No comments about Faces of the Confederacy: An Album of Southern Soldiers and Their Stories.

4 comments about Cubans in the Confederacy: José Agustín Quintero, Ambrosio José Gonzales, and Loreta Janeta Velazquez.

1. This was a most outstanding book. Cubans have enriched our American history so much. I found the section on Jose Augustin Quintero the most impacting. His genius on diplomacy and negotiating with people in adverse environments with multiple agendas is phenominal. Reading about him enduced me to purchase another book, The Matamoros Trade by Dr. James Daddysman. Unfortunately I didn't purchase it from Amazon.
   
   There is another book on J.A. Quintero by Jorge Marban, but it is in Spanish and I don't believe it has ever been translated into English. Quintero was so impacting to both the Confederacy, later the USA government and also to Cuba and their struggle for independance. His abilities were so important to our country, he, a Confederate Diplomat, was appointed as the Consul to Costa Rica and Belgium in 1868, by Andrew Johnson, while the South was in Reconstruction and all connected with the Confederacy were being punished.
   
   His legacy of service lived on through his two sons, Lamar and Marshall. His dueling pistols were sold in 1960 to aid Cuban refugees in their flight from Castro.
   
   I know this because I am his great great grandson and have the original documents - even the letter assigning him as a Confidential Agent.



2. This book is a valuable contribution to the historical truth that the Confederacy was much more diverse than is commonly assumed by most people. As the editor of the book states in his introduction "stereotypes continue to exist that the average Southern soldier was a typical Southern 'cracker' and Anglo-Saxon of homogeneous background, but such was not the case." This statement has been proven to be true in other earlier books such as Ella Lonn's classic "Foreigners in the Confederacy" first published in 1940, and reprinted several times since. As Lonn pointed out diversity was particularly apparent in some units from Louisiana, such as the Tenth Louisiana Regiment, where soldiers from 14 countries were represented, including England, Ireland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, etc.
   Cubans in the Confederacy concentrates on three Cubans who provided valauble services to the Confederacy. There are three separate articles written by three different writers.
   The first article, and the longest in the book (pp. 9-142) is about Jose Agustin Quintero who served the Confederacy as a diplomat in Mexico.
   The second article (pp. 143-224) is about Ambrosio Jose Gonzales who served as a high ranking officer in the Confederate Army.
   The third article and the shortest (pp. 225-239) is about Loreta Janeta Velazquez who served the Confederacy as a soldier and spy. She is probably the best known of the three persons covered in the book.
   The book is an excellent contribution to our knowledge about the diversity that was the Confederacy. The only disappointment for me was that there are no photographs of the persons depicted in the articles. Some of the articles, I thought were a little too windy, and for these two reasons, I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 stars.



3. It is great that someone took the time to research our history.



4. Been born in Cuba, I was fascinated with the tittle of this book. You have to understand Cuba's role in the Civil War is not really known in our Cuban circles. The book was a little over priced, but I decided to purchase it. In truth, it was a superv book, both from a Cuban an Civil War perspective. The only reason I did not give this book a 5 star was the price tag that comes along such a skinny book.

1 comments about A World Turned Upside Down: The Palmers of South Santee, 1818-1881.

1. I purchased this book because it references several of my husband's ancestors. It is very fascinating to have an insight to how they lived and what other people thought of them as it is a compilation of letters written by real people. I recommend this book to anyone interested in real history and real life in those times.

1 comments about The Union Generals Speak: The Meade Hearings on the Battle of Gettysburg.

1. This book is truly a unique look into the politics of Army of the Potomac as well as the thoughts of the men who commanded it at Gettysburg. It is a work that most Gettysburg enthusiasts will greatly enjoy and will also serve as a valuable reference tool.
   
   The book in essence is the congressional testimony of some of the most important men involved in the battle of Gettysburg on the Federal side. The highlight of the book are the testimonies of Generals such as George Meade, Gouverneur Warren, Winfield Hancock, Henry Hunt and John Gibbon. Men whose testimony give us much insight into what their thoughts were during the battle and why it was fought the way it was.
   
   Also included in the book are some not so honorable testimonies by men whose goal at the hearings were to settle political and personal scores with Meade. The testimony of Dan Sickles will make even the most novice Gettysburg enthusiast's blood boil. To say it is full of lies and falsehoods would be an understatement. The testimony of Dan Butterfield isn't much better. The two men set out to destroy the reputation of Meade but in the end only managed to tarnished their own names in history.
   
