3 Well-Written Books Describe Georgia During The Civil War
Civil War Macon. By Richard W. Iobst. Photographs, map, bibliography, appendices, index, 462 pp., 2009, Mercer University Press, www.mupress.org, $35, softcover. Columbus, Georgia 1865: The Last True Battle of the Civil War. By Charles A. Misulia. Illustrated, photographs, maps, bibliography, appendices, index, bibliographic essay, 335 pp., 2010, University of Alabama Press, www.uapress.ua.edu, $39.95. The Battle of Resaca. By Philip L. Secrist. Photographs, map, bibliography, indices, 102 pp., 2010, Mercer University Press, www.mupress.org, $16, softcover.
These three books offer intriguing views of Georgia during the Civil War. Two books cover the lifestyles of Macon and Columbus before, during and after the war. The third is a good overview of the Resaca battle that opened Gen. William T. Sherman’s 1864 Atlanta campaign. All three give a rare glimpse of Georgia during the latter days of the war. In Civil War Macon, Richard Iobst provides an excellent overview of daily life during the 1860 to 1866 period. For researchers, re-enactors and Civil War enthusiasts, this book is an in-depth study of a small town and its ordinary people, places and events. The many interesting details include housing cost inflation. Before the war houses rented for about $13 per month. After the war the price had escalated to about $40 per month. As war approached, locals formed colorful units such as the Jackson Artillery, Macon Volunteers, Floyd Rifles, Minute Men and the Rutland Guards. Parades, parties and speeches were plentiful as the city joined the secession movement. Cheering crowds were ever present as Macon sent its boys off to war. Macon became an arsenal and produced war materiel in great numbers. Facing white manpower shortages, local industry hired and impressed Negroes to support war production. However, by mid-1864 even black laborers had become scarce. Faced with food shortages and lack of raw materials, Macon struggled to keep up with the production of war materials. It was natural that the city became a Union target during the last years of the war. Iobst documents he civilian side of Macon well, describing in detail the rising prices and shortages of nearly everything. Theater, music, minstrels and plays frequently helped to divert the citizens’ minds from the war. Editing is excellent, the text is easy to read, and a wealth of information is provided. Footnotes, instead of endnotes, make it easy for the reader to see and judge the author’s sources. Many illustrations provide views of both Macon and its citizens. Perhaps a few maps illustrating the importance of Macon to the Georgia transportation system (railroads, roads, waterways, etc.) could have been added to demonstrate the importance and critical role Macon played in the war. At $35, Civil War Macon would be a good addition to your Civil War library. Columbus, Georgia 1865: The Last True Battle of the Civil War provides one answer to the question of where the last battle of the American Civil War was fought. This book examines the Columbia engagement that was fought on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1865, a week after Gen. Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox. Union Gen. James H. Wilson readied his Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi, at Gravelly Springs, Ala., for a campaign designed to destroy the military capabilities of Alabama and Georgia. Charles A. Misulia outlines this campaign in detail and provides an in-depth study of the Cavalry Corps organization and its leaders. His study also examines the Confederate forces that Wilson encountered. Successful in Alabama, Wilson entered Georgia and sent one of his three divisions to capture Columbus. Like Macon, Columbus was a major war manufacturing center. Long isolated from the war, the city produced a wide variety of war materiel and was had nearly completed first-class ironclad, the CSS Jackson, when Columbus became Wilson’s target. Union Maj. Gen. Emory Upton, commanding the fourth division of Wilson’s Cavalry Corps, was assigned to capture Columbus. With two brigades of well-armed cavalry, numbering around 4,000 troopers, and a battery of artillery, Upton was ready for the task. Opposing this force was a rag-tag collection of Georgia and Alabama troops led by Confederate Generals Howell Cobb and Abraham Buford. Scraping together regulars, militia, naval forces and home guard, Cobb awaited Wilson. This battle was unique for its night assault by cavalry against an entrenched force. Misulia describes the engagement in a lively manner. Plenty of maps, illustrations and details bring this Easter morning battle to life in this well-written book. In over 80 pages of appendices and notes, the author provides the remaining engagements of the war, orders of battles and casualty lists. His discussion of what constitutes a battle versus an engagement is interesting and informative. This examination of a long over-looked campaign is highly recommended. In The Battle of Resaca Philip Secrist describes a quiet little town in north-central Georgia that had been fairly well isolated since the Civil War began. However, by May of 1864 Resaca was at risk. It stood astride the Western and Atlantic Railroad between William T. Sherman’s armies and their primary target, Atlanta. Through descriptions, pictures, maps and illustrations, the book covers the Battle of Resaca, a key event in the early stages of Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign. In just over 100 pages, Secrist creates a very enjoyable, detailed, and easily read overview of this engagement. Often overshadowed by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign in Virginia, the Battle of Resaca contained many lost opportunities for both sides. The struggle included the Angle, the fight for Simonson’s Battery, and the battle for the four-gun battery. Of special interest to all Civil War enthusiasts is the final portion of the book — saving the battlefield. Secrist documents the plans that saved portions of the battlefield and the continuing struggle to protect it from encroachment. Unfortunately, large portions of the battlefield were lost with construction of Interstate highway I-75. Although one can finish this well-written text in a day, readers will return again and again to the excellent maps and illustrations. This book is a must for anyone wishing to visit the Resaca area. At $16, The Battle of Resaca is a good buy. Reviewer: Larry J. Clowers Gettysburg resident Larry Clowers is a professional historical interpreter who appears nationally as Ulysses S. Grant. A long-time Civil War enthusiast, he is writing a detailed dual biography of Ulysses and Julia Grant.
|
