Rush's Lancers
Rush's Lancers

Author: Eric J. Wittenberg

Publisher: Westholme Publishing

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13:

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"The Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, also known as Rush's Lancers, was a completely volunteer unit and one of the finest regiments to serve in the Civil War. Tracing their history from George Washington's personal body guard during the Revolutionary War, many of the men of the Sixth Pennsylvania were the cream of Philadelphia society, including Richard H. Rush, grandson of Dr. Benjamin Rush, Maj. Robert Morris, Jr., great-grandson of the financier of the Revolutionary War, Capt. Charles Cadwalader, whose great-grandfather was a general under George Washington, Frank H. Furness, architect and Medal of Honor recipient, and George G. Meade, Jr. But it was their actions in battle, not their illustrious family histories, that distinguished Rush's Lancers. The Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry earned a reputation for being a highly trained and reliable unit, despite being armed initially with antiquated weapons, leaving their mark on key battlefields, including Hanover Court House, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Brandy Station--where they conducted one of the most famous charges of the war--and Appomattox. Drawing upon letters, diaries, memoirs, service and pension files, contemporary newspaper coverage, official records, and other primary sources, Rush's Lancers: The Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry in the Civil War by distinguished military historian Eric J. Wittenberg is an engrossing account of these young men from both Philadelphia's social elite and the city's working classes who, despite not being professional soldiers, answered the Nation's call to war."--Publishers' Website.

The Cavalry Lance
The Cavalry Lance

Author: Alan Larsen

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-11-30

Total Pages: 81

ISBN-13: 1472816196

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The development of cavalry firearms and the widespread disappearance of armour from the European battlefield saw a decline in the use of the cavalry lance in early modern warfare. However, by 1800 the lance, much changed from its medieval predecessors in both form and function, was back. During the next century the use of the lance spread to the armed forces of almost every Western country, seeing action in every major conflict from the Napoleonic Wars to World War I including the Crimean and Franco-Prussian wars and across the Atlantic in the American Civil War. The lance even reached the colonial conflicts of the Anglo-Sikh and Boer wars. It was not until the disappearance of the mounted warrior from the battlefield that the lance was consigned to history. Featuring specially commissioned artwork and drawing upon a variety of sources, this is the engaging story of the cavalry lance at war during the 19th and 20th centuries, from Waterloo to the Somme.

We Have it Damn Hard Out Here
We Have it Damn Hard Out Here

Author: Thomas W. Smith

Publisher: Kent State University Press

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9780873386234

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The story of Sergeant W. Smith's service in the Civil War, and those of his regiment, the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, told in his own words. The 67 letters provide insight into the daily life of a noncommissioned officer and are annotated with narrative explaining the events.

Stuart's Finest Hour
Stuart's Finest Hour

Author: John J. Fox

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2014-04-25

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 1940669170

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Many people are aware that Jeb Stuart was a famous cavalry general who rode for the Confederacy. Yet, how did this twenty-nine-year-old former US Army lieutenant become the 1860s version of a media sensation? At the beginning of June 1862, George McClellan s huge Union Army stood poised to decimate the Confederate capital of Richmond. The city faced chaos as thousands of civilians fled. Confederate Army commander Robert E. Lee wanted to launch his own attack, but he needed to know what stood on McClellan s right flank. John Fox s new book, Stuart s Finest Hour, uses numerous eyewitness accounts to place the reader in the dusty saddle of both the hunter and the hunted as Stuart s men sliced deep behind Union lines to gather information for Lee. This first-ever book written about the raid follows the Confederate horsemen on their 110-mile ride, all the while chased by Union troopers commanded by Stuart s father-in-law, Philip St. George Cooke.

