Customer Reviews

Little Short of Boat (Dicovering Civil War America)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is little to add that already hasn't been said in the other reviews. I just wish it was available in hardback! If the future titles in this series are as good as this then Ironclad is assured of repeated patronage. I only have one very very minor criticism. Though the maps are generally quite good, I wish elevation lines were included as the topography of the Union left flank had a critical effect on the fight and the text covering it was a little confusing at times. None of this detracts much from this wonderful work, which is easily the best battle history of 2004.

Ball's Bluff was one of those little Civil War battles that had a big impact. It was a disaster for the North. Heads rolled. Politicians fumed.

Jim Morgan has written a terrific book about this battle, full of maps and photos. He has reconstructed the battle convincingly and beautifully. He writes in a clear and graceful prose and weaves the tales of the survivors into the narrative. He tells us what happened and why. He's researched this subject down to the ground. I'm a student of the war, and there's nothing out there about Ball's Bluff to compare with this.

Almost best of all, he includes a guided tour of the battlefield, complete with photographs so that you are always oriented. Read the book, then check out the battlefield. It's in great shape, almost completely unspoiled.

Clearly the best treatment of the Battle at Ball's Bluff available. An excellent telling of the little known fight drawn from good research and a thorough bibliography. The included tour guide alone is worth the price of the book.

This is a fascinating book, particularly for those of us who are interested in America's Civil War and in small unit military tactics. It deals with a discrete battle that can be isolated from the surrounding conflicts so that the actions of the participants can be dissected to expose the mistakes that brought about a tragic toll in human life.

The narrative is chock-full of facts that give the book a ring of authority. It is written in the conversational style of a tour guide who is at home on the battlefield terrain. On occasion, Jim Morgan refers to himself as "the author" and states his own views in a way that clearly distinguishes them from the comments of other historians. Comments of survivors of the battle, excerpted from letters and other first-hand accounts, are masterfully woven into the fabric of the story. Summary descriptions of the participants help the reader to place the combatants in historical perspective without unduly extending the length of the work.

As the reader progresses through the book, an interesting dichotomy between the text and the illustrations becomes apparent. The text describes a competitive conflict between the Union and Confederate forces. One has the sense of an evenly matched conflict. Meanwhile, the sketches of the troop movements throughout the day show the Confederate forces inevitably pushing the Union troops back toward the bluff and the Potomac River.

Contemporaneous accounts of the Battle of Ball's Bluff echoed The Charge of the Light Brigade, "someone had blundered." Who? Or is it whom? Don't expect this short book to provide all of the answers. But it does prompt the questions: Why didn't General McClellan communicate to the Ball's Bluff force the movement of other Union troops along the Potomac? Why did Colonel Baker move his troops across the Potomac River and up a steep bluff without ascertaining the size of the enemy force in front of him? Why did Colonel Baker not have anti-personnel (grape and canister) ammunition for his artillery? Was there a withdrawal plan? Were the subordinate unit commanders aware of the objectives?

It is good history and a good read.

James Morgan is known far and wide as THE expert on the Battle at Ball's Bluff. There have been other works and articles published on the battle, but Jim's far outranks them all and is now the standard for the fight and battlefield. He also dispels disproven myths about the battle and for the first time presents an extremely well documented telling. The special bonus is that, as with all volumes of Ironclad's "Discovering Civil War America" series, there is an expertly-crafted guided tour in the back of the book.

For anyone interested in a little-known early clash of the Civil War, or even if you think you know what happened there, you must get this book. Read it through, and then take it to the battlefield with you for the tour, especially the little National Cemetery there. If you're lucky, Morgan himself will be available to tour with you. - he's a battlefield guide there.

Fantastic writing, impressive bibliography and sources.

A minor event can cause a series of events that make history. The specific event is quickly lost as the series of events come to life and the result occurs. The result is the important event that makes history. We may find mention of the minor event in a good history. If you wish to learn more, you will find few detailed studies.
The Battle of Ball's Bluff is a very minor event in the American Civil War. In terms of a "battle", about 3,500 are involved on both sides, hardly qualifying as major skirmish in four years. Depending on who is speaking, the "battle" is a slight demonstration, a reconnaissance in force or an attempt to occupy Leesburg. Whatever it was, it became a disaster for the Union force. They lost over half of the men involved, as once again a Union force fled the field of battle. Confederate losses were about ten percent of the Union's and they captured about 500 prisoners. Defeat at Ball's Bluff following defeats at Manassas and Wilson's Creek deepen the gloom in America. To make things worse, Senator Edward Dickinson Baker, a close friend of President Lincoln, is killed leading a regiment.
This poorly planned unintended battle suffers from a lack specific objectives. Everyone tries to evade responsibility in the aftermath. McClellan has evidence that the army is not ready to enter the field. Lincoln starts to question his officer's abilities as he mourns Baker. The congressional Radical Republicans are certain the West Point officers lack zeal. The Confederate's view of Yankee shopkeepers deepens as their moral climbs. The Union solider in the East suffers a second bad defeat in three months. The battle of Ball's Bluff brings the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War into being. What had been private mussing, discussions over dinner or dissatisfaction flares into a witch-hunt that bedevils the administration and the army for the length of the war.
What is the Battle of Ball's Bluff? What was the overall plan, if one existed? What happened on the field? This book answers our questions by providing an in-depth look at this operation. The author answers, to the extent possible, the questions that have existed for 150 years. The eight chapters cover the lack of planning, objectives, information and fighting in detail. With so few units and such a tight space, the action is easy to follow. The author writes in a direct descriptive prose that is clear, informative and very readable. Maps and illustrations are in the right places and easy to follow. An Epilogue follows the participants through life making them more than names that exist for a few hours. Seven Appendixes cover Order of Battle, provide in-depth answers to some questions, a look at the Memorials and the battlefield. Of great use is a walking tour of the park and a look at "why".
In 2004, Ironclad first published this book. Savas Beatie did not "reprint the Ironclad edition"! You will find two Forwards as these are two different books on the same subject. Since 2004, new material became available that is incorporated into this edition. Expanding the size of the book allows for more biographical information, anecdotes and illustrations. The walking tour is new reflecting the improvements made to the park. Having the 2004 edition on your shelf is not a reason to ignore this book.

