William Rhadamanthus Montgomery (1839-1906) was present at some of the most memorable battles of the Civil War. Among them were Chickahominy, Seven Pines, Malvern Hill, Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredricksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor. Wounded seven or eight times, Montgomery remained in service throughout the entire war. After the war, he returned to Marietta where he lived out the rest of his days. The diary and the letters contained herein is a testament to his time as a soldier during the Civil War. But as the diary and letters indicate, the war was not the end all of his life. His loyalty for the South was surpassed only by his loyalty for and to his family.
In recent years there has been a renewed interest in Civil War sharpshooters. Now there is a new perspective on the subject in the story of Major William E. Simmons (1839-1931). The book traces his family heritage and his footsteps from childhood to Emory College, through many challenging war encounters, his capture and imprisonment at Fort Delaware, and a lifetime of service.
Confederate scout and sharpshooter Berry Greenwood Benson witnessed the first shot fired on Fort Sumter, retreated with Lee's Army to its surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, and missed little of the action in between. This memoir of his service is a remarkable narrative, filled with the minutiae of the soldier's life and paced by a continual succession of battlefield anecdotes. Three main stories emerge from Benson's account: his reconnaissance exploits, his experiences in battle, and his escape from prison. Though not yet eighteen years old when he left his home in Augusta, Georgia, to join the army, Benson was soon singled out for the abilities that would serve him well as a scout. Not only was he a crack shot, a natural leader, and a fierce Southern partisan, but he had a kind of restless energy and curiosity, loved to take risks, and was an instant and infallible judge of human nature. His recollections of scouting take readers within arm's reach of Union trenches and encampments. Benson recalls that while eavesdropping he never failed to be shocked by the Yankees' foul language; he had never heard that kind of talk in a Confederate camp! Benson's descriptions of the many battles in which he fought--including Cold Harbor, The Seven Days, Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, and Petersburg--convey the desperation of a full frontal charge and the blind panic of a disorganized retreat. Yet in these accounts, Benson's own demeanor under fire is manifest in the coolly measured tone he employs. A natural writer, Benson captures the dark absurdities of war in such descriptions as those of hardened veterans delighting in the new shoes and other equipment they found on corpse-littered battlefields. His clothing often torn by bullets, Benson was also badly bruised a number of times by spent rounds. At one point, in May 1863, he was wounded seriously enough in the leg to be hospitalized, but he returned to the field before full recuperation. Benson was captured behind enemy lines in May 1864 while on a scouting mission for General Lee. Confined to Point Lookout Prison in Maryland, he escaped after only two days and swam the Potomac to get back into Virginia. Recaptured near Washington, D.C., he was briefly held in Old Capitol Prison, then sent to Elmira Prison in New York. There he joined a group of ten men who made the only successful tunnel escape in Elmira's history. After nearly six months in captivity or on the run, he rejoined his unit in Virginia. Even at Appomattox, Benson refused to surrender but stole off with his brother to North Carolina, where they planned to join General Johnston. Finding the roads choked with Union forces and surrendered Confederates, the brothers ultimately bore their unsurrendered rifles home to Augusta. Berry Benson first wrote his memoirs for his family and friends. Completed in 1878, they drew on his--and partially on his brother's--wartime diaries, as well as on letters that both brothers had written to family members during the war. The memoirs were first published in book form in 1962 but have long been unavailable. This edition, with a new foreword by the noted Civil War historian Herman Hattaway, will introduce this compelling story to a new generation of readers.
From the outset, the 1st Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters had problems. Much of the trouble lay in the organization of Civil War regiments and companies. Most companies in the early years of the war were made up of men from the same town or county. The concept of the sharpshooters was alien to this home-town tradition. Men were asked to leave the comfortable companionship of their neighbors and friends and go into a unit with people they had never met before. Despite its uncertain beginning, the battalion was molded into a fine unit by the skill and energy of its officers and non-commissioned officers. The sharpshooters early won the praise of higher-level commanders and inspecting officers. However, as the war dragged on, the battalion was reduced in numbers, morale, and efficiency. Notwithstanding its poor performance in the last months of its life, the unit has a high reputation that was well deserved. A Civil War veteran and historian called the sharpshooters "one of the best-drilled and most-efficient battalions in the service." This book objectively examines the organization, leadership, and performance of the sharpshooters, follows their wartime experiences, and devotes considerable attention to the individual soldiers. If the story of the 1st Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters has not been a well known story, it is now.
When the American Civil War (1861-1865) broke out, both Confederate and Union experts decided that specialized sharpshooter units should be formed. These highly trained marksmen served in a front-line role and, due to the technological developments of the 1850s, were equipped with weapons that could guarantee greater accuracy over increased range than traditional muskets. This title examines the recruitment, training, tactics and deployment of sharpshooters from both sides of the conflict. It also takes a close look at the specialized personal weaponry of the sharpshooter, the rifle and its accoutrements, as well as the sharpshooters' unique insignia and identification patches.
Throughout his life, Atlanta resident George W. Wray Jr. (1936–2004) built a collection of more than six hundred of the rarest Confederate artifacts including not just firearms and edged weapons but also flags, uniforms, and accoutrements. Today, Wray’s collection forms an integral part of the Atlanta History Center’s holdings of some eleven thousand Civil War artifacts. Confederate Odyssey tells the story of the Civil War through the Wray Collection. Analyzing the collection as material evidence, Gordon L. Jones demonstrates how a slave-based economy on the cusp of industrialization attempted to fight an industrial war. The broad range of the collection includes many rare or one-of-a-kind objects, such as a patent model and early inventions by gun maker George W. Morse, the bloodstained coat of a seventeen-year-old South Carolina soldier, battle flags made of cloth imported from England, and arms made in Georgia, the heart of the Confederacy’s burgeoning military-industrial complex. As Civil War history, Confederate Odyssey benefits from the study of material remains as it bridges the domains of professional scholars and amateur collectors such as Wray. The book tells of the stories, significance, and context of these artifacts to general readers and Civil War buffs alike. The Wray Collection is more than a gathering of relics; it is a tale of historical truths revealed in small details.
Details the organization of a 'legion' and its combat odyssey. This book takes the reader through most of the major battles in the eastern theater of the Civil War.
With an attention to historical detail that brings the past powerfully to the present, Philip Lee Williams's novel reveals a journey of redemption from the Civil War's fields of fire to the slow steps of old age. Winner of the 2004 Michael Shaara Prize for the best Civil War novel.
A Napa Valley chef must uncover who eighty-sixed a vineyard heir in this cozy mystery series opener by the author of Death by the Glass. Sunny McCoskey is the independent chef/owner of Wildside, a respected little cafe nestled in the heart of California’s wine country. When the heir apparent to a major vineyard is shot dead, and Sunny’s eccentric winemaker friend Wade is arrested for the murder, she sets out to prove his innocence. Her investigation takes her into the tangled politics and personalities of the wine industry, and to the treat posed to the valley by an insect, the glassy-winged sharpshooter. Set in a region renowned for its food and wine, Sharpshooter launches an entertaining mystery series featuring Sunny and an engaging cast of wine professionals, cooks, socialites—and suspects. Praise for Sharpshooter “A highly enjoyable book.” —Washington Post “The book’s local color and its culinary, oenological, and ecological details are priceless . . . . There’s enough about cooking, eating, and drinking to give you an appetite before you’re halfway through.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review “The personable McCoskey navigates wine country denizens and six-burner stoves with equal aplomb, and foodies and oenophiles especially will enjoy Gordon’s blend of solid suspense and gourmet culture.” —Publishers Weekly
