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Mine would have to be "The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the 1st Minnesota". It's a great read, starts with the organization of the regiment and its departure down the mississippi river, rail travel etc. and goes through its trial by fire at Gettysburg, and beyond. I bought it when I lived in Rochester, Minnesota. I drove up to Cannon Falls to see where Col. Colville is buried. He's in a small cemetery right off Hwy 52. There's a huge monument next to his grave, a statue of him. It dominates the whole cemetery. I don't have the book any more. Had to sell it along with all my other CW books, AND my two 1860 Army Colt revolver replicas, because of some really stupid personal financial decisions, but that's a whole other story. Trying to build my collection back up now by scouting yard sales on saturday morns...Terry
__________________ "In this great struggle, this form of Government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed. There is more involved in this contest than is realized by every one." Abraham Lincoln - August 18, 1864 Speech to the 164th Ohio Regiment
I grieve with you, william42. I could give up the Colts easier than my books. When building back your library, consult abebooks.com. This is a network of some 40,000 booksellers in the english-speaking world. Specify your book. Someone has it. Sort from cheapest to most expensive or vice-versa. If one of these vendors doesn't have a copy, you have a job cut out for you.
When you find the book you want and are ready to buy, scroll up and down. The vendors have their own ideas of value. You might find the identical or better book at a lower or higher price, depending on the seller.
Good luck in rebuilding your library, and better luck in your investment choices. Sometimes you win, sometimes your horse surrenders.
My favourite books would include.....memoirs, the memoirs that i have liked more than others are, Sherman, Grant, Longstreet, Alexander, and Schofield which have all been the well writen.
Shane mentioned "Civil war guns" which I got on his advice and I believe is a brilliant source of knowledge on the topic.
The Confederate Last Hurrah, was a fun and exciting read, its great when you get a book like that that you just can't put down.
Civil war gazette, if you enjoy primary sources I think you would enjoy the series of "US Army College Battle field guides" that are primary sources of battles tied together with a narrative.
Excpet for the Fredricksburg chapters in the book in the series that covers both Chancellorsville and Fredricksburg, I think they could have put more in the Fredricksburg (Dec. 1862) side, I think it would have been better to make it a separate book, and they could also have had better coverage of the Fredricksburg action in May 1863. The others in the series are fantastic!
It hard not to love Shelby Footes 3 volume series "the civil war". LOL when I read it my mind reads in his voice (because I enjoy his input in the Ken Burns series).
Ole, thanks for the heads up on the book website (post #14). Never been on abebooks.com. It's great that they offer used books and prices. Will definitely check them out and see if perhaps I could get copies of some of those that used to comprise my collection. There are a few that I really miss that I would like to replace, such as Shelby Foote's 3 vols, all of Bruce Catton's works, a great book on Civil War Artillery, etc. BTW, I lived in Minnesota for 6 years, and there are a lot of folks up there who have first names of "Ole". Do you happen to hail from that area?
Gee I almost forgot... the best book I think I've ever read besides the history of the 1st Minn, was a small book, the cover of which is a Confederate battle flag, I think the title was " Far, Far, From Home", about a South Carolina boy who joined up shortly after Fort Sumter, was in Taliaferro's Brigade of McLaw's division, Longstreet's Corp. He recounted his experiences in letters home about the campaigns and battles in which he fought, from 1st Bull Run all the way to just before Chickamauga where he lost his life. His local pastor was also chaplain of his regiment, and picked the dead boy up off the battlefield, and drove him home, back to South Carolina, in his coffin, loaded onto a beaten-up buckboard wagon. It's one of the best Civil War books I've ever read. Would really like to replace that one someday.
I guess my favorite would be Shelby Foote's Civil War: A Narrative but James Robertson's book on A.P. Hill was very good to and to give a plug to a home town boy...Lew Wallace's book on his war years. Which is still in print.
__________________ "I want to bury myself in a den of books. I want to saturate myself with the elements of which they are made and breathe their atmosphere until I am of it."
--Lew Wallace, 1885
william42, you're certain to find what you want at abebooks.com. For Shelby Foote, I would guess you'll find in the neighborhood of 750 offers. For Bruce Catton, I have a number of duplicates you could almost have.
And yes, ggfather emigrated to Blackhammer Township, Houston County, in 1853. His name, however, was Jens. For a kick, look in the 1860 and '70 Minnesota censuses (censi) and see how many Ole Oleson's are listed. It wasn't long after that Norske's began changing their names.
Thank you Ole for your reply. As I said, I lived in southern Minnesota for six years, and the very first person I met when I arrived there was named Ole. I believe his last name was Knutson. That's a very common last name in that area, as is Jensen. If you haven't already read it, you might pick up "The Last Full Measure", about the 1st Minnesota. I think you'd enjoy it. Take care.....Terry
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