Customer Reviews

Confederates Killed in Action at Gettysburg

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Author Coco has amassed a quite varied accounting of Confederates killed in action, with background material from Privates to Lt. Colonels, "Unknown negro" of Longstreet's Corps to "Unknown Georgia Captain."

This book was recommended to me by one of the stalwarts of the bookstore at the Gettysburg National Historical Park. You will not be disappointed. Views from Confederate Marylanders to Virginians to Texans are presented, in easily read snippets....and while Gen. Armistead and Kemper may be missing, this is not an attempt to be complete, but rather to be interesting. And, thankfully, this 143 page book is quite varied, with those fighting for the C.S.A. separated by the three days of action at Gettysburg. From the actual accounts written at the time, to Coco's interpretations, background and so forth, this book will stand well on the shelf on anyone interested in the War of Northern Aggression, Yankee or Southern Confederate American. Well done.

The tone is reverent, and each chapter reads almost like a devotional. Coco has done a wonderful job with primary sources to bring to life the tragic deaths of fifty Confederate soldiers who were so unlike Americans today you might say they inhabited a different world. And they did. When asked by his captain what message the mortally wounded Jason Giles of the 9th Georgia would like to send his parents, "a distinct animation came into his face as he looked straight at me and said, 'Tell them I died for my country.'" Can you imagine any 21st Century American soldier saying that? Each chapter is devoted to one soldier's death and burial. Some of the chapter titles are "He Died in My Arms," "I Grasped His Cold Hand," "In a Just & Noble Cause," "I Covered His Face," "Brothers in Arms, Brothers in Death," and "Do Not Mourn My Loss." Coco shows nothing but admiration for these men that fought and died for "the Lost Cause." I keep the book on my nightstand and read it frequently. The chapters are brief and contemplative, and the quotes from letters, diaries and newspapers take you back to a time when America was a Christian nation, embroiled as it was in the tragic business of fratricide. Coco wisely notes that in today's America "the 'reproach' for those who followed the Southern Cross seems to grow stronger each year. When and how this self-righteousness will end is something fearful to contemplate." Very highly recommended.