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A Brotherhood of Valor: The Common Soldiers of the Stonewall Brigade, C. S. A. and the Iron Brigade, U. S. A.

Amazon.com Price:  $9.00 (as of 19/04/2019 16:45 PST- Details)

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Description

This peculiar and moving chronicle covers one of the most important battles of the Civil War — Sharpsburg (Antietam), Gettysburg, and Chancellorsville — through the stories of the two brigades who confronted each other on the bloody fields of battle.
Drawing on original source material, Jeffry Wert reconstructs the drama and terrors of war through the eyes of the abnormal men who became members of two of the most respected fighting units of their respective armies, the Stonewall Brigade of the Confederacy and the Iron Brigade of the Union. There are tales of grueling marches and almost unbearable deprivations; eyewitness accounts of ferocious fighting and devastating losses on both sides; and portraits of acts of courage and valor performed by soldiers and officers who, despite the difficulties they faced, remained dedicated to the cause for which they were fighting.
Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson used to be arguably the greatest commander of the Civil War. Yet “Stonewall” Jackson owed much of his success to the troops who served under him. He eagerly gave them their due: “You can not praise these men of my brigade too much; they have fought, marched, and endured more than I even thought they would.” The Stonewall Brigade, composed mainly of Virginians from the Shenandoah Valley, proved its mettle at First Manassas and never let up–even after its esteemed leader used to be shot down at Chancellorsville. Their equally elite counterparts in the Army of the Potomac were referred to as the Iron Brigade, hardy westerners drawn from Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. By focusing on these two groups, historian Jeffry Wert retells the story of the Civil War’s eastern theater as it used to be experienced by these abnormal men from North and South.

His battle descriptions are riveting, especially when he covers Antietam:

Three times the Georgians charged towards the guns, and three times they were repelled. Union infantry west of the battery ripped apart the attacker’s flank, and the artillerists unleashed more canister…. In the end, the Georgians could withstand the punishment no longer, and as more Union infantry piled into the Cornfield, Hood’s wrecked division retreated towards West Woods and Dunker Church. When asked later where his command used to be, Hood replied, “Dead on the field.”

But the book is perhaps most notable for the way in which it describes the on a regular basis hardships befalling each side. They ceaselessly lacked food, shoes, blankets, and other military necessities. When the war began, the men believed deeply in their conflicting causes. Before it used to be over, writes Wert, “the war itself became their common enemy.” Wert is slowly but surely gaining a reputation as one of the vital finest popular historians writing about the Civil War; A Brotherhood of Valor will undoubtedly advance his claim. –John J. Miller

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