As If It Were Glory

In this powerful and moving memoir, Robert Beecham tells of his Civil War experiences, both as an enlisted man in the fabled Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac and as an officer commanding a newly raised African-American unit. Written in 1902, Beecham recounts his war experiences with a keen eye toward the daily life of the soldier, the suffering and brutality of war, and the remarkable acts of valor, by soldiers both black and white, that punctuated the grind of long campaigns. As If It Were Glory is an unforgettable account of the Civil War, unclouded by sentimentality and insistent that the nation remain true to the cause for which it fought. Beecham's war was a long one—he served from May 1861 through the completion of the war in the spring of 1865. With the Iron Brigade he saw action at such momentous battles as Chancellorsville and then at Gettysburg, where he was taken prisoner. Returned to service in a prison exchange, Beecham was promoted to first lieutenant of the 23rd United States Colored Troops whom he lead in fierce fighting at the Battle of the Crater. At the Crater, Beecham was wounded, again captured, and, after eight months in a Confederate prison, escaped to find his way to Annapolis just before the conclusion of the war. In his narrative, Beecham celebrates the ingenuity of the enlisted man at the expense of officers who are often arrogant or incompetent. He also chides the altered recollections of fellow veterans who remember only triumphs and forgot defeats. In one of the most powerful parts of his memoir, Beecham pays tribute to the valor of the African Americans who fought under his command and insists that they were "the bravest and best soldiers that ever lived."

"Shaffer chronicles the postwar transition of black veterans from the Union army, as well as their subsequent life patterns, political involvement, family and marital life, experiences with social welfare, comradeship with other veterans, and memories of the war itself. He draws on such sources as Civil War pension records to fashion a collective biography - a social history of both ordinary and notable lives - resurrecting the words and memories of many black veterans to provide an intimate view of their lives and struggles."--BOOK JACKET.

Dealing with the civil war, this title takes a close look at the battlefield doctors in whose hands rested the lives of thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers. It also examines the impact on major campaigns - Manassas, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Shiloh, Atlanta - of ignorance, understaffing, inexperience, and overcrowded hospitals.

Groom, author of Forrest Gump and other fiction, provides a thoughtful narrative account of Confederate leader General Hood, as well as his military cohorts, troops, and nemeses, from their bizarre cat-and-mouse chase through Georgia and Tennessee to the horrors of the charge at Franklin. Excellent bandw photographs, maps. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

'Theirs is the Glory' - the story of the Battle of Arnhem - was the biggest-grossing UK war film for a decade. Made by veterans of the battle in the late summer of 1945, it tells their story day by day: the pre-operation briefing, the drop, the race to the bridge, the daring, death and banter that only soldiers could have scripted - but the veterans had outstanding assistance. Men like Terence Young of XXX Corps - and later the early 'James Bond' director - helped craft the words we hear. Directing the veterans was a First World War veteran - who had survived a bayonet charge at Gallipoli - and prolific film director: Brian Desmond Hurst. Born and bred in Belfast, Hurst went on to learn the craft of film making in Hollywood with his mentor, John Ford. Conflict is shown, heard and interpreted in many of his 30 films made from the 1920s to the 1960s. This book is the 'director's cut' - looking in-depth at his work on conflict - and takes, as its centerpiece, 'Theirs is the Glory'. Decade-by-decade conflict is chronicled from the 1920s and Hurst's 'Ourselves Alone' (and the War of Independence in Ireland, where his film was banned in Northern Ireland) to the 1960s and 'Simba' and the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya. This is a book you will refer to again and again, and shows why 'Theirs is the Glory' is the definitive film on Arnhem; it will remain the veterans' lasting tribute to their comrades that did not return. This book also shows why Hurst was an enigma, but a master of the genre, and at his very best when focusing on the subject of conflict on the vast canvas of film.

Sixteen months after the start of the American Civil War, the Federal government, having vastly underestimated the length and manpower demands of the war, began to recruit black soldiers. This revolutionary policy gave 180,000 free blacks and former slaves the opportunity to prove themselves on the battlefield as part of the United States Colored Troops. By the end of the war, 37,000 in their ranks had given their lives for the cause of freedom. In Forged in Battle, originally published in 1990, award-winning historian Joseph T. Glatthaar re-creates the events that gave these troops and their 7,000 white officers justifiable pride in their contributions to the Union victory and hope of equality in the years to come. Unfortunately, as Glatthaar poignantly demonstrates, memory of the United States Colored Troops' heroic sacrifices soon faded behind the prejudice that would plague the armed forces for another century.

