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Book Reviews These are some reviews from a recent issue of
The Civil War News:
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A Grassroots History of the American Civil War Volume II: The Bully Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry
by Richard Staats.
Illustrated, index, maps, softcover, 184 pp., 2003. Heritage Books, Inc., 65 E. Main St., Westminster, MD 21157, $29.50 ppd.
For the next three years, beginning with a June 20, 1861, letter to the editor of the Portage County Democrat, a Republican newspaper, these scribblers wrote to their local papers. These published articles, along with a small number of letters, have been stitched together by Richard Staats to create the soldiers’ view of life in the Seventh Ohio. This regiment, which first served in the 1861 campaign in western Virginia, later became part of Shields’ division that defeated Stonewall Jackson at Kernstown. After spending their spring and summer traipsing after Jackson, the Seventh joined General Pope’s army to fight at Cedar Mountain. Following that action the Seventh fought at Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. While Captain Seymour’s letter of Oct. 13, 1862, describes in vivid detail the role of the Seventh during the Maryland Campaign and some other correspondents wrote briefly about Chancellorsville, there is, as the author notes, a dearth of writings about Gettysburg. In the fall of 1863 the Seventh was transferred to the Western Theater. It was at Ringgold on Nov. 27, 1863, that the two senior officers of the regiment, Colonels Creighton and Crane, were killed. This tragedy greatly affected several editors of Cleveland and northern Ohio papers, causing them to publish articles asking the federal government to “Bring the boys home early.” By including these articles in his book the author reveals just how war weary even ardent Republicans had become in the late fall of 1863. This slim volume of contemporary letters and newspaper articles, joined by Staats’ spiffy text, not only highlights the bravery and courage of the Seventh’s soldiers, but demonstrates the close connection between the battlefield and the political home front. All reading this book will be reminded of the essential role of written communication between the soldier, his family and the community. By gathering together these letters to the editor, the author helps us to understand that these letters were a necessary ingredient and every bit as important as bullets to winning the war.
Gary Augustine
Gary Augustine is past president of the Western Pennsylvania Civil War Round Table and writes a monthly review of Civil War literature for the group's newsletter.
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