Customer Reviews

A Brotherhood of Valor: The Common Soldiers of the Stonewall Brigade, C.S.A., and the Iron Brigade, U.S.A

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I am something of a Civil War buff, but I've never been a big fan of the "unit histories", prefering narative history instead. This book bridges that gap. The story of these two most famous brigades of the Civil War, one Union, one Confederate, is told more as a narative than a unit history. There's plenty here though to interest those who do like the stories of the individual soldiers, regiments and the brigades they belonged to. What Mr. Wert is best at is giving the reader the feel of what it was like to belong to one of these brigades, tracing their structure and commanders from the start of the war till both brigades were so decimated by casualties that they both almost literaly faded away. I'd recomend it to anyone interested in the Civil War who has a basic knowledge of the War. I've read a couple of Mr Wert's other books....his biographies of Custer and Longstreet. If you liked them, you'll like A Brotherhood of Valor.

Jeffrey Wert has been writing Civil War history for a good while, and I've read most of his books, starting with the history of the Shenandoah Valley campaign in 1864. The present book is a history of the campaigns of the Stonewall Brigade, and the Iron Brigade. Both units are much storied: each has an individual history currently available. The Iron Brigade's is by noted Civil War historian Alan T. Nolan; the Stonewall Brigade's is one of the early works of Stonewall Jackson biographer James I. Robertson, Jr. Wert melds these two books with many others, diaries and letters, and fashions a sort of dual group biography of the units, following them across the battlefields of Virginia.

The Stonewall brigade earned its nickname at Manassas, where it defended a prominent terrain feature called Henry House Hill. This feature, and the Brigade's defense of it, proved to be the pivotal point of the battle. The author does a good job bringing this and other battles to life through the accounts of the participants and witnesses. One of the regiments that later formed the Iron Brigade, the 2nd Wisconsin, also participated in the battle, and ran away with the rest of the army when the Union finally lost the battle.

This points up the first annoyance of the book. Wert has chosen two units to follow, but one of them was at its peak before the other one was. This means that the early part of the book concentrates to a fair extent on the Confederates, while the latter part of the book features the Yankee unit to a larger extent. The two units did fight on the same battlefield three times, though they only really opposed one another once, at Groveton, or Brawner Farm. That engagement marked the debut of the Iron Brigade (then known as the Black Hat Brigade, after their distinctive headgear) as a unit, and sowed the seeds of their reputation.

The book follows the two units through Gettysburg, but afterwards only summarizes the campaigns that the survivors participated in. The Overland Campaign of 1864 saw the virtual destruction of both units. Wert devotes considerably less space to these events than he did to the earlier campaigns, especially Gettysburg.

I genuinely enjoyed this book. Wert is one of the more prolific Civil War writers these days, and his books are lively and enjoyable, while also providing interesting information and having a point of view. I would recommend this book to all interested in the Civil War.

This is a very interesting account of the Iron Brigade and the
Stonewall Brigade. It was interesting how these two very tough
brigades began the Civil War, met each other again and again in
savage battles, only to be almost completely spent by the war's
end. Well researched.

Mr. Wert has compiled an interesting and well written account of the famed Iron Brigade and the Stonewall Brigade. He details their never ending marches, brutal combat, casualties and personalites. Plenty of good maps assist the reader in following the grueling pathes and deadly enounters with their opponents. From Manassas, the deadly battles at Brawner's Farm, Antietam through Grant's blood-stained Overland Campaign to the end of the war, the book is a worthy addition to any library on the subject. Well done

