I recently read Longacre's biography of Henry J. Hunt. Hunt was the chief of artillery for the Union Army of The Potomac.
The book is a biography, so it is not a good source of data about artillery pieces, projectiles, etc. The Man Behind The Guns is an excellent source of info about Hunt, and the army's policy and practices on artillery.
I've known of Hunt's work in setting up the artillery reserve for the AOP, and a reserve ammunition train. Both the reserve, and the reserve ammunition train were extremely useful at Gettysburg- he is credited with having a lot to do with defeating Pickett's Charge. I also found a lot of info about Hunt that I did not know. For example, at Malvern Hill, most of the artillery used to hand a defeat to the ANV, consisted of guns from the artillery reserve. D.H. Hill, the confederate general who's troops were involved, later said, "it was not war, it was murder" when describing the defeat.
Hunt had 2 horses shot from under him at Malvern Hill, and another at Gettysburg.
Well worth reading. If you're interested in the eastern theater of the CW, or about a pivotal character who is ofen overlooked, you'll enjoy this book.
BTW, Hunt survived the war, retired as a Colonel at 65, and died a poor man.
The book is a biography, so it is not a good source of data about artillery pieces, projectiles, etc. The Man Behind The Guns is an excellent source of info about Hunt, and the army's policy and practices on artillery.
I've known of Hunt's work in setting up the artillery reserve for the AOP, and a reserve ammunition train. Both the reserve, and the reserve ammunition train were extremely useful at Gettysburg- he is credited with having a lot to do with defeating Pickett's Charge. I also found a lot of info about Hunt that I did not know. For example, at Malvern Hill, most of the artillery used to hand a defeat to the ANV, consisted of guns from the artillery reserve. D.H. Hill, the confederate general who's troops were involved, later said, "it was not war, it was murder" when describing the defeat.
Hunt had 2 horses shot from under him at Malvern Hill, and another at Gettysburg.
Well worth reading. If you're interested in the eastern theater of the CW, or about a pivotal character who is ofen overlooked, you'll enjoy this book.
BTW, Hunt survived the war, retired as a Colonel at 65, and died a poor man.