The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads

The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads
Author: Eric J. Wittenberg
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Total Pages: 546
Release: 2006-04-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1611210151

A detailed tactical narrative of one of the most important but least known engagements of William T. Sherman’s Carolinas Campaign during the Civil War. As General Sherman’s infantry crossed into North Carolina, Maj. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick’s veteran Federal cavalry division fanned out in front, screening the advance. When Kilpatrick learned that Confederate cavalry under Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton was hot on his trail, he decided to set a trap for the Southern horsemen near a place called Monroe’s Crossroads. Hampton, however, learned of the plan and decided to do something Kilpatrick was not expecting: attack. On March 10, 1865, Southern troopers under Hampton and Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler launched a savage surprise attack on Kilpatrick’s sleeping camp. After three hours of some of the toughest cavalry fighting of the entire Civil War, Hampton broke off and withdrew. His attack, however, stopped Kilpatrick’s advance and bought another precious day for Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee to evacuate his command from Fayetteville. This, in turn, permitted Hardee to join the command of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and set the stage for the climactic Battle of Bentonville nine days later. Noted Civil War author Eric J. Wittenberg has written the first history of this important but long-forgotten battle, and places it in its proper context within the entire Carolinas Campaign. His study features twenty-eight original maps and dozens of illustrations. Finally, an author of wide experience and renown has brought to vivid life this overlooked portion of the Carolinas Campaign. Praise for The Battle of Monroe’s Crossroads “All the elements that we expect in great battle are here: high drama, command decisions good, bad, and ugly; courage and cowardice, sacrifice, and fortitude. Readers both new to the genre and veteran to the literature will find much of value in The Battle of Monroe’s Crossroads.” —Noah Andre Trudeau, author of The Last Citadel: Petersburg, June 1864–April 1865 “Features a marvelous cast of characters and a riveting story impeccably researched and judiciously interpreted. It is the definitive account of this fascinating battle.” —Mark L. Bradley, author of Last Stand in the Carolinas: The Battle of Bentonville

The First Georgia Cavalry in the Civil War

The First Georgia Cavalry in the Civil War
Author: Michael Bowers Cavender
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2015-12-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1476621128

In 1861 Captain James J. Morrison resigned his commission in the United States Cavalry, returned to his home in Cedartown, Georgia, and was soon authorized by the Confederate War Department to raise a regiment of cavalry. This book is the first complete history of the First Georgia Cavalry, who saw action in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and North Carolina. A regimental roster includes more than 1,600 names with details of service provided, along with pre-war service, death and burial information in some cases.

National Geographic the Civil War

National Geographic the Civil War
Author: National Geographic
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 514
Release: 2016
Genre: History
ISBN: 1426214898

Published in association with the Blue & Gray Education Society.

"No Such Army Since the Days of Julius Caesar"

Author: Mark A. Smith
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2017-02-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1611212871

“Smith and Sokolsky have firmly established themselves within the highest echelon of 1865 Carolinas Campaign historians.” —Civil War Books and Authors Gen. William T. Sherman’s 1865 Carolinas Campaign receives scant attention from most Civil War historians. Career military officers Mark A. Smith and Wade Sokolosky rectify this oversight with “No Such Army Since the Days of Julius Caesar,” a careful and impartial examination of Sherman’s army and its many accomplishments. The authors focus on the overlooked run-up to the seminal Battle of Bentonville. They begin on March 11, 1865, with the capture of Fayetteville and the demolition of the arsenal there, before chronicling the two-day Battle of Averasboro in more detail than any other study. At Averasboro, Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee’s Confederates conducted a well planned and brilliantly executed defense-in-depth that held Sherman’s juggernaut in check for two days. With his objective accomplished, Hardee disengaged and marched to concentrate his corps with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston for what would become Bentonville. This completely revised and updated edition of “No Such Army Since the Days of Julius Caesar” is based upon extensive archival and firsthand research. It includes new original maps, orders of battle, abundant illustrations, and a detailed driving and walking tour for dedicated battlefield enthusiasts. Readers with an interest in the Carolinas, Generals Sherman and Johnston, or the Civil War in general will enjoy this book. “Smith and Sokolosky are military historians with a particular interest in what happened in the Carolina States. What they bring to the table regarding Sherman and Johnston is remarkable, a revelation.” —Books Monthly

A Devil of a Whipping

A Devil of a Whipping
Author: Lawrence E. Babits
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2011-02-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0807887668