The Union Cavalry Comes of Age
The Union Cavalry Comes of Age

Author: Eric J Wittenberg

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2018-05-14

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 1439660077

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An award-winning cavalry historian shares a myth-busting look at how the Union cavalry surpassed its Confederate counterpart and helped win the Civil War. The Army of the Potomac’s mounted units suffered early in the Civil War at the hands of the horsemen of the South. However, by 1863, the Federal cavalry had evolved into a fearsome fighting machine. Despite the numerous challenges occupying officers and politicians, as well as the harrowing existence of troopers in the field, the Northern cavalry helped turn the tide of war much earlier than is generally acknowledged. In this expertly researched volume, historian Eric J. Wittenberg describes how the Union cavalry became the largest, best-mounted, and best-equipped force of horse soldiers the world had ever seen. The 1863 consolidation of numerous scattered Federal units created a force to be reckoned with—a single corps ten thousand strong. Wittenberg’s research thoroughly debunks the narrative that the Confederate “cavaliers” were the superior force.

Civil War Special Forces
Civil War Special Forces

Author: Robert P. Broadwater

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2014-08-26

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13:

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This timely addition to Civil War history shares the stories of 25 unique military organizations, showing how past and future collided in the first modern war. The Civil War, of course, pitted North against South. It also pitted ancient ways of war against new, technology-inspired weaponry and tactics. In surveying the war's elite fighting units, this work covers both. The book showcases novel weapons and unorthodox strategies, including machine gunners, rocket battalions, chemical corps, the Union balloon corps, and the Confederate submarine service, all of which harnessed new technologies and were forerunners of the modern military. Chapters also cover archaic special forces, such as lancers and pikers, that had their last hurrah during this transformational conflict. Readers will also meet the fighting youth of the North Carolina Junior Reserves, the "Graybeards" of North Carolina, and the female combatants of the Nancy Harts Militia of Georgia. Going where few other studies have gone, the book fills a gap in existing Civil War literature and brings to life the stories of many of the most extraordinary units that ever served in an American army. The tales it tells will prove fascinating to Civil War and weapons buffs and to general readers alike.

The Language of the Civil War
The Language of the Civil War

Author: John D. Wright

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2001-08-30

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 0313017301

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America's language changed, along with its history, because of the Civil War. Nowhere is the point more riveting than in The Language of the Civil War. This is a unique compilation of slang, nicknames, military jargon and terminology, idioms, colloquialisms, and other words are expressions used (and often originating) during the American Civil War. Organized like a standard dictionary, this volume contains approximately 4,000 entries that focus primarily on everyday camp life, military hardware, and military organization. This one-of-a-kind reference work will make it easy for readers to learn the origin and meaning of such Civil War terms as Buttermilk Rangers, jackstraws, Nassau bacon, pumpkin slinger, and stand the gaff. Language of the Civil War contains words originating during the American Civil War. Besides explaining terms and phrases no longer in use, the entries also provide the origins of many common expressions or the original meanings of many familiar sayings that have since changed meaning or connotation. Although many of the terms arose from the nature and needs of life in the military camps, others were in common use in civilian society across both the North and the South. Illustrated with 50 photos and drawings, the volume is a unique resource for students, scholars, reference librarians, and Civil War enthusiasts and reenactors.

Sound the Trumpet, Beat the Drums
Sound the Trumpet, Beat the Drums

Author: Bruce P. Gleason

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2016-10-13

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 080615652X

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Stemming from the tradition of rallying troops and frightening enemies, mounted bands played a unique and distinctive role in American military history. Their fascinating story within the U.S. Army unfolds in this latest book from noted music historian and former army musician Bruce P. Gleason. Sound the Trumpet, Beat the Drums follows American horse-mounted bands from the nation's military infancy through its emergence as a world power during World War II and the corresponding shift from horse-powered to mechanized cavalry. Gleason traces these bands to their origins, including the horn-blowing Celtic and Roman cavalries of antiquity and the mounted Middle Eastern musicians whom European Crusaders encountered in the Holy Land. He describes the performance, musical selections, composition, and duties of American mounted bands that have served regular, militia, volunteer, and National Guard regiments in military and civil parades and concerts, in ceremonies, and on the battlefield. Over time the composition of the bands has changed—beginning with trumpets and drums and expanding to full-fledged concert bands on horseback. Woven throughout the book are often-surprising strands of American military history from the War of 1812 through the Civil War, action on the western frontier, and the two world wars. Touching on anthropology, musicology, and the history of the United States and its military, Sound the Trumpet, Beat the Drums is an unparalleled account of mounted military bands and their cultural significance.