"They did not smell exactly like roast beef."

“That Sandwich Will Need No Pepper”, was the title of a recent blog post I did about Abner Doubleday. It must have been the most memorable of the quotes in the article because it got me a few good-natured laughs from ranger buddies Mannie Gentile, and John Hoptak when I volunteered at the park the following Sunday.

Thinking that perhaps I was on to something, and in the interest of further continuing this line of culinary related quotations, I offer this one made by John Gibbon (photo at left), commander of the Black Hat Brigade at Antietam.

One month before Antietam, on August 18, before Gibbon’s brigade had earned their famous sobriquets, his command camped on the Cedar Mountain battlefield. Gibbon’s tent was pitched near the position previously held by a Confederate artillery battery. Several dead artillery horses from the fight nine days earlier still littered the ground around his campsite. Gibbon wrote to his wife Fannie, that their first order of business “was to to go to work and burn them up.” This engendered the further wry comment that the burning, smoky putrefying carcasses “did not exactly smell like roast beef.”

Seriously dead horse flesh left after battles like Cedar Mountain and Antietam posed a serious health problem. The photo at the left, taken at Antietam after the battle, is from the collection of Alexander Gardner and appears in Antietam – The Photographic Legacy of America’s Bloodiest Day by William A. Frassanito. (Gettysburg: Thomas Publications, 1978), page 168. The only recourse was to burn the unfortunate creatures. Artillery horses were frequent and legitimate targets of infantrymen. If they could kill the horses, they could reduce the enemy artillery batteries ability to limber up and move away and make them easier to capture.

So how many artillery horses were at the Battle of Antietam? According to Curt Johnson and Richard C. Anderson Jr. in their book Artillery Hell the Employent of Artillery at Antietam (College Station Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1995), a full strength battery of six guns required 146 horses (page 28). Confederate batteries often pulled their guns with four horses instead of six and many of their batteries had fewer than six guns. The authors list the Union as having a total of 66 batteries and 323 guns at the battle (page 39). The Confederates had 57 batteries and 246 guns (page 40). If we accounted for the fewer number of guns and horses in Confederate artillery units, lets use a conservative average of 100 horses per battery. With 123 batteries total that would put the artillery horse population on the battlefield conservatively at 12,300 animals. There must have been hundreds of dead horses to dispose of. Like Gibbon's (or should we say the enlisted men's) action at Cedar Mountain, the horses would have been burned.

Spring is Here! The Antietam Spring Hike Schedule

I got an email from my friend Ron Dickey with a link to the spring hike schedule at Antietam National Battlefield. This eagerly awaited series of hikes is a sure sign that spring is here. It is an annual rite of the new season practiced by quite a few hard core battlefield trompers. Join us this spring on these hikes led by the terrific ranger staff at the battlefield. There are a couple of new topics here which some of us regular hikers will appreciate. See you on the field. Here is the link.

March

Sunday, 20th, Battlefield Hike-Irish Brigade at Antietam-This hike will begin at 1:15 p.m. at the Newcomer House on MD Rt. 34, which is approximately one mile east of the town of Sharpsburg. The length of the hike is two miles and it will last about two hours. General Meagher (at left) led the Brigade that day.

April

Saturday, 9th, Battlefield Hike

-Burnside Bridge-This battlefield hike begins at Tour Stop 9, Burnside Bridge, at 1:15 p.m. and will explore the Confederate defense of and the Federal attacks upon the Burnside Bridge. The hike is approximately two miles in

length and will last about two hours. Colonel Edward Ferraro's brigade (at left) carried the bridge after a series of bloody attacks.

Sunday, 10th, Battlefield Hike-Fort Sumter to Antietam-This battlefield hike begins at 1:15 p.m. near the visitor center. We will discuss the participants that were present for the first shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter and then the role they played at Antietam. This hike will last approximately two hours and is about two miles in length. That's David R. Jones to the left, a South Carolina officer who was present at Fort Sumter and commanded a division at Antietam .

Saturday, 16th,

Battlefield Hike-Final Attack-This battlefield hike begins at Tour Stop 9, Burnside Bridge, at 1:15 p.m. and will explore the Federal attack on the Confederate right flank. The hike is approximately two miles in length and will last about two hours. Maxey Gregg, also from South Carolina commanded the lead brigade of A.P. Hill's Light Division that struck the exposed Union flank .

Sunday, 17th, Battlefield Hike-The Stonewall Brigade at Sharpsburg-This battlefield hike begins at 1:15 p.m. near the visitor center. We will discuss the history of the Stonewall Brigade as well as look at the participants involved in the secession of Virginia and their role at Sharpsburg. This hike will last approximately two hours and is about two miles in length.