The battle of Cowpens was a crucial turning point in the Revolutionary War in the South and stands as perhaps the finest American tactical demonstration of the entire war. On 17 January 1781, Daniel Morgan's force of Continental troops and militia routed British regulars and Loyalists under the command of Banastre Tarleton. The victory at Cowpens helped put the British army on the road to the Yorktown surrender and, ultimately, cleared the way for American independence. Here, Lawrence Babits provides a brand-new interpretation of this pivotal South Carolina battle. Whereas previous accounts relied on often inaccurate histories and a small sampling of participant narratives, Babits uses veterans' sworn pension statements, long-forgotten published accounts, and a thorough knowledge of weaponry, tactics, and the art of moving men across the landscape. He identifies where individuals were on the battlefield, when they were there, and what they saw--creating an absorbing common soldier's version of the conflict. His minute-by-minute account of the fighting explains what happened and why and, in the process, refutes much of the mythology that has clouded our picture of the battle. Babits put the events at Cowpens into a sequence that makes sense given the landscape, the drill manual, the time frame, and participants' accounts. He presents an accurate accounting of the numbers involved and the battle's length. Using veterans' statements and an analysis of wounds, he shows how actions by North Carolina militia and American cavalry affected the battle at critical times. And, by fitting together clues from a number of incomplete and disparate narratives, he answers questions the participants themselves could not, such as why South Carolina militiamen ran toward dragoons they feared and what caused the "mistaken order" on the Continental right flank.

The Historical Archaeology of Military Sites

The Historical Archaeology of Military Sites
Author: Clarence Raymond Geier
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2010-12-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1603442073

The recent work of anthropologists, historians, and historical archaeologists has changed the very essence of military history. While once preoccupied with great battles and the generals who commanded the armies and employed the tactics, military history has begun to emphasize the importance of the “common man” for interpreting events. As a result, military historians have begun to see military forces and the people serving in them from different perspectives. The Historical Archaeology of Military Sites has encouraged efforts to understand armies as human communities and to address the lives of those who composed them. Tying a group of combatants to the successes and failures of their military commanders leads to a failure to understand such groups as distinct social units and, in some instances, self-supporting societies: structured around a defined social and political hierarchy; regulated by law; needing to be supplied and nurtured; and often at odds with the human community whose lands they occupied, be they those of friend or foe. The Historical Archaeology of Military Sites will afford students, professionals dealing with military sites, and the interested public examples of the latest techniques and proven field methods to aid understanding and conservation of these vital pieces of the world’s heritage.

The Battle Of Bentonville

The Battle Of Bentonville
Author: Mark L. Bradley
Publisher: Da Capo Press, Incorporated
Total Pages: 624
Release: 1996-05-21
Genre: History
ISBN:

"The battle of Bentonville, in which Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Confederates launched a massive assault against one wing of Gen. William T. Sherman's Federal army, was the military climax of the long overlooked but critical Carolinas Campaign. It was also the Southern Confederacy's final hurrah. ... The war that had dragged on year after blood year drew to a close for these armies just thirty-six days after Bentonville, when Johnston surrendered his men at the Bennett farm house on April 26, 1865"--Jacket

The Scandalous Lives of Carolina Belles Marie Boozer and Amelia Feaster

The Scandalous Lives of Carolina Belles Marie Boozer and Amelia Feaster
Author: Tom Elmore
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 131
Release: 2014-04-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1625850409

A look into the lives of a Civil War-era mother and daughter whose exploits were tabloid fodder and worthy of a reality show. In Civil War Columbia, South Carolina, no women were more gossiped about than Amelia Feaster and her teenage daughter, Marie Boozer. The Philadelphia-born Feaster, a widow three times before her thirty-first birthday, aided the Union war effort from her home, while Marie became infamous for her beauty and vanity. For over a century, scandalous tales of these women have been published across the nation, linking them to rich and powerful men both at home and abroad. Historian Tom Elmore sorts through the many myths and legends—involving such things as adultery, decapitation and the Russian tsar’s jewels—about Feaster and Boozer to present the first fact-based biography of these two nineteenth-century tabloid queens.

Sherman's March Through North Carolina

Sherman's March Through North Carolina
Author:
Publisher: North Carolina Division of Archives & History
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1995
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780865262669

Presents a thorough and compelling day-to-day account of General William T. Sherman's progress through North Carolina from early March 1865, when his troops entered the state from South Carolina, through 4 May 1865, when they crossed its northern border into Virginia. Research is based on eyewitness accounts, newspaper reports, and published sources. Includes 4 maps.