapter introductions by Brian C. Pohanka, Edwin C. Bearss, Dr. James M. McPherson, Dr. Richard J. Sommers, and William B. Styple. Epilogue by Robert Lee Hodge Belle Grove Publishing Company, 2000

Soldiering with Sherman: The Civil War letters of George F. Cram Edited by Jennifer Cain Bohrnstedt Northern Illinois University Press, 2000

The revised 1861 US regulations which can (for the most part) be viewed at The US Regulars Library is also a good thing to read to have a general knowledge of the Regulations, Drill, and Inspections. Casey's can be reached at this website as well. But, I would still recommend that you buy the books as well. This is only good when the books are not available but the internet is.

[FortyRounder]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

Caution should be exercised in using some of the books on this list. McCarthy's "Detailed Miniatae" and Wilkinson's "Turned Inside Out" have been repudiated by historians for their use of distortion and dramatic license. And as for Shelby Foote...Thomas Desjardin, a historian at Gettysburg NMP, offers a not-so-flattering assesment of Foote's Civil War Trilogy in "These Honored Dead." He points out that Foote is not a historian, he's a novelist, and he includes no footnotes in his work. That makes it rather difficult to ascertain the validity of many of the anecdotes that color the story...perhaps that was Foot's intention.

Here are some of my personal favorites:

"The Civil War Notebook of Daniel Chisholm"

John W. Haley. "The Rebel Yell and the Yankee Hurrah"

"The CW Diary of Cyrus F. Boyd"

"On Campaign With the Army of the Potomac: The CW Journal of Theodore Ayrault Dodge"

Delevan S. Miller. "Drum Taps in Dixie"

"From Ball's Bluff to Gettysburg...And Beyond: The CW Letters of Pvt Roland E. Bowen"

Charles A. Fuller. "Personal Recollections of the War of 1861"

[Jake Marley]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom" is an excellent introduction to the Civil War era in general. Good book but not the type for this list. This list is a place to list first person collections and reference books to equipment and such. Not general histories of the war.

I would include "Echoes of Glory" for its photos and descriptions of artifacts. On the first page of the thread

For the federal reenactor, Lord's "They Fought for the Union" is also a useful reference.

I would consider "Confederates in the Attic" essential re-enactor reading, because many people who know anything in the least about our hobby have gleaned their knowledge from this book. If for nothing else, to be prepared for the questions about why we do it. Again, this book is not about the actual soldiers or how they did things. This is one person's impressions of some groups' impressions. - Mike Chapman
Nic Ellis

[Millie Fillmore]

Re: Beginner's bibliography

Gentlemen,

I'd like to recommend With the 3rd Wisconsin Badgers: The Living Experience of the Civil War Through the Journals of Van R. Willard , Steven S. Raab, ed. (Stackpole Books, 1999).

It's extremely well-written and eloquent, as well as being very descriptive. Although Willard does not go into detail about uniforms and accoutrements, I think it's very helpful for developing the soldier's mindset (and that's what we're all here for, isn't it?)

I hope you will take the advice of a woman on this one.

Cheers,

Katie Guslick