Although I have read and enjoyed Byron Farwell's book on the disastrous Balls Bluff battle that caused such a psychological shock on the Union, Morgan's book provides deeper analysis into what occurred virtually blow by blow that will appeal greatly to the serious Civil War student. The book may be a bit challenging for those less familiar with Civil War history due to depth of the descriptions that breakdown movements virtually by company; however, the several maps included provide a great assistance. The numerous bios and command distinctions does slow the action some times and causes periodic distraction. Morgan describes the battlefield with references to its modern state making it a particularly handy read and companion when visiting the battle site that has suffered some modern encroachment. What I found most interesting about this book is the study of both the union command structure, which was fragmented between commanders of similar rank compounded by the late arrival of the commanding officer Colonel Baker. The force that was initially suppose to be a reconnaissance in force across the Potomac coordinated with a lower movement at Edward's Ferry and a move by McClellan further east but its purpose seemed to lend itself to full committed due to a misperception of grautious success. The author also provides a profile of the odd confederate command with the infamous Major Evans commanding in spite of Colonel Hunton's superior rank. Morgan does a great job capturing the detailed movements of all the forces involved resolving some of the mystery of confederate forces that were largely unseen by the union forces. The command structure of the Union is handicapped by faulty information supplied by an earlier scouting expedition that misinterprets landmarks for a confederate encampment. This confusion contributes to the poor disposition of troops that concentrate on the south and west while the majority of the officers recognize that the east wooded area that also encompasses a ravine, is the most vulnerable area. This recognition of the east vulnerability is discovered late, not long after the commander, Colonel Baker, arrives on the scene. Morgan takes away a lot of the mystery of what happens next by detailing the confederate attacks and late union shifting of units that ultimately leads to a collapse of the union position. With the high bluffs on their back with a relatively deep river behind, the collapse of the union left leads to an abrupt fragmentation of order. Morgan goes further in his book describing the overall campaign that is obviously hindered by the newness of the war's command structure and communications. Neither Stone, overall commander at Balls Bluff and Edwards Ferry, nor McClellan has a real feel for what is occurring until the collapse. Morgan also captures the fighting around Edwards Ferry that coincided with Balls Bluff and McClellan's ineffective movements that contributed to the isolation of Baker's forces. In addition, Morgan tells how General Stone is severely punished, including incarceration, by vengeful politicians and is neglected by General McClellan. Baker was a popular politician and friend of Lincoln's that contributes immensely to the severe reaction to this union defeat. In this book, Morgan also provides a walking tour of the battlefield that identifies significant landmarks even obscured by modern housing units. This is the ultimate book that will give you the in-depth story of this small battle that had far reaching effects on the north while also assisting you in your visit to the battlefield. Farwell's book is also a good read and captures more detail on Stone's fall.

Morgan certainly has written the most ambitious extant history of Ball's Bluff/Edwards Ferry. He also has tried, largely successfully despite sometimes scanty evidence, to read the tea leaves of the official reports, diaries and memoirs to construct a timeline for the battles.

His writing is compelling, his conclusions generally well-supported, and his comments fair enough. He rarely wanders off into irrelevance, only once arguing, for instance, that there's no verification of one diarist's claim that Fort Evans had Quaker guns. It would be strange if they didn't, considering the Seventh Brigade only had four real artillery pieces, and the verification is available in a Minnesota soldier's post-war memoir. Whose great grandson, as it happens, bought the remains of Fort Evans in the 1950s and built a home nearby.

I'd also quarrel with his conclusion that the Minutemen of Attala, the one company of the 13th Mississippi to be detailed to the Bluff, got lost in the woods enroute. Morgan missed one good diarist, Private Mike Hubbert, whose work is only available in Texas, who explained their delay in reaching the field and never mentioned getting lost. But I only remember these quibbles because they stand out in a generally excellent piece of work. And it surely deserves a better edition than this poorly-glued paperback which quickly sheds pages with too much back-n-forth page turning.