   As important and interesting as these testimonies are, what really takes this book to the next level is the commentary by Bill Hyde. His comments put these testimonies in context and really help enhance the reader's understanding of what the men both testifying and on the committee were trying to accomplish.
   
   If you hold a strong interest in the Battle of Gettysburg then you are really going to enjoy this book. It will be a valuable addition to your Civil War book collection.

No comments about A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Lincoln to T. Roosevelt complete, with active table of contents.

5 comments about Undying Glory: The Story of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment (Scholastic Biography).

1. HONOR THE MEMORY OF COLONEL ROBERT GOULD SHAW AND THE FIGHTING MASSACHUSETTS 54TH BLACK REGIMENT IN THE CIVIL WAR
   
   FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH
   
   Those familiar with the critical role that the recruitment of black troops into the Union Armies in the American Civil War usually know about the famous Massachusetts 54th Regiment under Colonel Robert Gould Shaw which has received wide attention in book, film and sculpture. Those heroic black fighters and their fallen leader deserve those honors. Glory, indeed.
   
   Although Shaw was hesitant to take command of those troops after suffering wounds at Antietam when he accepted he took full charge of the training and discipline of the regiment. Moreover, as the regiment marched into Boston to cheering crowds before embarking on ships to take them South each trooper knew the score. Any blacks captured (or their white officers, for that matter) were subject to Southern `justice', summary execution. Not one trooper flinched. Arms in hands, they fought bravely at the defeat of Fort Wagner and other Deep South battles, taking many causalities.
   
   I have remarked elsewhere (in a review of William Styron's Confessions of Nat Turner)that while the slaves in the South, for a host of reasons, did not insurrect with the intensity or frequency of say Haiti, the other West Indian islands or Brazil that when the time came to show discipline, courage and honor under arms that blacks would prove not inferior to whites. And the history of the Massachusetts 54th is prima facie evidence for that position.
   
   I should also note that the Massachusetts 54th was made up primarily of better educated and skilled freedman and escaped slaves unlike the black troops recruited from the plantations in the Deep South in the 1st and 2nd South Carolina black regiments. Thus, one might have suspected that they would not be up to the rigors of Southern duty. Not so. After reading a number of books on the trials and tribulations of various Union regiments, including the famous Irish Brigade, the story of the 54th compares very favorably with those units.
   
   However, so as not to get carried away with the `liberalism' of the Union political and military commands in granting permission for black recruitment it is necessary to point out some of the retrograde racial attitudes of the time. It took a major propaganda thrust by Frederick Douglass and other revolutionary abolitionists to get Lincoln to even consider arming blacks for their own emancipation. Only after several severe military reversals was permission granted to recruit black troops, although some maverick generals were already using them, particularly General Hunter. As mentioned above there were qualms about the ability of blacks to fight in disciplined units. Moreover, until 1864 black troops were paid less than their white counterparts. The Massachusetts 54th is also rightly famous for refusing pay until that disparity was corrected.
   
   One should also not forget that the North in its own way was as deeply racist as the South (think of the treacherous role of the Southern-sympathying Northern Copperheads and the Irish-led anti-black Draft Riots in New York City, for examples). This reflected itself in the racial attitudes of some commanding officers and enlisted men and well as the general paternalism of even the best white commanding officers, including Colonel Higginson of the 2nd South Carolina. It was further reflected in the disproportionately few blacks that became officers in the Civil War, despite the crying need for officers in those black regiments and elsewhere. Yet, all of these negatives notwithstanding, every modern black liberation fighter takes his or her hat off to the gallant 54th, arms in hand, and its important role in the struggle for black liberation



2. Okay - so hear I am once again reading a kid's book. However, it is for my classroom library - I try to read them all so I can make recommendations.
   
   For those not in the know, this is a brief history of the 54th Massachusetts - the first official regiment of blacks in the American Civil War. The unit was immortalized in the Academy Award winning film 'Glory', starring Denzel Washington.
   
   Cox has the great majority of his facts straight (I have some quibbles, such as when he claims that a good soldier could load and shoot a civil war rifle in about 45 seconds, when the reality was that a competent soldier could do it up to 3 times per minute.)
   
   The larger problem goes from being factual to the problem of being written in such a way that young people would be interested. Cox tells the story, but rarely in a narrative form. From time to time it becomes merely a series of facts written in a plain, simple style rather than a gripping tale of history.
   
   I give it a rather high score as I am grading on a curve today. 4 out of 5 in this case means that it is readable, factually correct book, but written in a rather uninspired manner that is unlikely to spur on a reluctant reader.



