Wardhouse Books

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have gone to an archive or library, requested a item from the stacks, only to have it brought out to me with a stern warning from the librarian or archivist to handle the item with extreme care and under no circumstances should I photocopy it. I don’t know about you, but my time is valuable, and research time is nearly a priceless gift. I don’t have hours and hours to sit in a reading room, carefully combing through unit histories, diaries, newspapers and the like and all the while taking notes by hand, a tedious and time consuming task at best. Whenever possible I like to do my reading and research at home. And with the advent of print on demand it is now more possible than ever.

Wardhouse Books is a division of Higginson Book Company and specializes in facsimile reprints of Civil War books. Higginson has specialized in reprinting long out of print genealogy books since 1965 and offers a catalog of over 15,000 titles. Though there are some general reference titles in Wardhouse Books’ latest catalogue, most however are unit histories.

Their books are hardcover facsimile reprints and are reproduced from originals in the Higginson Book Company collection. They are printed on warm white, acidically neutral, sixty pound book paper, and are bound in Class A library bindings featuring reinforced hinges, buckram clothe covers and gold foil spine lettering.

Their catalog is by no means a comprehensive catalog, yet they have a very wide selection of unit histories, though a large part of their catalog lists unit histories of the Union, Confederate units are represented as well.

I have ordered three titles from them so far, the 19th & 93rd Illinois Infantry regiments as well as the 9th Illinois Cavalry. I have seen the originals of all three books at one time or another over the last twenty years, and Wardhouse Books reprinted editions are slightly larger than their original counterparts. To say that I am extremely happy with Wardhouse’s books would be a bit of an understatement. They are wonderful.

My only, and extremely minor, complaint is of the color of the books, red, brown and blue-gray. I’m not quite for sure why there is a color variation. One would think to keep costs to a minimum they would offer only a navy blue or black and yet there is no place on their website to ask for a specific color. I’m guessing that maybe they are trying to match the color of the original volumes or just maybe the color is left up to the whim of the person binding your book.

Their prices are very reasonable. I paid less than $50 for each of the volumes I ordered. Of course the price does depend on the number of pages in the book, but if you were to be lucky enough to be able to purchase an original copy of any Civil War unit history, I dare say you would be spending many times over $50 just for one book. The last copy of the 9th Illinois Cavalry history I saw on eBay when for about $350.

Since Wardhouse Books is a print on demand publisher, you should allow six to eight weeks for delivery, but I was very pleasantly surprised when not one, but both of my orders were delivered in two weeks.

Check out their website at: http://www.wardhousebooks.com/

History As It Should Be Written

Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862
By O. Edward Cunningham

Battle histories are not generally easy reads; by their very nature they are a detailed account of a specific battle. Some are more detailed than others. By and large battle histories are not, and should not be “quick reads.” They do tend to be somewhat dry and tedious reading. Not so with O. Edward Cunningham’s “Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862.”

Written as a doctoral dissertation in the 1960’s Cunningham’s manuscript remained unpublished for nearly forty years, though it has not been forgotten. The manuscript, a copy of which was housed in the library of the Shiloh National Military Park, has been consulted by armature and professional historians alike.

Now thanks to the efforts of editors, Timothy B. Smith and Gary D. Joiner, the manuscript has at long last been published by Savas Batie Publishing Company.

Cunningham’s writing is a joy to read, his narrative flows with ease, and as editors Smith and Joiner, only needed to step in to update new information which has come to light during the 40 years since Cunningham wrote his dissertation or to clarify points here and there where Cunningham’s narrative needed a little help… needless to say those times were few and far between.

For a forty year old manuscript, Dr. Cunningham’s work seems surprisingly fresh and vibrant; the writing does not date itself. The book contains many new ideas, and different approaches to interpreting and understanding this first, major, catastrophic battle of the American Civil War. For instance, Cunningham deemphasizes the importance of the fight at The Hornet’s Next while shifting the spotlight to the fighting at the crossroads on the west side of the field.

Not only is Dr. Cunningham’s narrative, a history of the Battle of Shiloh, but also the whole western campaign from the Confederate Army’s invasion of Kentucky & Grant’s twin victories and Forts Henry & Donnellson to Shiloh and Corinth beyond.

Mr. Joiner has drawn over 30 maps to assist the reader in following the action, and there many period photographs and even a photographic tour of the battlefield as it exists to day. Cunningham’s notes are true footnotes, located at the bottom of the page, allowing you to quickly look down to see where his information came from without having to thumb to the back of the book which scores an A+ in my grade book.

Being a Savas Batie publication, “Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862” is a quality volume, printed in a nice easy to read font, on acid free paper, and the artwork on the dust jacket is just gorgeous. This book was a great read and I am proud to list this among the titles in my collection.

The Biography of a Family

House of Abraham: Lincoln & The Todds, A Family Divided By War
by Stephen Berry

Behind every name printed in a history book there is an underlying story that is only very rarely ever told. For even kings and queens, presidents and generals, politicians and other noted historical figures who shaped the times during which they lived, all have fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters and of course whose family would not be complete without an in-law or two. In short, we all know the stories of the historical figures we like to read about, but what we may not know is the stories of the members of their families. History is not made by one person alone. For every general who goes off to war, there is a father, a mother, brothers and sisters, a wife and children who are left behind, to fret, to worry, to love, to pray and to mourn. Often times I have found myself reading a biography and come across a glancing reference to this family member or that, only to be frustrated to learn nothing more of said family member. I stop my reading for a moment and wonder to myself “I wonder what their story is?” Stephen Berry’s “House of Abraham: Lincoln & The Todds, A Family Divided By War,” is book that answers that question.

