The Civil War Battlefield Guide (2nd ed.). Conservation Fund, The; Kennedy, Frances H. (ed., principal contributor); & Noonan, Patrick F. (Foreward). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company (1998).
Amazon.com: The Civil War Battlefield Guide (2nd ed.)
The sesquicentennial [150 years] of the U.S. Civil War begins with the Battle of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, April 12-14, 1861 [2011] and ends with the Battle of Palmito Ranch, Texas, May 12-13,1865 [2015]. Now is the time to start learning and planning upcoming visits to one or more of the 384 principal battlefield sites.
Why? Because the U.S. Civil War was--and still is--a defining period in the history of the United States. And I, for one, will not allow the temporal special interests of the current times to rob me of this important historic opportunity.
Thus, I have begun to build a Civil War library. The first volume is The Civil War Battlefield Guide. And what a foundation for Civil War study this guide will be for our household.
For starters, let's review a few war statistics.
Dead and wounded in the Civil War, 1861-1865
.......................Dead...............Wounded...............Total
Federal..............364,511...........281,881................646,392
Confederate.......260,000...........194,000................454,000
Total.................624,511...........475,881.............1,100,392
American deaths in service in 11 wars
Revolutionary War, 1775-1783..........................4,435
War of 1812, 1812-1815..................................2,260
Mexican War, 1846-1848................................13,283
Civil War, 1861-1865....................................624,511
Spanish-American War, 1898.............................2,446
World War I, 1917-1918................................110,516
World War II, 1941-1945...............................404,399
Korean War, 1950-1953..................................33,916
Vietnam War, 1964-1973................................58,184
Gulf War (Desert Storm), 1990-1991.....................294***
Iraq War, 2003-May 28, 2010............................4,404***
***These statistics supplied by Wikipedia.
What I like about The Civil War Battlefield Guide
- Chronological Table of Contents listing battlefields, locations, dates, guide page numbers.
- Battlefield articles providing summaries of battlefield causes, leaders, and places; maps (for most battlefields); casualty counts; and battlefield parks or monuments.
- Appendix 1: 384 Principal Battlefields listed in alphabetical order by state and then by county or city; maps showing states and counties where the 384 principal battlefields took place.
- Appendix 3: Lost and Fragmented Civil War Battlefields due to lack of preservation.
- Appendix 4: War Statistics.
- Appendix 5: Glossary.
- About the Authors section providing brief biographical paragraphs about individuals who contributed the Guide's 384 battlefield articles.
- Index.
- Size and flexible paperback format give this guide a format usable at home, in the car, and on the battlefield.
How I plan to use The Civil War Battlefield Guide
I hope you find this thread helpful.
- Locate battlefields within my state.
- Locate battlefields within driving distance.
- Locate battlefields where ancestors fought (and died!).
- Plan upcoming trips to specific battlefields.
- Learn about the Civil War by reading battlefield articles in chronological order.
- Learn how certain leaders distinguished themselves (or not) on the battlefield.
- Keep alive the memory of the sacrifice and loss (men, homesteads, and places) from a military tragedy that should have been avoided by diplomatic and economic measures.
...Bob
Civil War Battlefield Guide
Discussion in 'History Forum' started by BobinKy, Nov 23, 2010.
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As I have said, Lincoln killed more Americans than (close to) all the American wars combined.
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OK, Lincoln only killed half of all Americans who died in battle. He still killed more than Hitler and Tojo.
By the way, The southern troops were Americans. -
Southern troops were only "Americians" because they lost the War of Northern Aggresion
Thats like saying that those who fought for Independence in 1776-83 were British subjects -
>correct me if I am worng, but didnt Hitler have something to do with the death of some 6 million Jews and five million other non-Jews
If I wrote that i would be accused of changing the topic which the initial post defined as American service deaths. -
Abortion doctors have killed more than 50,000,000 since 1973, think about that compared to the thousands killed in wars. It's aweful isn't it?
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It's awful in a thread on military deaths. It's off topic. No one replies, "Start your own 'abortion' thread? Or is the application of the "off topic" label restricted to two or three of us?
