(Part 2) Best civil war campaigns books according to redditors

Its... OK. As you can tell from what I wrote, I think, the Corps' experience during the war was just so limited, that there really aren't that many good books that focus specifically on that time. I think it says something that when I checked to see what publications the Corps itself had put out through its Historical Division, there were only three books, and all of them several decades old. "The United States Marines at Harper's Ferry and in the Civil War" by Bernard C. Nalty might be better termed a "pamphlet" than a book, but of the options there, it seems to be not much worse an overview that Field's book, all things considered, and more importantly, it is free!

There is also an annotated Bibliography, but it dates to '68, and while it lists 78 items, they seem to mostly be articles in minor publications, and not only probably impossible to find, but the items listed go so far as to include this gem:

>Lt. Col H. W. Williams, Jr., USAR (Ret.). "A Confederate Marine Corps Button?" Military Collector &
Historian, y. 8, no. 3 (Fall 1956), p. 81. illus. A Confederate button bearing the letter "M" in the possession of the author.

Far as I can tell, literally just a picture of a button that might have been from the CSMC, so yeah... slim pickings.

There are several more general publications on the history of the Corps which will include some information, but the general histories I perused maybe gave the Civil War a half-dozen pages at best. There is one additional publication of note for you though. It isn't a history, but a diary, of a 2nd Lt. named Frank Church. I only skimmed through the introduction, so can't attest to how interesting it might be, but seems to be fairly concise, and it covers his involvement with a river squadron involved in the Red River Campaign, serving on the USS Black Hawk as commander of the ships Marine detachment. It included both the diary, as well as a history of the campaign itself, so you should check out that as well.

As for other publications, leaving what the Marines themselves have put out there, the only really in-depth history I can find evidence of is a series of books by David M. Sullivan. They seem to be out of print, at least as far as Amazon is telling me, but it seems he wrote a pretty lengthy tome for each year of the war, and given the size of the Corps, I can only expect that it is quite thorough. Also quite expensive... cheapest used copy for "The First Year" on Amazon is 178.61! Other volumes are more reasonable. Anyways though, check out Nalty and Church first. They're free after all. If that doesn't satisfy your curosity though, Field is decent, but not to much of a step up TBH. I can't really attest to the quality of Sullivan's books, aside from some very complimentary reviews on Amazon, but that would be the place to look if you want some serious, dank history.

Probably the best record of daily life in the Civil War navy is the book The Monitor Chronicles. While it revolves around a very special ship, the almost-weekly letters of Engineer Yeoman George Geer to his wife provide the best-surviving example of the daily gripes of a Union sailor on the blockade.

191 is an interesting situation. Lee wasn't as aggressive as he was being during the second campaign. It was already September, after a long summer campaign. I think its safe to assume Lee wouldn't want to set up winter quarters in Maryland, his supply lines were precarious that far North.

The south mountain battles are pretty interesting too as they are effectively delaying actions. While the Union pushes them off they are able to bide enough time for concentration.

I tend to think unless something CRAZY happened, like McClellan getting his army split and one side surrendering thus opening up Baltimore, Lee would have been back in Virginia by December. McClellan, being as cautious as he was was, unlikely to let that mistake happen. A Confederate victory would have no doubt been a major blow, its long term significance is debatable.

I could go on for days about this....

Some sad news though, Stuart probably wouldn't oblige you on the beer. He was a known teetotaler who also didn't smoke cigars. Its one of the reasons Jackson liked Stuart.

If you are interested in Jackson [this book] (http://www.amazon.com/Shenandoah-1862-Stonewall-Jacksons-Campaign/dp/1469606828) is a great read. It gives some great insight into what it might have been like to work with / fight with him. It also gives great battlefield narrative. I ended up driving out to the Shenandoah Valley after reading it to check out some of the topography. I found out Colonel Ashby (the black night of the Confederacy) was killed right behind where I lived in college.

The best all encompassing book on the civil war is "Battle Cry of Freedom" by James McPherson. It can be a little dry and reads a little bit like a textbook. This one may be a little bit of a "deep dive" but it certainly is the best overall book IMO.

I think the best book for you personally would be a coffee table book put out by the Smithsonian titled, "The Civil War. A Visual History". https://www.amazon.com/Civil-War-Visual-History/dp/1465429573
I think since you are someone that normally isn't into this stuff, a book with a lot of visual depictions will keep you more interested. It is a book that you can pick up and just kinda glance over here and there rather than a dry text that would be best read cover to cover.