I have read alot of articles, books and biographies of the soldiers both officer and enlisted in these famed brigades and I must say that this book is a welcome addition to the story of these famous and tragic brigades of the Civil War. Jeffry Wert does a good job describing the formation of these brigades during the beginning months of the Civil War and both brigades early losses and victories. Named after Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, the Stonewall brigade is famous for fighting ferociously after a 15-25 mile march often in barefeet. Gen. Jackson drove his commanders and men hard, yet as long as they won battles they didin't mind Jackson's sometimes ruthless behavior. Once Jackson was killed at Chancellorsville in 1863, the brigade never fully recovered to the extent of what they used to be. The Iron Brigade of the Union was just as tenacious and fierce in battle as the Stonewall brigade. The famed black hats had won their enemies respect due to standing firm in the heat of battle. Yet despite heavy losses this brigade remained strong until the end of the war. This book analyzes the men and commanders of both brigades and gives descriptions of where the units were in the battles where they fought. Although not the definitive account of the brigades it is a worthy addition to any Civil War Scholar/Enthusiasts library.

Being a fan of author Jeffrey Wert's work I didn't have to decide on whether or not to buy this book when I came across it. Wert's writing flows well and he backs up quite a lot of his information with useful references as he has done in other books. Wert has taken two of the more popular brigades of the Civil War and has followed their enlistment and organization in 1861 to final muster in 1865. Wert documents each brigade's movements and battles while carefully explaining changes in command and regimental organization. I found this book quite intriging as these famous brigades met each other in battle three times at such places as Brawner Farm, Antietam and Gettysburg. Wert explains the battles quickly at times which was refreshing in cases where the brigades had little conflict or involvement. In times of battle, Wert gets to the point of the fighting and doesn't dwell in huge detail as you may find in some books covering a certain campaign or battle.

What I did find a bit disappointing in this book was the fact that under the title it reads, "The common soldiers of the Stonewall Brigade and the Iron Brigade". I was under the impression that more soldier life would be covered instead of regiment movements or the following of commanders. This book didn't quote too many soldiers or bring their diary writing as you may see in other books on soldiers. Overall, Wert has taken a great amount of information and packed it into 319 pages of material. Could more have been written? Perhaps, although the coverage was excellent and I can recommend this book to many who are seeking additional information regarding these famous and hard fighting brigades.

As a Civil War collector, avid reader and Wisconsonite I highly recommend this book. The descriptions of battle juxtaposed with the personal vignettes is both intriguing and haunting. At times I felt I was there. The maps offer a marvelous addition to grasping the intricacies of the battle. A must read.

I re-enact as a sergeant in Company "E", Bragg's Rifles, 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (the Calicoboys). Other than Nolan's book on the Iron Brigade, Wert's book is the best on the entire history of the Iron Brigade. I have also studied the history of the Stonewall brigade. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a serious scholar of the Civil War. Those d**n "black hats" gave as well as they got at Brawner's Farm. Considering that they were rookies, they handed out a pretty good lickin'. Even Stonewall Jackson said it was the worst he had been in. After the battle, the Black Hats gave out three loud huzzahs. There was no answer from the sesesh.

Mr Wert's book offers a nice introduction to the history of two famous Civil War brigades. I found the text to be highly reader friendly - largish print and not too bogged down in "militareese". I often find in most military histories that I get mired in meaningless names of this and that corp or division and such. This is not the case in this text. A handful of maps are included, as well as some nice photos of appropriate personnel and geography. As a proud Southerner, I did enjoy reading about the "other guys" - the mostly Wisconsin and Indiana boys who, in large part, comprised the Yankee Iron Brigade.

I hardly ever write a review on any thing but WOW! This book is by far the best book I have ever read on Civil War units. I had it read less than a week after I got it I could'nt put it down! Reading this book was almost at times like being there and at times made me feel like one in the book watching his comrades go down! This book is really well written and easy to follow and the research that had to go into this book to find all the information on the various regiments and soldiers must have been incrediable. This book has really nice maps to go along with content and does a really nice job of going back and forth between the two brigades without confusing you. Hats off to Jeffery D. Wert for doing an excellent job on this book! So if you enjoy reading a Civil War book about certain units,or any Civil War book for that matter I highly recommend this book! You won't be disappointed!