There most certainly is no shortage of books written about Abraham and Mary (Todd) Lincoln. The Lincoln’s were very complex persons whose biographies rightly take up many thousands of linear feet of shelf space in libraries all around the world. But even the best biographies of Abraham and Mary only give fleeting glimpses of the lives or their family members or the Lincoln’s relationships with them. Happily this is not a problem that plagues Mr. Berry’s book.

Mary Lincoln’s father, Robert Smith Todd was married twice, and had fourteen children who survived into adulthood. Abraham, not close to his own family, in many ways was closer with the Todd family than his own. In large part, Lincoln’s life was shaped by his relationship with the Todd’s.

Upon Lincoln’s election as President of the United States the country found itself ripping into two halves, as did the Todd family. Of Robert Todd’s children six sided with the Union and eight sided with the Confederacy. Berry states “of necessity and by design” his book “focuses on the fates and movements of the handful of Todds about whom the most is known and with whom Lincoln had the closest association.” Representing the Northern wing of the family are Elizabeth Todd & husband Ninian W. Edwards, and of course Abraham & Mary (Todd) Lincoln. The Southern wing of the family, states Berry, has never been studied, and is represented by sisters Emilie and Elodie Todd and one brother, David Todd. Though the remaining siblings do appear in the book they are often cast as secondary characters in Berry’s narrative.

Todd family narrative is nearly panoramic, as members of the family seem to have been everywhere during the war. Berry places them at the very beginnings of the Civil War at the inaugurations of both Abraham Lincoln and Confederate president, Jefferson Davis; follows them to battlefields Vicksburg, Gettysburg and Chickamauga; to the prisons and hospitals of the Confederacy, and finally ends with George Todd catching up with the fleeing Confederate government after the fall of Richmond.

Berry’s the narrative of the Todd family deftly draws parallels to that of the larger “American Family.” As the Todd family was torn apart by the war, so was the nation. As the Todd family suffered wounds and casualties so did the nation. After the war, the Northern and Southern wings of the family struggled with issues of reunion as they tried to put their past behind them as did the nation. The narrative of the Todd family, during and after the war, is in fact, the narrative of the United States.

My only complaint with the book is its lack of scope as far as the members of the Todd family are concerned. Berry notes “This book is not a complete biography of the Todds.” He goes on to say that “following fourteen principal characters – and their spouses, and their children – over the course of a lifetime would be unwieldy.” For a book whose text is a brief 192 pages, that is a weak argument, but still, the book adequately fills a void that has been too long over looked.

For Cause & for Country

For Cause & for Country: A Study of the Affair At Spring Hill & the Battle of Franklin
By Eric A. Jacobson

The Battle of Franklin, it is said, is the forgotten battle of the American Civil War. Though long over due, the battle over recent years has been the setting for if not all at least in part of three novels by Howard Bahr, The Black Flower, The Year of Jubilo, and The Judas Field) and Robert Hicks' novel, The Widow of the South. And now it is the subject of a new, nonfiction treatment of the ferocious battle of November 30th, 1864, "For Cause & For Country: At Study of the Affair at Spring Hill and the Battle of Franklin" by Eric A. Jacobson.

Jacobson's study begins with Confederate General John B. Hood's failed attempts to keep Atlanta from falling to the Federal Army and then follows Hood north into Tennessee as he hopes to lure Sherman's troops (now on their march to the sea) back to the north. Sherman didn't take the bait, but did dispatch General John Schofield to move his troops from his base at Chattanooga and converge with General Thomas's Federal troops in Nashville. Hood's objective was to intercept and defeat Schofield before he reached Thomas. Jacobson's narrative follows the race between Hood and Schofield to Columbia, Tennessee and then to Spring Hill, where Schofield narrowly, and miraculously escaped being caught by Hood and on to Franklin where the two armies clashed, and finally to Nashville where Hood was ultimately defeated.

I found Mr. Jacobson's narrative of the race to Franklin to be a bit slow and tedious, but then again it could be just me. I have visited Carnton Plantation and the Carter House in Franklin many times and am familiar with the Battle of Franklin, but not so familiar with the engagement (or lack thereof) at Spring Hill. It was my last visit to Carnton, and a tour which was lead personally by Mr. Jacobson who is a historian there, that lead me to buy this book (he was even nice enough to inscribe it for me). His description of the Battle of Franklin was mesmerizing on the tour and is even more so in his book.

Words cannot come close to describing the desperate struggle that took place when these armies clashed on that November 30th afternoon, but Mr. Jacobson comes as close as I think any person can, with vivid word pictures of the action, the desperate, horrific struggle, the ugly and bloody carnage of the battle, and its gory aftermath. I found the description of the fighting in the back yard of the Carter family's home most moving, and could almost close my eyes, and see the men, and hear the battle. I could imagine myself being with the Carter family, huddled together in their basement, listening to the whirling vortex of hell that was swirling all around them.

Mr. Jacobson highlights his text with photographs of all the major players in this cataclysmic struggle, as well as a few period photographs of the battlefield and section of color photographs of present day sites associated with the campaign and battle. Though, it is curious that a photograph of Captain Tod Carter wasn't included. There are a handful of maps, and my one criticism of the book is that I wish that there were more maps.

If you have the chance to visit The Carter House or Carnton Plantation I highly encourage you to do so. I have never had a bad tour at either location. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to catch Mr. Jacobson's tour at Carnton. If you don't have the opportunity to visit Franklin and see it for yourself, then the next best thing to being there is Eric Jacobson's book, "For Cause & For Country: A Study of the Affair of Spring Hill and the Battle of Franklin."