3. It was about war. It was educational book for children. This book was kind of interesting. The genre of my story was mystery. [Eulalia Aparicio]



4. It was about war. It was educational book for children. This book was kind of interesting. The genre of my story was mystery. [Eulalia Aparicio]



5. This book basically proves that without the help of black freedman, the war against the South could not have won. It's the story of the 54th Regiment, the first colored regiment. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw was commanding officer of the 54th regiment. The Civil War was at first a white mens war, but that didnt last long.The colored men came from 22 states, north and south. Most were in their twenties, some as young as sixteen,and many were in their forties. These black men risked their lives for the Union cause. At first they were treated very harshly because they were a colored regiment. Although treated like second-class soldiers, their gallant assault on Fort Wagner erased all doubt about their ability to fight. By the end of the civil war, however, tehy proved their courage and determination as they fought to free their brothers and sisters from slavery.

1 comments about Meeting Mr. Lincoln: Firsthand Recollections of Abraham Lincoln by People, Great and Small, Who Met the President.

1. Ms. Radford has allowed us the opportunity to peak in on intimate meetings of individuals with President Lincoln. From statesmen to soldiers, widows to young boys, Americans who had the opportunity to speak firsthand with Abraham Lincoln while he served as President share a common experience. Each felt as if he had the president's undivided attention and utmost respect. If you're looking for a hero, America still has one in Honest Abe. This book is a treat for history buffs.

4 comments about The Ties of the Past : The Gettysburg Diaries of Salome Myers Stewart, 1854-1922.

1. Do you want the past brought to life?
   It's books like "The Ties of the Past - The Gettysburg Diaries of Salome Myers Stewart" by great great granddaughter Sarah Sites Rodgers that will transport the reader through time and space into an era fastly becoming distant past.
   Beginning in 1860 and taking us through the infamous Battle of Gettysburg and beyond, we witness, first hand, the life of young Miss Myers - school teacher - and her daily excursions into life as it was for a young woman of the 1860's.
   We experience her fear while her father is off fighting a war that killed more Americans than all wars before or since.
   We see through her eyes the first hand and very human affects of the battles - the side of war rarely discussed or portrayed: as the Gettysburg battle rages, Miss Myers unwittingly becomes a nurse to the wounded in her own home and in nearby field hospitals.
   The 1863 Battle of Gettysburg is only half the story. What happened in the town to its citizens is the oh-so-important other half not getting its just due.
   We also become privy to her life after the excitement at Gettysburg settled down: her marriage and ultimate widow hood shortly thereafter.
   If you are a Civil War buff/historian, or if you are a student of social history, you would do well to purchase this peek into the past.



2. I think this book is one of the best recounts of civil war life, especially from a younger point of view. I am a native of Gettysburg so I have heard all the stories, but this book is one of the best I've read so far. The fisrt-hand telling is captivating and beautifully written. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in life from years past.



3. This book was wonderful. As a novice lady civil war re-enactor (civilian) this gave great insight to the times and to this wonderful woman, Sallie M. Stewart. I could only wish more information on Sallie. Is there a way to contact the author?



4. This book gives a first hand look at life in the small town of Gettysburg during the Civil War years. The diaries of a sixteen year old girl give a fascinating insight into everyday life in this era. The commentary by the author, who interestingly is the diary keeper's great-great-grandaughter, adds immensely to this very interesting book

2 comments about Kentucky Cavaliers in Dixie: Reminiscences of a Confederate Cavalryman.

1. This work is more of spin off work from the Diary of Edward O. Guerrant who served with this book's author during the Civil War. Musgrove supplements Guerrant's Diary which has been recently publlshed under the title "Bluegrass Confederate" Edited by William C. Davis. Both works fill in the gaps about the actions that were fought in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee where the Official Records are silent. Aside from a few local histories this book is one of the few that has such information. Highly recommended for students of this area of the conflict.



2. I recently finished reading this book and found it to be one of the most interesting unit histories that I have ever read. This book is a history of the 4th Kentucky Cavalry (CSA) and is written by one of its members, George Dallas Mosgrove. It recounts the service of this unit in Eastern Kentucky and Southwest Virginia and under the command of Generals Humphrey Marshall, John Hunt Morgan, "Grumble" Jones, and others. It also provides a roster of members of the 4th and biographies of the Captains. The "classical" writing style of the author is evident throughout the book, yet it always keeps your attention and is easy to read. For those who have an interest in Kentucky units or the war in Southwest Virginia, this book is for you.

No comments about Abraham Lincoln: A Documentary Portrait Through His Speeches and Writings.