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- Aug 27, 2020
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Regimental histories encompass many different sub-disciplines of military history, such as medical, religious, military discipline, logistics, supply, etc. A good regimental will examine each of these facets as they relate to each regiment. Some regimens were better supplied, some more religious, while others had more deserters. Here is a list of books I have used over the years. My apologizes that this list is slightly more Confederate than Union, but I do write Confederate regimentals. If there are books that focus more on the Union side, please post them in the comments. (And please feel free to disagree with my list.) PS - this is a list of books to help people understand regimentals themselves.
Wiley – The Life of Johnny Reb (1943) and The Life of Billy Yank (1952). If you read nothing else, these two books are incredible studies on the lives of the common soldiers of the time. There are chapters on food, religion, enlistment, combat, weapons, music, etc.
Carmichael – The War for the Common Soldier (2018). This book is a companion to the two listed above by Wiley, but really pushes some of his ideas further. Carmichael looks more into the psyche of soldiers than Wiley does.
Cashin – War Stuff: The Struggle for Human and Environmental Resources in the American Civil War (2018). Once again, a step deeper into the war. Cashin helps us understand how the soldiers (and at times, civilians) viewed the world around them, including resources like food and the forest.
Bunch – Military Justice in the Confederate Armies (2000). This is probably the only book on the subject – military justice and the Confederate armies. Bunch digs deeply, explaining concepts like courts-martials, how they worked, punishments, etc. [Is there a Federal version – army level?]
Radley – Rebel Watchdog: The Confederate States Army Provost Guard (1989). Radley examines topics like stragglers, the passport system, escorting prisoners, etc. It is a good companion to Bunch’s book listed above.
Goff – Confederate Supply (1969). While there are other books of more recent publication that examine logistics and supply, they are still not as detailed as Goff’s work on Confederate supply. At times, this book is more administrative in nature, but there are tidbits throughout that relate to the regimental level.
Smith – The Smell of Battle, The Taste of Siege: A Sensory History of the Civil War (2015). The epilogue in this book is entitled “Experiencing Total War.” Smith puts a very human spin on the war – what men saw in battle, how offensive the camps smelled, etc. It helps us to understand just how offensive to the senses an army or camp really was.
Jones – The Right Hand of Command: Use and Disuse of Personal Staffs in the Civil War (2000). This book (and the next on the list) are much broader in overview, but staffs were not only employed by generals but staffs were used all the way down to the regimental and company level. Jones looks at both sides.
Bartholomees – Buff Facings and Gilt Buttons: Staff and Headquarter Operations in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865 (1998). Bartholomees takes aim at the various staff positions, from personal staff, to quartermasters, commissaries, training, how the staff worked, etc.
Pitts – Chaplains in Gray (1957). I think I might like Jones’s Christ in the Camp or Religion in the Confederate Army (1887) a little better, but Pitts’s work is a little more all-encompassing.
Lowry – The Story the Soldiers Wouldn’t Tell: Sex in the Civil War (1994). I think the title explains what needs to be known about its content and focus. There is a newer book on the subject – Giesberg’s Sex and the Civil War: Soldiers, ****ography, and the Making of American Morality (2019), but I’ve not read this title yet.
Cunningham – Doctors in Gray: The Confederate Medical Service (1958). There is a chapter focused just on medical officers in the field. There are a lot of books on hospitals, but that chapter is really the only thing that covers that end of the medical service.
Adams – Doctors in Blue: The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War (1952). I think Adams’ book is better than Cunningham’s, dealing much more with the field (and hence regimental) side of medical care.
Humphreys – Marrow of Tragedy: The Health Crisis of the American Civil War (2013). There have been many books over the past twenty or thirty years that give a wide overview of medicine in mid-19th century. So far, I think this one the best, with chapters on women, infectious disease, and the work of the USSC.
Speer – Portals to Hell: Military Prisons of the Civil War (1997). There are many books on individual prisons out there. Speer gives a good overview of creating prisons, prisoner exchange, and escapes, and gives a brief overview of every prisoner of war camp in both the North and South. Kutzler’s Living by Inches: The Smells, Sounds, Taste, and Feeling of Captivity in Civil War Prisons (2019) is on my to-read list.
Weitz – More Damning than Slaughter: Desertion in the Confederate Army (2005). Desertion plagued both armies, although we tend to focus more on the Confederate side. Weitz does a good job diving into the subject.
Noe – Reluctant Rebels: The Confederates Who Joined the Army After 1861 (2010). Reluctant Rebels kind of goes along with More Damning than Slaughter but examines in more detail those Confederates who joined the Confederate army because they had to.
