NF Blue & Gray Magazine

Non-Fiction

Shane Cavitt

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Joined
Jul 21, 2016
Location
Grand Prairie, TX
I was just listening to an interview with Jim Ogden and he recommended reading the five issues of Blue & Gray Magazine that covered Chickamauga for a good overview of the battle/campaign. I have read on here and elsewhere, folks recommending various issues of the magazine as good overviews of other battles as well. So I have a couple of questions about acquiring back issues:

  1. Other than Blue & Gray directly or eBay, are there any good sources for picking up back issues? I'm not looking for collector's quality. Just good reading copies are fine.
  2. It seems the Chickamauga issues are well regarded. What other issues are considered essential or must haves?
  3. Do battlefield bookstores still carry back issues on their particular battles? It seems they would run out at some point?
Thanks!
 
I love Blue and Gray magazine. I order mine directly from the Web site. With the amount of info they provide I can easily justify the price, and this coming from someone who almost always buys used Amazon 0.01 books!

The only problem is that it appears many of the older back issues are no longer available directly from Blue & Gray. Thus I am left with trying to track down some of the issues on the secondary market.
 
The only problem is that it appears many of the older back issues are no longer available directly from Blue & Gray. Thus I am left with trying to track down some of the issues on the secondary market.

You might try placing a 'Want Ad' on the Civil War Marketplace forum.
 
The only problem is that it appears many of the older back issues are no longer available directly from Blue & Gray. Thus I am left with trying to track down some of the issues on the secondary market.
True. Amazon or eBay would be the place to go unless as mentioned above a member is willing to part with theirs.
 
I was just listening to an interview with Jim Ogden and he recommended reading the five issues of Blue & Gray Magazine that covered Chickamauga for a good overview of the battle/campaign. I have read on here and elsewhere, folks recommending various issues of the magazine as good overviews of other battles as well. So I have a couple of questions about acquiring back issues:

  1. Other than Blue & Gray directly or eBay, are there any good sources for picking up back issues? I'm not looking for collector's quality. Just good reading copies are fine.
  2. It seems the Chickamauga issues are well regarded. What other issues are considered essential or must haves?
  3. Do battlefield bookstores still carry back issues on their particular battles? It seems they would run out at some point?
Thanks!
Hey Shane. Glad you posted that and glad I found it because I was just fixing to post an OP along similar lines. I visited Vicksburg for the first time a little over a month ago and beforehand a friend in the Houston Civil War Round Table asked me if I was going to Chickasaw Bayou and suggested that I get the back issue of Blue & Gray Magazine on Vicksburg/Chickasaw Bayou first. I was only gonna be there about 2.5 days so Chickasaw Bayou was not on my itinerary for the first trip. Until yesterday,I don't recall ever seeing or reading an issue of Blue & Gray. The day before I left for my trip,I ordered a 2 year subscription of Blue & Gray and ordered the back issues on Chickasaw Bayou/Vicksburg,Champion Hill/Big Black Bridge and Port Hudson. Got them in the mail yesterday. OMG! I visited Port Hudson in January for the first time and I'm going back this weekend. I am reading that issue of Blue & Gray first and will probably copy some of the maps to take with me.

I am 3/4 of the way through my first book on Shiloh. Wish Ida had a few issues of Blue & Gray to start with.

I have a trip planned to Franklin and Stones River,et.al.,in June and am planning a trip to Mobile Bay within the next 12 months. Ordering the back issues on those battles from Blue & Gray today. This might change my whole approach to studying particular battles and visiting the battlefields.
 
I was just listening to an interview with Jim Ogden and he recommended reading the five issues of Blue & Gray Magazine that covered Chickamauga for a good overview of the battle/campaign. I have read on here and elsewhere, folks recommending various issues of the magazine as good overviews of other battles as well. So I have a couple of questions about acquiring back issues:

  1. Other than Blue & Gray directly or eBay, are there any good sources for picking up back issues? I'm not looking for collector's quality. Just good reading copies are fine.
  2. It seems the Chickamauga issues are well regarded. What other issues are considered essential or must haves?
  3. Do battlefield bookstores still carry back issues on their particular battles? It seems they would run out at some point?
Thanks!

Awesome issues packed with a huge punch! I purchased these issues before I visited the Chickamauga National Military Park in 2011. They really opened my eyes to this brutal and bloody American Civil War conflict.
 
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Awesome issues packed with a huge punch! I purchased these issues before I visited the Chickamauga National Military Park in 2011. They really opened my eyes to this brutal and bloody American Civil War conflict.

View attachment 128075
I had those five issues as I go to Chickamauga several times a year,but I gave them away to member @FarawayFriend so she could the best available reference to the battle as she is a huge Longstreet fan.also who ever asked about Shiloh Blue &Gray published a special Shiloh issue written by Park Historian Stacey Allen.well worth getting because it also covers Falling Timbers which a lot books omit.
 
also who ever asked about Shiloh Blue &Gray published a special Shiloh issue written by Park Historian Stacey Allen.well worth getting because it also covers Falling Timbers which a lot books omit.
Can't find that on their website.
 
Dr. Ural let us use Blue and Gray as a source....it's that good, because she is picky, picky (a good thing!).
I have been getting Blue & Gray for about 20 years and they are an outstanding publication.the maps are great and so is the generals tour if you are going to visit whichever battle site you may visit.all of the writing has precise footnotes to back up everything.
 
I have been getting Blue & Gray for about 20 years and they are an outstanding publication.the maps are great and so is the generals tour if you are going to visit whichever battle site you may visit.all of the writing has precise footnotes to back up everything.

Only problem is I immediately want to go there. :D
 
I was just listening to an interview with Jim Ogden and he recommended reading the five issues of Blue & Gray Magazine that covered Chickamauga for a good overview of the battle/campaign. I have read on here and elsewhere, folks recommending various issues of the magazine as good overviews of other battles as well. So I have a couple of questions about acquiring back issues:

  1. Other than Blue & Gray directly or eBay, are there any good sources for picking up back issues? I'm not looking for collector's quality. Just good reading copies are fine.
  2. It seems the Chickamauga issues are well regarded. What other issues are considered essential or must haves?
  3. Do battlefield bookstores still carry back issues on their particular battles? It seems they would run out at some point?
Thanks!
The Fredericksburg issues were solid! Can't remember if it was 3 or 4 issues in a row.
 
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