Private John Henry Rosebrook, Battery M, First New York Light Artillery

Some time ago I was randomly scanning through a list of Civil War soldiers when I came upon the name of Henry Rosebrook. Knowing that my ancestors sometimes used this version of the spelling, I looked closer. I discovered that Rosebrook was a private in Battery M, First New York Light Artillery. This battery was raised in Niagara County where I am originally from. This battery, sometimes known as Cothran’s Battery was part of the Twelfth Corps at Antietam. It was actively engaged in the Cornfield supporting General Gordon’s brigade. The battery was armed with four ten pound Parrots and two 3 inch ordnance rifles. Cothran’s Antietam report is found here.

As my interest in Henry Rosebrook and Battery M deepened, I contacted the Niagara County Historical Society. I learned about a book published by the Wilson Town Historical Society titled "The Valiant Men of Battery M" which outlines the history of the battery. I arranged with Ann Marie Linnabery the Assistant Director of the Historical Society to send me a photocopy of the book. The book added much to my knowledge about this battery.

George M. Cothran raised the battery in the summer of 1861 from volunteers, mostly from Niagara County New York. I was not sure if Henry Rosebrook was one of the original volunteers until I was finally able to view the roster of the First New York Artillery Regiment found in The Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the Year 1896. From the roster, I learned that Henry in fact enlisted in August 1862 and along with about 20 other replacements arrived at Sharpsburg around September 20, just three days after the battle.

I wanted to learn more about Rosebrook. When my good friend and West Woods blogger Jim Buchanan invited me to visit the National Archives several weeks ago, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to learn how the archives research facilities were organized. I would use a military and pension record search of Henry Rosebrook as a trial run on how to use the research resources there.

There is a researcher’s entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue separate from the public entrance on Constitution Avenue. Jim who is a veteran researcher led me through the process of obtaining a researcher’s ID card. I got a locker and deposited all paper, pens, and other personal materials there before going any farther. Computers, scanners, and cameras may be brought in after being checked by security. Once inside you can obtain pencils, paper and other note taking materials but cant bring in your own.

I must say that the staff at the Archives is extremely helpful. With their assistance, I learned that I needed to make separate requests for pension, and military records. The staff “pulls” documents approximately every hour. So to make the 11 o’clock pull, I had to have my requests into the staff before that. In my case, the staff pulled the documents at 11 o’clock and they were ready for me at 12 o’clock.

After dropping off our requests, Jim and I had an hour before our documents were ready. I took the time to browse through the census records and Official Records while waiting and then Jim and I grabbed lunch. At noon, we made our way to the library where we would review the records that we asked for. Security is ever present. Staff again swiped my newly issued Archives ID to authorize entrance to this room.

After signing for it, I was first handed Henry’s military records. The small brown envelope contained cards that were made out every two months that accounted for Henry’s status ie “present”, “hospital” etc. I obtained paper and a pencil and began taking notes. Many folks in the room, much better prepared came equipped with scanners, or cameras to copy documents. You can also load money on to your ID card and make copies with the assistance of staff. I wasn’t prepared to do any of this so resorted to taking notes. After looking at the military record, I returned it and was handed a much larger envelope that contained the pension records. Veterans could be eligible for a disability pension, and their widows could also receive a pension. The bulk of the documents in this second file were legal documents attesting to Henry’s eligibility for a disability pension, and subsequently his widow’s request and supporting documents for a pension after Henry died in 1903.

Opening these files was a humbling experience. It is likely that no human eye has beheld these documents since 1926 when Henry’s widow Christine died, and an entry was made in the file to discontinue her widow’s pension. Here was the story of a young man’s life.

His real name was John Henry Rosebrook. He apparently went by his middle name as all the rosters that I saw show him as Henry. At the time of his enlistment, he gave his age as 22 and his place of birth as Prussia. He had blue eyes, light hair and a light complexion. He lived in Tonawanda, Erie County, New York and listed his occupation as a farmer. Rosebrook enlisted at Wilson New York on August 26, 1862 for three years. He received a bounty of $25 and an additional premium of $4. He mustered into Battery M, First New York Light Artillery Regiment on September 5, 1862. According to a letter in Henry’s pension file from William Holmes, another member of the battery, Henry was one of a group of about 20 replacements that joined the unit at Antietam on September 20^th, just three days after the battle. Cothran’s battery had been involved in the thick of the fighting in the Cornfield and suffered six men wounded. Cothran, in his official report tells of shooting up all his ammunition and remaining in the fight for four hours. Brigadier General George Gordon who by the end of the day commanded Williams Division commends Cothran for keeping at bay “a furious but futile charge of the enemy.” One can imagine the impression that the horrific battlefield made on the recently arrived farmer from upstate New York.

