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Book Reviews These are some reviews from a recent issue of
The Civil War News:
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A Little Short of Boats: The Fight at Ball’s Bluff and Edwards Ferry, October 21-22, 1861
by James A. Morgan III.
Illustrated, maps, endnotes, appendices, index, softcover, 250 pp., 2004. Ironclad Publishing, P.O. Box 175614, Fort Mitchell, KY 41017, $23.90 ppd.
This little gem is the second volume in Ironclad Publishing’s The Discovering Civil War America Series. The first volume was Protecting the Flank, on the cavalry actions east of Gettysburg on July 2-3, 1863, penned by Eric Wittenberg. Ironclad hopes to have a series of works on smaller actions of the war in the history/tour book model. Author James Morgan is a Loudoun County (Virginia) Civil War enthusiast who has delved deeply into the action at Ball’s Bluff in the opening months of the conflict. He has extensively mined primary sources for the fight as well as examined the battleground in minute detail. The result in a detailed, almost company level, examination of what he describes as “a reconnaissance mission gone bad.” It was a mission for failure that would have ramifications far beyond the number of troops engaged and lost. Morgan effectively lays out the chain of errors of the Federal part from commanding general George B. McClellan down to lieutenants who are poster boys for how not to serve your commander as a scout and aide. Morgan does rehabilitate the image of Brig. Gen. Charles P. Stone who would become a scapegoat for the Union disaster and instead places more blame on Col. Edward Baker, the political heavyweight but military novice whose death made him an early federal martyr for the cause. Morgan supplements his text with copious endnotes, an Order of Battle, in-depth looks at two of the junior officers who played a large role at the Bluff and a look at the myriad stories surrounding the death of Colonel Baker. Twelve maps supplement the battle narrative and virtually every personage of note in the fight has a photograph. There are also photographs both contemporary and modern of the site. The Discovery Civil War America Series compiles history with a tour of the modern site. Morgan does this ably in a detailed walking/driving tour with clear directions and numerous photographic views of what is being described. He also includes a history of the development of the historic park and the National Cemetery (the third smallest National Cemetery in the system) and the few memorials that dot the fields. This reviewer was pleasantly surprised to see the low price of the book — smaller publishing firms often invariably mean high book prices. The book is a trade paperback format but on good quality paper with an attractive gloss covering. This work is an admirable addition to Civil War literature, a concise, well-written, detailed examination of an early but influential fight in a bloody war. I look forward to more tittles in this series.
Kenneth D. Williams
Kenneth D. Williams is writ-ing a book on the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers and is doing doctoral level work in American history. He has worked as a park ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site.
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