THE 101ST PENNSYLVANIA IN THE CIVIL WAR: ITS CAPTURE AND POW EXPERIENCE: The Saga of a Lucky Bedford, PA, Lieutenant and his Unlucky Regiment [Paperback]

Harold Birch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2007

The author's first book, The 50th Pennsylvania's Civil War Odyssey, addressed the wartime journey of a regiment that fought in six Southern states. In this, his second Civil War tale, you follow the hardships faced by a regiment that fought in only two. It fought in McClellan's Virginia Peninsula Campaign and then, in its second major fight at Plymouth, NC in April 1864, the entire Union garrison was captured by General Hoke's Confederate forces. This book also focuses on a lucky lieutenant from Bedford, Pennsylvania, who escaped from rebel captivity with two companions and, with help from field slaves and Unionists in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, walked 250 miles in 42 days to Union lines. His regiment, the 101st Pennsylvania, was not so fortunate. Captured in April of 1864 in its entirety at Plymouth, NC, nearly half of its enlisted men perished in Confederate POW camps.

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About the Author

The author, a retired Army Infantry Colonel, veteran of two wars, a Ph.D., and student of military history, tells the story of the 101st Pennsylvania, a Civil War Volunteer Infantry Regiment, that joined McClellan's Army of the Potomac for a campaign on the Virginia peninsula. In May of 1862, it was baptized in blood at Seven Pines. As the Peninsula Campaign ended, the regiment was sent to coastal North Carolina and soon became a part of the ill-fated garrison at Plymouth. There, with help from a rebel iron-clad, a young and talented Confederate General R. F. Hoke captured the entire Union garrison in April of 1864. The enlisted men were imprisoned in Andersonvile, GA. The death rate there was appalling. Eventually, the officers were imprisoned at a camp in Columbia, SC. En route there, Lieutenant Isaiah Conley and two compatriots staged a successful escape. The book traces their journey as they walked approximately 250 miles in 42 days to Union lines in Tennessee. A new 101st Pennsylvania was recruited, as the war ended. The book then concludes with a brief summary of the regiment's survivors return to "normalcy." The author's previous book is entitled The 50th Pennsylvania's Civil War Odyssey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (March 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1425982204
• ISBN-13: 978-1425982201
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,694,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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