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Bill,
Gee I'm sorry, but don't you think it's more aweful that 50 million lives have been snuffed out as compared to being "off topic?" -
I am more jnterested in knowing why only myself and a couple of others are ever accused of being off topic while the rules are off for genuine, list approved Baptists.
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Actually, most of the replies to my original post are off topic.
My intent was to share information about a Civil War battleground guide (book) and explain why I like the book and how I plan on using the book to visit battlegrounds near my home where my ancestors saw battle and died.
I quoted the civil war statistics to show how many soldiers died in the Civil War (in comparison to other wars) as a way of illustrating how critical this war was to our country.
I hope all of you will take an interest in the history of the Civil War during the upcoming sesquicentennial (2011-2015).
The comments about abortion--which is no doubt tragic and I am opposed to abortion--are off topic, as would be any guess at the number of souls not making it to heaven. And please, do not turn this thread into a discussion of how many souls are in heaven or when they reach heaven. I also consider the comments about the tragic and horrible Jewish holocaust to be off topic.
If you are interested in Civil War battlegrounds, Civil War re-enactments, or the history of the Civil War, then please post comments.
I hope I have not offended anyone by the above comments.
...Bob -
The War Between the States -
I found the visits enlightening and compelling. Looking at the Shiloh peach orchard from a soldier's viewpoint and imagining crossing that stretch of ground under withering fire made my blood run cold.
It's no wonder so many died. -
CarPro...
Thank you for your comment.
Fifty years ago, during the Civil War Centennial, I visited Shiloh National Military Park and hiked a guided trail as a Boy Scout. One image still in my mind are the cannonball-lined burial pits for those killed at the Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862.
Link to the Shiloh National Military Park
From The Civil War Battlefield Guide, p. 48-52
................................Combat Strength..........Casualities
Federal Troops..................65,085....................13,047
Confederate Troops............44,699....................10,699
Shiloh National Military Park, on Route 22 in Shiloh, includes 5,973 acres of the historic battlefield; four of these acres are privately owned.
The tragic carnage of 23,746 men killed, wounded, and missing was a grim warning to the United States and the Confederacy that they faced a long and desperate war.
...Bob -
I'm a little bit into the Civil War. My great, great grandfather was about 23 years old when he lost his leg below the knee to a small cannonball in the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. It spared him from seeing the next battle at Gettysburg, where most of the men from his Virginin Company F were killed. Two years later, in 1865, he married and had my great grandfather. It's amazing how close it came to me not even being here. Here's a copy of the letter from the surgeon who did the amputation on the battlefield, as verification was needed for him to get the $60 reimbursement from the government for the artificial limb.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44099111@N07/4862881776/sizes/l/in/set-72157624533446085/
Thanks for the link to the book. I hope you are blessed in your study this year. -
>correct name of the war - The War Between the States
"States" as in sovereign nations. Lincoln's War changed the meaning of the word in "Americanspeak." -
...Bob -
Thanks for starting this thread, Bob. That battleground guide sounds very useful. I've been interested in the Civil War for a long time, more so about the women's side of things than the battles, but my husband and I have gone to quite a few of the battle sites in Virginia, and of course Gettysburg. The other week we drove part of old Route 11 towards Winchester and stopped at Belle Grove Plantation, where the Battle of Cedar Creek occurred. Such a deceptively peaceful, lovely place. I stood on the front verandah and tried to imagine men being shot and killed all around me on the lawn. Impossible to believe...yet it happened.
I recently found that a 3x-great grandfather served in the 25th Tennessee Infantry. Finding that out has spurred my interest further in both Civil War history and the history of my family (not that we were anything special--just farmers and average blue-collar workers! :tongue3: ). -
Many upper south or border states sent equal numbers of troops to both sides. From my own state of Ky, which technically stayed Union, about 40,000 served in the Confederate Army. About 51,000 Whites served the Union, plus an additional 23,000 Blacks.
So Civil War is actually more descriptive, in many cases. I have read accounts written by former Ky Confederates who themselves called it the Civil War.
But War Between the States does have a more impressive sound to it, I will agree.
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