Another suggestion would be to skip the books and watch a documentary such as "Ken Burn's Civil War". I believe that's on Netflix. It's by far the most well known documentary on the subject and it's very well done. It is not perfect from the historian perspective, but it's still great.

Another non-book suggestion would be the videos put on YouTube by the Civil War Trust. This one is on the entire war: https://youtu.be/ZmxfJqxwVIs
They also put out some quick "Civil War in 4 minutes" videos that go over different topics briefly. They are very informative despite their short length. https://youtu.be/v5pWc1_8mU4


Hope this helps. I'm on mobile so I'm sorry if this is a bit poorly formatted.

Also a HS US teacher here: I don't think you know the Civil War until you have read those books. For me it goes quick because it is written in almost novel form. Mr. Foote was not a historian, he was a novelist and it really comes out in the books. There aren't a lot of footnotes for example. To me it comes across as a story. I have been picking it up and putting it down for about 10 years now. I can't sit and drown in Civil War for that long. I need some WWII or some fiction.
He also has broken some chapters out, like the Gettysburg chapter into its own book. Its the chapter, just in a book.
Stars in Their Courses : The Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863
or The Beleaguered City: The Vicksburg Campaign, December 1862-July 1863

This is a real great set:

http://www.amazon.com/Civil-Told-Those-Lived-Four-/dp/1598533509/ref=sr_1_26?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416148689&sr=1-26

New Amazon recommendation for you

You are so wrong about all of this. I suggest you educated yourself.

The South had every right to secede, it's a right granted to all states by the constitution. The North fired the first shots, needlessly starting a war that killed more North Americans than any other in history.

The North was occupying Fort Sumter, a Confederate fortress. The South asked them to leave and then they got shot.

Also, to say that they seceded for slavery is blindly stupid. They seceded for a multitude of reasons, slavery being one of the smaller ones. The only people in Antebellum South who owned slaves were the equivalent to the modern 1%'ers.

The vast majority of southerners were fighting for self determination on a wide variety of issues. Not just for slavery.

Read the following: "The Real Lincoln"

"The Un-Civil War, Shattering Historical Myths"

Educate yourself before you start calling people racist, elitists or traitorous. Your right that the flag represents things deeper than you can currently comprehend. I've got a reading list a lot longer than that for ya buddy, that's just the start.

David Greenspan did some really great art like that, not sure there are prints to be found though.

https://thehistoriansmanifesto.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/the-civil-war-maps-of-david-greenspan/

There's also this book with some nice overhead cg art. Again, no prints though.
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Battles-Civil-John-MacDonald/dp/0785830952

Great Answer. The only other book I would add would be the Army War College's book on the battle. It forms the basis of the Army's staff ride and is probably the best book you could bring with you to the site. Its designed to be take you on a guided tour of the battlefield and might not make much sense if you dont see the land opening up before you. But its worth having.

This?

The only one I have read is Shiloh by James McDonough. Very well-written, readable account of the battle.

Buy this book Insiders' Guide® to Gettysburg (Insiders' Guide Series) by Kate Hertzog. I've just started reading this book because I plan to visit Gettysburg this summer. So far it seems to offer extremely detailed information, including the exits off Route 15 which pertains to my trip. The information on the airports was also very detailed. It was published way back in 2009 so it may be a little out-of-date, but you probably won't find anything more current.

If you haven't read John Avlons book on Washington you should. Its a great read and goes a bit into the religious beliefs of some of the Founders.

Mark Boatner, Civil War Dictionary this a basic research tool for any CW historian.

The beauty of Gettysburg is that there is very little contemporary development around; no skyscrapers or bridges near by. I appreciate that (these battlefields) is one of the few places where the scene you're looking at is pretty close to what the soldiers saw. The trees are different, but it's pretty close.

I got this book, and it was fun to take around the battlefields

https://www.amazon.com/Gettysburg-Then-Now-Touring-Battlefield/dp/1577470036/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=gettysburg+now+and+then+photo&qid=1573670936&sr=8-1

Can anyone recommend any books about the aftermath of the explosion? I read an account of Gettysburg after the battle and it was far more interesting than the books recounting the battle itself. I imagine the Halifax disaster would be as captivating.