On September 17, 1862, the "United States" was on the brink, facing a permanent split into two separate nations. America's very future hung on the outcome of a single battle--and the result reverberates to this day. Given the deep divisions that still rive the nation, given what unites the country, too, Antietam is more relevant now than ever. The epic battle, fought near Sharpsburg, Maryland, was a Civil War turning point. The South had just launched its first invasion of the North; victory for Robert E. Lee would almost certainly have ended the war on Confederate terms. If the Union prevailed, Lincoln stood ready to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. He knew that freeing the slaves would lend renewed energy and lofty purpose to the North's war effort. Lincoln needed a victory to save the divided country, but victory would come at a price. Detailed here is the cannon din and desperation, the horrors and heroes of this monumental battle, one that killed 3,650 soldiers, still the highest single-day toll in American history. Justin Martin, an acclaimed writer of narrative nonfiction, renders this landmark event in a revealing new way. More than in previous accounts, Lincoln is laced deeply into the story. Antietam represents Lincoln at his finest, as the grief-racked president--struggling with the recent death of his son, Willie--summoned the guile necessary to manage his reluctant general, George McClellan. The Emancipation Proclamation would be the greatest gambit of the nation's most inspired leader. And, in fact, the battle's impact extended far beyond the field; brilliant and lasting innovations in medicine, photography, and communications were given crucial real-world tests. No mere gunfight, Antietam rippled through politics and society, transforming history. A Fierce Glory is a fresh and vibrant account of an event that had enduring consequences that still resonate today.

The battle of Gettysburg was the largest engagement of the Civil War, and--with more than 51,000 casualties--also the deadliest. The highest regimental casualty rate at Gettysburg, an estimated 85 percent, was incurred by the 26th North Carolina Infantry. Who were these North Carolinians? Why were they at Gettysburg? How did they come to suffer such a grievous distinction? In Covered with Glory, award-winning historian Rod Gragg reveals the extraordinary story of the 26th North Carolina in fascinating detail. Praised for its "exhaustive scholarship" and its "highly readable style," Covered with Glory chronicles the 26th's remarkable odyssey from muster near Raleigh to surrender at Appomattox. The central focus of the book, however, is the regiment's critical, tragic role at Gettysburg, where its standoff with the heralded 24th Michigan Infantry on the first day of fighting became one of the battle's most unforgettable stories. Two days later, the 26th's bloodied remnant assaulted the Federal line at Cemetery Ridge and gained additional fame for advancing "farthest to the front" in the Pickett-Pettigrew Charge.

First published in 1943, this autobiography is also a superb portrait of America's Depression years, by the folk singer, activist, and man who saw it all. Woody Guthrie was born in Oklahoma and traveled this whole country over—not by jet or motorcycle, but by boxcar, thumb, and foot. During the journey of discovery that was his life, he composed and sang words and music that have become a national heritage. His songs, however, are but part of his legacy. Behind him Woody Guthrie left a remarkable autobiography that vividly brings to life both his vibrant personality and a vision of America we cannot afford to let die. “Even readers who never heard Woody or his songs will understand the current esteem in which he’s held after reading just a few pages… Always shockingly immediate and real, as if Woody were telling it out loud… A book to make novelists and sociologists jealous.” —The Nation

In this powerful and moving memoir, Robert Beecham tells of his Civil War experiences, both as an enlisted man in the fabled Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac and as an officer commanding a newly raised African-American unit. Written in 1902, Beecham recounts his war experiences with a keen eye toward the daily life of the soldier, the suffering and brutality of war, and the remarkable acts of valor, by soldiers both black and white, that punctuated the grind of long campaigns. As If It Were Glory is an unforgettable account of the Civil War, unclouded by sentimentality and insistent that the nation remain true to the cause for which it fought. Beecham's war was a long one--he served from May 1861 through the completion of the war in the spring of 1865. With the Iron Brigade he saw action at such momentous battles as Chancellorsville and then at Gettysburg, where he was taken prisoner. Returned to service in a prison exchange, Beecham was promoted to first lieutenant of the 23rd United States Colored Troops whom he lead in fierce fighting at the Battle of the Crater. At the Crater, Beecham was wounded, again captured, and, after eight months in a Confederate prison, escaped to find his way to Annapolis just before the conclusion of the war. In his narrative, Beecham celebrates the ingenuity of the enlisted man at the expense of officers who are often arrogant or incompetent. He also chides the altered recollections of fellow veterans who remember only triumphs and forgot defeats. In one of the most powerful parts of his memoir, Beecham pays tribute to the valor of the African Americans who fought under his command and insists that they were "the bravest and best soldiers that ever lived."