Do you keep at hand and wind up using frequently? My list includes:
Mark Boatner's Civil War Dictionary
E. B. Long's Civil War, Day by Day
Patricia Faust's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War
Mosocco's The Chronological Tracking of the American Civil War
Erza'sGenerals in Gray and Generals in Blue along with Allardice's More Generals in Gray
and finally, Battles & Leaders
Got other things nearby on CD like the Official Records, SHSP, Conf Vet, CMH.
Civil War Guns by William Edwards
Johnny Reb as well as Billy Yank by Willey
I have many other books close by on varios shelves around the house but those are the three I always know the whereabouts of w/in a second or three.
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
Irving Bell Wiley was highly spoken of as a historian and his Life of Johnny Reb and Life of Billy Yank were considered ground breaking.
However, in reading his Johnny Reb, some comments struck me as odd and when I cross referenced it from his footnote, could not substantiate it. For instance, he mentioned mirrors being attached to rifles so that it may be safely fired from a trench without exposing the shooter. I was unable to verify it. Another example concerned the disadvantaged troops armed with smoothbores. According to Wiley, they would be jeered at by their Federal rifle-musket armed counterparts.
I've read over 200 books including 150 first hand accounts and have never read of any federal soldier jeering at a musketman. As for the mirror equipped rifle (periscope rifle by WW I), I couldn't find that either.
My List,
Encyclopedia of the Civil War, John S. Bowman.
Arms, Equipment and Atlas of the Civil War, Tally Press (Three Vol. Set).
Civil War, Shelby Foote (Three Vol. Set).
Civil War on the Western Boarder, Jay Monaghan.
Gettysburg of the West The Battle of Westport, October 21-23, 1864, Fred L. Lee.
The Devil Knows How to Ride, Edward E. Leslie
Wilson’s Creek The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It, William G. Piston & Richard W. Hatcher III.
Pea Ridge Civil War Campaign in the West, William L. Shea & Earl J. Hess.
Black Flag, Guerrilla Warfare on the Western Border, 1861-165, Thomas Goodrich.
Bloody Dawn, The Story of the Lawrence Massacre, Thomas Goodrich.
Jennison’s Jayhawkers, A Civil War Cavalry Regiment and Its Commander, Stephen Z. Starr.
Rebellion in Missouri: 1861, Nathaniel Lyon and His Army of the West, Hans Christian Adamson
They Deserved a Better Fate, Roy Bird (The story of a Topeka Kansas Militia Battery at the Battle of Westport.)
From Manassas to Appomattox, James Longstreet.
The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant.
Lee’s Cavalrymen, A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of Northern Virginia, Edward G. Longacre.
List subject to change come payday!
PS I almost forgot my treasure and most usefull research aid, my Missouri and Kansas Map, Pages 59 and 60 from Johnson's 1862 American Atlas. I have it framed in double glass, lots of usefull information on the back too, and hanging on the wall in my computer room/ library
Gary/CA... w/ the mirror arrangement on a rifle. I have seen a picture of one used on a Springfield w/in the trenches of Petersburg IIRC. The arrangement was quite similar to the wooden trench periscope setup used by British troops during WWI. I doubt any original exists today but I believe Edwards Civil War Guns may have a snippet on such things. I apologize as I don't recall where else I've read of these contraptions. They were used in the Crimea in 1854 so it's not improbable that they might have seen limited use in the Civil War.
As to Smoothbores being jeered at... I have seen numerous references of such things by both Union & CSA troops. Mostly as a smoothbore by 1864-65 was a sign of a second line unit. The Springfield & Enfield were well liked weapons & considered state of the art. I have no problem imagining such a thing. An Enfield when compared to a Belgian .69 or even some as large as .79 would appear to be a monstrous piece of junk.
I have read accounts of Shermans men inspecting arms takien from SC militia in 65 and commenting that it was bad enough that the CSA was down to old men and boys but the least the CSA could do was arm them w/ something better than junk.
Though in the same note I recall reading of a Union soldier being mortally wounded by a Revolutinary era Blunderbuss... He didn't much care that an obsolete piece of junk had killed him.
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
Doug, thanks for the list. I see a couple I need to look into, such as the Westport book by Lee, as I only have the Battle of Westport by the westport Historical Society. The Lyon book by Adamson-is this better than ****ed Yankee by Phillips?? And "They Deserved a Better Fate, Roy Bird"
Why don't you look over my Trans-Miss. list on the muster 2003 page and tell me what might be a excellent addition to what I have.
I just added another small bookcase to another room so the books to be at my fingertips are not all decided yet.
However, all my Trans-Miss books are just to my left, along with the OR's for Perryville and Mobile Bay. The ORs for Shiloh are sitting on my kitchen table with Daniels.
Also:
Generals in Blue and Generals in Gray,...by Warner
Battles and Leaders, including #5, the latest, edited by Cozzens.
The Papers of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts
The Civil War Archives-The History of the Civil War in Documents, edited by Henry Commager
Where did you see that pic of a Springfield with a mirror? (I've seen the WW I versions at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site.) Can it be proven to be period and are there any firsthand accounts that you know of? BTW, I don't recall reading about it in Edwards either. TIA.
I see how you are Gary! ;-) Now I'm going to have to go digging. You're right about it not being in Edwards Civil War Guns... I went looking. I don't recall where I saw the pic & read the snippet. I will likely ask my father (a former gunsmith & CW arms collector) when I see him this weekend.
The use during the Crimea is mentioned in a book on Gallipoli I recently returned to the library.
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
Alas, I'm not certain... All I can recall off hand was that it was primarily about the Australian Lighthorse Regiment.
I'm a varocias reader and don't keep track of the titles I've read. I really should but I'm too lazy.
__________________ Few take the trouble to understand or to view the American scene with perspective. And we Americans love to find ourselves guilty of something. However, it is never I who am guilty, but those other Americans, the past or present government or the other political party. Americans almost never find other countries guilty. It is always ourselves or our fancied influence in other countries. Louis L'amour
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