This is just a great book! James A. Morgan III has put together an outstanding account of the battle of Ball's Bluff and the skirmishing at Edwards Ferry (October 21-22, 1861). He sets up the situation in northern Virginia on the banks of the Potomac in late 1861 so that it is easy for the reader to understand why and how the events unfolded as they did.

The commander of the Union Army of the Potomac, Major General George B. McClellan was concerned about his armies right flank on the upper Potomac and the threat of a Confederate move from Leesburg, Virginia around that flank and a dash for Baltimore, Maryland. There was a Union Division posted in the area under the command of Brigadier General Charles P. Stone. On the Confederate side Colonel Nathan G. "Shanks" Evans commanded just a brigade at Leesburg and had no plans for an offensive but was constructing fortifications. Evans felt he should pull back from the town because it was an exposed position. When he did 16-17 October, 1861 he set in motion the events that led to the disaster at Ball's Bluff. McClellan was surprised by the withdrawal and started a reconnaissance on the Virginia side of the river by a division. But this recon did not make it to Leesburg and was ordered back on the day of the battle at Ball's Bluff. Stone did not know this and turned a patrol across the Potomac at Ball's Bluff into a raid based on faulty intelligence in conjuntion with a Union diversionary crossing downriver at Edwards Ferry, that eventually became a reconnasiance/advance toward Leesburg under the command of Colonel/Senator Edward Baker (Baker's tactical decisions that day did not help the Union cause), that turned into a disastrous battle for Union forces at Ball's Bluff when forced to retreat across the rain swollen Potomac after running into stiff resistance from Evans' troops who had been ordered to reoccupy the Leesburg area.

McClellan lost a lot of prestige with the Lincoln administration because of the defeat and this and the earlier rout of Union forces at First Bull Run led elements in the government to form the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War (JCCW) to investigate the military reverses. Stone, a man who had made some enemies in the army (who later testified against him to the JCCW) and the government, acted under the impression that his movements would be supported by the Union division on the Virginia side of the river and due to communication errors between himself and McClellan never realized such support did not exist. He was blamed for the disaster, investigated by the JCCW, arrested (but later released), and basically had his career in the army destroyed. Colonel Baker, who had powerful friends in the government (including President Lincoln, Baker was one of his best freinds), died at Ball's Bluff a martyr and never recieved the blame he deserved for the defeat. Evans was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General for his part in the battle.

The author writes very well so it was easy to read the book and keep up with events even though Ball's Bluff is a battle I was not that familiar with. The research is outstanding. An examination of the Bibliography makes that quite clear. And the author has a thorough knowledge of the parts of the battlefield that have not been lost to modern development because he got out and toured the battlefield on foot.

The book has twelve maps that really made it easier to keep up with what was going on as I read the book. There is one Theater of Operations Map that worked really well at showing all the locations mentioned in the book (both sides of the Potomac, Washington D.C., Leesburg, Ball's Bluff, Edwards Ferry), nine battle maps showing the action at Ball's Bluff at various times throughout the day of 21 October, 1861 and two battle maps for the skirmishing at Edwards Ferry 21-22 October, 1861. The battle maps are really good at showing troop positions, movements and the terrain features. I only wish there had been an Area of Operations map showing the entire Leesburg region (Leesburg, Ball's Bluff, Edwards Ferry) so I could have had a better overall mental picture of the contested area. I recommend using "The Maps Of First Bull Run" by Bradley M. Gottfried to get an even better understanding of what happened, but the maps in this book can stand alone. Much better than the maps found in most American Civil War books.

The book is realy well illustrated with fifty two pictures of participants, maps drawn by participants and period newspapers, aerial photos, modern photos of the battlefield taken by the author and more. The book ends with a great Walking/Driving Tour that I intend to use if I am ever in the battlefield area. Five great Appendixes provide even more information for the reader including detailed Order of Battle, more information on a couple of the participants, the death of Colonel Baker, and the Memorials at the battlefield. The Endnotes also contained a lot of additional information that I found interesting.

This is a fantastic book on a small American Civil War battle that I cant recommend enough. This is the first title I have read from Ironclad Publishing and I cant wait to get another one. Outstanding, check this one out!

This is the definitive book about the Battle of Ball's Bluff and the Battle at Edwards Ferry, which occurred near Leesburg, Va., on October 21--22, 1861. The approximately 1,700 Confederate troops routed an equal number of Union soldiers. Ball's Bluff was the only battle in which a sitting U.S. senator (Edward Baker) was killed in combat. Baker's death led to the formation of the Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, and its investigations or threats of investigations affected the behavior and decisions of several Union generals for the rest of the war.

Morgan makes extensive use of soldiers' diaries, after-action reports, archives, contemporary newspaper accounts and other published material. He is a marvelous storyteller who makes the details of the battle clear and riveting. In addition to careful endnotes, he includes a walking and driving tour of the battlefield and appendices that add extensive background to the individuals and units involved.

The book is a must for collections of serious scholarship about the Civil War.