Customer Reviews

An Irishman in the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of James P. Sullivan (Irish in the Civil War)

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This is a thoroughly enjoyable book for me, as I am the great-granddaughter of Mickey Sullivan, or "JP" as we Sullivans call him. I read this book before visiting Gettysburg and so was able to retrace his steps. Gettysburg has an surreal quality about it and still seems alive with the spirits of those who fought there. JP was fortunate to come home from that war. Books such as these that speak with the actual words of the soldiers help you to understand the times and the feelings of those who fought there.

Lance Herdegen brought my great-grandfather to life for me - an opportunity I would never have experienced if this book had not been written. I have also listened to Mr. Herdegen speak, telling stories about the Civil War, about the "Western" soldiers from Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Native Americans, who enlisted as "French-Canadians" since as native americans they were considered at that time to be "foreign" peoples...how incredible that seems to us now.

The Civil War will long hold interest and mystery. I think you will enjoy this book, as well as the others written by Lance Herdegen. He is a great authority on the Civil War

I must say I was thrilled to come across this book here. James Patrick Sullivan was my great-great grandfather and I knew little about my ancestors before. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a glimpse of a soldier's recollections of the War Between the States.

I am very interested in the Iron Brigade, and this is one of the best books I have read on that subject. The book gives a lot of insight into what the life was like for a Civil War soldier.

An Irishman In The Iron Brigade, The Civil War Memoirs of James P. Sullivan...65th Wisconsin Volunteers, William Beaudot & Lance Herdegen; Fordham University Press (1993)

If you've just finished reading a deplorable book, pulp it with a vengeance & then immediately commence reading the cure, AIB.

The quality of the writing all around is superb. Sullivan [1843-1906], despite not having gotten far in school, was a natural writer with a great flair for self-expression & humor.

As for Wisconsin politician & Army officer Benjamin Sweet: "He had been a state senator, & being restricted by the rules of the senate from talking them into insanity..."

On incompetent Union Army commanders: "To say nothing about drunk Joe [Hooker], who had [Robert E.] Lee where he would have to fight him on his own ground or seek safety in inglorious flight. Our fellows thought Hooker did the inglorious part to perfection on that occasion."

And "Squad Drill" is a riot! Sullivan was given the impossible job of trying to train rookie soldiers - a German & an Irishman who could barely understand each other - how to march together with both left feet going forth simultaneously: "Wallschlaeger & Thomas proved to be good soldiers, & although [Thomas]...'couldn't shoot & hit a barn if he was within it...he was a divil in a charge.' "

As for the authors... it's sadly obvious that university presses worldwide will publish practically anything.

Random examples: "Chattanooga - A Death Grip on The Confederacy," by James McDonough (University of Tennessee Press 1984); "Jubal, The Life & Times of General Jubal A. Early..." Charles Osborne (Louisiana State University Press 1992); "Eisenhower's Lieutenants," Russell Weigley (Indiana University Press 1981); & "The Coming of The 3rd Reich," Richard Evans (originally, Cambridge University, UK; custody of this literary Frankenstein was then awarded to Penguin Press; 2004*)...

- All dreadful (& even at used-book prices, over the years, this been an expensive way to find out which of these pretenders to the pen should have been forced by court order to found an honest way to make a living).

Well, Fordham University Press signed up Beaudot & Herdegen, historical writers of the absolute first rank. Their mutual ability to write with their own engaging & original style; passion for history itself; & most importantly, overall, their interest in & compassion for people as human beings - these are the reasons why AIB is so rewarding to read.

And not only do they possess a good sense of humor & write well; the book is remarkably well-organized. For example, their system of locating their comprehensive & interesting footnotes at the end of each chapter is a vast improvement over the standard & cumbersome method of positioning FN explanations at the end of the book.

And the living authors, two-thirds of the franchise, had luck on their side, as well. What are the odds of historians in the late 1980s, researching the life of James P. Sullivan (who died in 1906), discovering to their amazement & delight that his son, James F. Sullivan (born in 1901), was still alive & available for both interviews & as a contributor of the book's inspiring Foreword?!

Yes, there are some redundancies, which might give the reader an uneasy feeling after having been exposed to all too obvious robo-cut-&-paste editing (yes, I'm curiously objecting to having to read good writing not once, but twice, which is why I'd just leave things the way they are).

And the editor should have taken the liberty of breaking up some of Sullivan's paragraphs so that each runs no longer than one page each (I think that the concept of "new" paragraphs became fashionable only after the invention of manual typewriters, which Sullivan's post-war lectures may have predated. No I don't think that. Sit down. I'm pulling your leg).

But my only serious objection to AIB is the indecipherable story of "Company K's Mule." How did the repeated "kidnappings" &"rescues" of this animal result in financial windfalls?

Never mind that. Let's see if the universities of Louisiana or Tennessee have any interest in publishing the just-discovered Civil War memoirs of Boo The Army Mule. Give Oxford a call, too, while you're at it.

***

*If Cambridge University conforms to the practices of the Oxford University Press - which appears likely - this is an offering from the obituary of Charles Arnold-Baker (Telegraph, UK June 15, 2009):

"But whereas...Dr Johnson had a team of some half-dozen copyists in the 18th century, Arnold-Baker wrote ["Companion to British History"] himself after being commissioned by the Clarendon Press at Oxford in 1960.

"As the decades passed, he was pressed to accept the aid of young, more narrowly-educated, professional historians who refused to reveal their identities or the reasons for their criticisms - & he abandoned the project in disgust.

"A sympathetic printer told him that being published by OUP was like going to bed with a duchess: the privilege was greater than the pleasure. "