Nosworthy – The Bloody Crucible of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience of the Civil War (2003). There are several books that could fit into this category, such as Griffth’s Battle Tactics of the Civil War (1987) or Hess’s The Rifle Musket in Civil War Combat (2008), but Nosworthy is just a little more in depth. The downside is that there are several chapters that just don’t pertain to the writers or readers of regimental histories.
Wiley – The Life of Johnny Reb (1943) and The Life of Billy Yank (1952). If you read nothing else, these two books are incredible studies on the lives of the common soldiers of the time. There are chapters on food, religion, enlistment, combat, weapons, music, etc.
Carmichael – The War for the Common Soldier (2018). This book is a companion to the two listed above by Wiley, but really pushes some of his ideas further. Carmichael looks more into the psyche of soldiers than Wiley does.
Cashin – War Stuff: The Struggle for Human and Environmental Resources in the American Civil War (2018). Once again, a step deeper into the war. Cashin helps us understand how the soldiers (and at times, civilians) viewed the world around them, including resources like food and the forest.
Bunch – Military Justice in the Confederate Armies (2000). This is probably the only book on the subject – military justice and the Confederate armies. Bunch digs deeply, explaining concepts like courts-martials, how they worked, punishments, etc. [Is there a Federal version – army level?]
Radley – Rebel Watchdog: The Confederate States Army Provost Guard (1989). Radley examines topics like stragglers, the passport system, escorting prisoners, etc. It is a good companion to Bunch’s book listed above.
Goff – Confederate Supply (1969). While there are other books of more recent publication that examine logistics and supply, they are still not as detailed as Goff’s work on Confederate supply. At times, this book is more administrative in nature, but there are tidbits throughout that relate to the regimental level.
Smith – The Smell of Battle, The Taste of Siege: A Sensory History of the Civil War (2015). The epilogue in this book is entitled “Experiencing Total War.” Smith puts a very human spin on the war – what men saw in battle, how offensive the camps smelled, etc. It helps us to understand just how offensive to the senses an army or camp really was.
Jones – The Right Hand of Command: Use and Disuse of Personal Staffs in the Civil War (2000). This book (and the next on the list) are much broader in overview, but staffs were not only employed by generals but staffs were used all the way down to the regimental and company level. Jones looks at both sides.
Bartholomees – Buff Facings and Gilt Buttons: Staff and Headquarter Operations in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865 (1998). Bartholomees takes aim at the various staff positions, from personal staff, to quartermasters, commissaries, training, how the staff worked, etc.
Pitts – Chaplains in Gray (1957). I think I might like Jones’s Christ in the Camp or Religion in the Confederate Army (1887) a little better, but Pitts’s work is a little more all-encompassing.
Lowry – The Story the Soldiers Wouldn’t Tell: Sex in the Civil War (1994). I think the title explains what needs to be known about its content and focus. There is a newer book on the subject – Giesberg’s Sex and the Civil War: Soldiers, ****ography, and the Making of American Morality (2019), but I’ve not read this title yet.
Cunningham – Doctors in Gray: The Confederate Medical Service (1958). There is a chapter focused just on medical officers in the field. There are a lot of books on hospitals, but that chapter is really the only thing that covers that end of the medical service.
Adams – Doctors in Blue: The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War (1952). I think Adams’ book is better than Cunningham’s, dealing much more with the field (and hence regimental) side of medical care.
Humphreys – Marrow of Tragedy: The Health Crisis of the American Civil War (2013). There have been many books over the past twenty or thirty years that give a wide overview of medicine in mid-19th century. So far, I think this one the best, with chapters on women, infectious disease, and the work of the USSC.
Speer – Portals to Hell: Military Prisons of the Civil War (1997). There are many books on individual prisons out there. Speer gives a good overview of creating prisons, prisoner exchange, and escapes, and gives a brief overview of every prisoner of war camp in both the North and South. Kutzler’s Living by Inches: The Smells, Sounds, Taste, and Feeling of Captivity in Civil War Prisons (2019) is on my to-read list.
Weitz – More Damning than Slaughter: Desertion in the Confederate Army (2005). Desertion plagued both armies, although we tend to focus more on the Confederate side. Weitz does a good job diving into the subject.
Noe – Reluctant Rebels: The Confederates Who Joined the Army After 1861 (2010). Reluctant Rebels kind of goes along with More Damning than Slaughter but examines in more detail those Confederates who joined the Confederate army because they had to.
Nosworthy – The Bloody Crucible of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience of the Civil War (2003). There are several books that could fit into this category, such as Griffth’s Battle Tactics of the Civil War (1987) or Hess’s The Rifle Musket in Civil War Combat (2008), but Nosworthy is just a little more in depth. The downside is that there are several chapters that just don’t pertain to the writers or readers of regimental histories.
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