Customer Reviews

Colonels in Blue: Union Army Colonels of the Civil War - New York

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I'm surprised that there is no comment here already. Mr Hunt and the late Jack Brown have persued a dream of gathering together a comprehensive index of basic biographical facts and images of the senior grades of command of the Union Army following in the footsteps of Warner's study of Generals in Blue.
To date this has accomplished works on Brevet Brigadier Generals, the Colonels of the New England States and now of New York.

Having made a personal effort to develop battle books for several campaigns of the war, where I sought out images of the commanders of both armies, I am aware of the difficulties of collecting. The archivists of all the institutions I talked to always referred me to Mr Hunt, whose wake I followed.

The world of Civil War imagery is dissociative. There are large archives accounting for major collections. Some, such as the National Archives and Library of Congress are generally unlicensed and accessible. Others like the Eastman and Mesrve collections are private and subject to fee for the right to share use. A consequense of the diaspora of images is that assignation of a body of images to a scholarly question is fraught with issues of proprietary use.

Mr Hunt has combed the available resources of the opus of available images to compile a list of images free of the worst retrictions, only asking that full credit go to his effort. These books are a godsend and a revelation.

I enjoy Civil War history and tramping through old cemeteries in search of it. I first encountered Roger D Hunt when I purchased his "Brevet Brigadiers in Blue." This book was a welcome addition to Ezra Warner's "Generals in Blue." Well researched, with photos provided whenever possible, often from his own collection. The volume led ne to discover notables of the Civil War throughout my wanders in the Midwest, and on occasion, further.
Mr. Hunt has applied the same painstaking research to his volume of New York Colonels (he's also published volumes dealing with the Colonels in Blue of New England and the Mid-Atlantic States.) His pictures are wonderful and give a face and personality to what otherwise would be a mere name. After the war many officers that held a Colonel's rank were awarded the Brevet rank of General after the war as a reward for their services. Thus the title "Brevet Brigadiers in Blue." This volume, as the two companion volumes mentioned above, deals with officers who achieved the rank of Colonel in the Union army, but who did not receive the Brevet promotion to "General." As with the other books, the Colonels can be divided into three basic catagories. 1. Men who fell in action while at that rank. 2. Men incapacitated by wounds or illness from serving further, or 3. Incompetent or corrupt leaders. Mr. Hunt gives basic information about their careers, what regiments they were involved in, birthplace,and burial location if known.
Hunt's books are an invaluable resource tool. I can't wait for him to do a volume on Illinois Colonels. No doubt it WILL come. Meanwhile, I'm thrilled to have the 4 volumes that he's already compiled.