Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign

By Scott L. Mingus Sr.
101 pp., 2006. Colecraft Industries, 970 Mt. Carmel Rd., Orrtana, PA 17353, $9.95 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Jeff Rahmel
Jeff Rahmel is a retired pharmaceutical sales representative who holds a BS in Business Administration from Bowling Green ( Ohio ) State University. He has a life-long interest in the American Civil War with special emphasis on the battle of Gettysburg.

Review:
For those who think no more can be written about the Gettysburg Campaign, I suggest you acquire this book by Scott Mingus. He has done extensive research, producing a small but very informative five-chapter human interest chronicle of the battle. He offers concisely written stories centering around the events before, during and after the engagement.

Both soldiers and civilians are equally represented as Mingus relates the interactions of people connected to this most famous American event. Everything was interesting, but I found many to be chilling.

I speak in particular of two incidents centering around Bibles carried by the troops and another where a Rebel soldier spared the life of Col. Joshua Chamberlain and wrote to him after the battle, outlining how close the officer had come to death.

The examples listed above will give the reader a taste of the book's contents. Some installments were only a few lines long while several took up an entire page. The book is composed of information taken from such diverse sources as newspapers, journals, books and official Union and Confederate records.

Many were written immediately after the battle but several were recorded well into the 20th century. All entries were very well sourced, allowing readers to explore individual records if they are interested.

The book is well constructed with a colorful map of the battlefield on the front cover. This book is easily worth the minimal cost and is a worthwhile addition to any Civil War book collector.