Customer Reviews

The Stonewall Brigade

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"The Stonewall Brigade" by James I. Robertson Jr.,is a readable book that all Civil War history buffs will enjoy."The Stonewall Brigade" is a book that examines in-depth one of the Civil War's most recognized and exceptional brigades.Robertson writes of the many hardships the soldiers endured while giving insight to command decisions that made these hardships nessesary.One can quickly see why the Stonewall Brigade was willing to go into the most harmful of situations for Old Jack.This is a honest representation of the Stonewall Brigade which gives many interesting facts to support both the excellance and shortcomings of the brigade.Overall,I recommend this book to anyone who is fascinated with the man known as Stonewall. A must for Stonewall Jasckson Fanatics!

This book makes it clear why the Stonewall Brigade was considered to be one of the premier fighting units of the Civil War. Primarily written in a narrative format, it is well written and will hold the attention of the non-specialist. I found that sometimes the author's narrow focus on the Stonewall Brigade made it hard to understand what was happening in the context of the war as a whole, even to the point of creating confusion as to which battle was taking place. I also suspect that more recent studies will have focused more on primary sources generated by the soldiers themselves and on issues of discipline and morale. Still, this is a classic work.

My favorite civil war author so far is James I. Robertson. He finished his PhD. at Emory University in 1959, wrote this book a few years later, published his first book in 1963. He's received many academic awards for his research and is considered the expert on Stonewall Jackson. He is currently a professor at Virginia Tech.

This book is about Stonewall Jackson's legendary brigade which sent thousands of yanks fleeing for the other side of the Mason-Dixon line or so the legend goes. Reading this book made me feel as if I were on the trail with his troops, wondering where we'd wind up next and cursing Old Jack for all the trouble he'd put you through. Stonewall never told his staff where exactly they were heading. The brigade continued on even after Stonewall's death. The last chapters cover the remnants of the brigade's movements and travails the last years of the civil war.

One soldier wrote, ""I venture to say that there is no military march on record, for distance and unfavorable conditions, equal to that march of the Second Regiment of Va. infantry! And very few equal to that march of the brigade!""

Another civil war treasure.

The Stonewall Brigade captivated my attention from beginning to end. For anyone interested in Stonewall Jackson, this is a must read. Professor Robertson introduces the reader to the various commanders of Jackson's Foot Cavalry, with intimate descriptions of their background and a fine collection of photgraphs. He leads the reader through the various campaigns from First Manassas through Appomatox, acquainting one with the many grueling experiences of this brave, dedicated and loyal brigade. I was pleased to discover that two of the commanders (Walker and Terry), both lawyers, hailed from Wytheville, Virginia, where I have roots.

Professor Robertson does an excellent job bringing out the personalities of the various commanders of the Stonewall Brigade, including the huge egos some of them had, one of them even wanting to challenge Jackson to a duel. Also discussed was Jackson's removal of Dick Garnett from command, rightly or wrongly, and Garnett's subsequent need to redeem himself, resulting in his death on the third day at Gettysburg. Professor Robertson shows how various commanders interacted with their troops and with the Mighty Stonewall himself. He captivates the reader's attention with everything from 25 mile marches, to death on the battlefield, to snowball fights between the Stonewall Brigade and the Georgia troops. Very captivating, and at times even romantic. A chart at the end of the book shows the 5 regiments that made up this mighty Brigade, the companies with their nicknames comprising each regiment, and what areas of Virginia they hailed from.