What I know of Rosebrook’s service comes mainly from the letter in his pension file written by William Holmes. Like Rosebrook, Holmes was also 22 years old and lived in neighboring Wilson New York, where Henry enlisted. Holmes first enlisted on October 4, 1861, but not in Battery M. Instead perhaps seeking more excitement and adventure, he joined Company G, 7^th New York Cavalry as some of his friends enlisted in Lockport resident George Cothran’s new artillery company soon to known as Battery M, First New York Light Artillery. The 7^th New York Cavalry was a short-lived outfit however. It left New York on November 23, 1861, and served near Washington, D. C. until March 31, 1862, when, not having been mounted, it was honorably discharged and mustered out.[1] Holmes must have known from friends, the location of Battery M for by the end of April, 1862, he journeyed to Newmarket Virginia and enlisted in the battery on April 23, 1862. By the time that Holmes met Rosebrook, the young man was already a combat veteran having served with the battery in the battles of Winchester, Cedar Mountain, and Antietam.

Holmes said that Henry rode one of the artillery caisson horses. He went on to say that Rosebrook spoke poor English and that he (Holmes) sometimes wrote letters for Henry to his “German friends” back in Tonawanda. One of these German friends may have been Charles Hagen, who also wrote a letter that is found in Henry’s pension file. Holmes reports that at Harpers Ferry, Henry suffered what was to become the first of many bouts of rheumatism and was hospitalized on December 23, 1862 at Alexandria Virginia. He was back to his unit sometime in January and was present at the bloody battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Henry was once again hospitalized in Washington DC on September 24 1863. By November, he had returned to his unit, which with the rest of the Twelfth Corps was now in Tennessee. Henry’s rheumatism must have become progressively worse for he was hospitalized for a third time on February 20, 1864 and spent over a year in a hospital at Bridgeport Alabama. He left the hospital on April 24, 1865 in time to participate in Battery M's mustering out at Rochester on June 23, 1865. According to the military record, at his discharge he was owed and presumably paid $75.

Returning home, the pension records reflect that Henry married Christine Hagen on August 24, 1865. Christine was perhaps a sister or cousin of his friend Charles Hagen. Interestingly I learned more about Christine than I did about Henry. Christine was also born in Germany on March 26, 1847. She would have been 18 when she married Henry who was now 25 years old. The Rosebrooks would have four daughters. Anna and Lizzie were born in western New York between the years of 1866 and 1870. Sarah and Emma were born after Henry moved his family to Okolona in Henry County Ohio in 1872. Sarah was born in 1876 and Emma was born in 1880, just eight years before my own grandmother was born in 1888. I remember my grandmother who married my father’s dad, talking about visiting the “Ohio people” on several occasions. This may in fact have been a member of Henry Rosebrook’s family.

On June 9, 1887, Henry filed a request for a disability pension. He collected the necessary documentation from an attorney and a medical doctor in Ohio. He requested letters from his wartime colleague William Holmes, now a successful farmer in Wilson New York and his old friend Charles Hagen. These letters attested to his affliction but also provided many of the interesting details about Henry’s service. These are the documents in the pension file. Henry’s request was approved and he received a disability pension until his death on December 4, 1903. The file does not close there. Henry’s widow Christine submitted and was approved for a widow’s pension of $8 dollars a month. There are two other entries in the file related to this. One is dated March 20, 1917. It advised Christine that her pension had been increased to $20 per month. A final entry was made sometime after her death on June 30, 1926 which closed out the file.

I am now fairly certain that Henry Rosebrook has some relationship to my family though he may not be a direct ancestor. Still the exercise of looking at his military and pension records was very informative for my family and me personally. It also gave me a great understanding of how the process works for getting pension and military records form the great folks at the National Archives. I’ll be back!

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[1] New York in the War of the Rebellion, 7th ed. Frederick Phisterer. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, 1912

The Battle of South Mountain by John Hoptak - A Must Have Addition To Your Library

When I find a great Civil War book, I highlight memorable quotes, circle unit strength and casualty numbers, write dates and times in the margins, underline biographical information, and sketch diagrams of the battle lines. My copies of books like Joseph Harsh’s Taken at the Flood, and Tom Clemen’s edition of The Maryland Campaign of 1862 Volume One South Mountain by Ezra Carmen are like that – dog eared, marked up, and carried on my many treks to the sites of the Maryland Campaign. John Hoptak’s new book The Battle of South Mountain has joined my very select traveling library.

In their own right, the series of battles that occurred at Frosttown, Turners, Fox and Crampton’s Gaps of the South Mountain range on September 14, 1862 were significant military operations. On that late summer Sunday, Robert E. Lee’s scattered army was driven off the mountain heights by a resurgent Army of the Potomac and Lee’s plans to capture Harper’s Ferry, and force a decisive battle north of the Potomac River were seriously jeopardized.

Lasting over twelve hours with nearly 50,000 troops engaged, and around 5,800 casualties suffered, the fighting here ranks in scope with the war’s first battle at Bull Run in numbers involved and casualties suffered. Yet the Battle of South Mountain is nearly totally eclipsed by the epic Battle of Antietam, fought by these same armies three days later around the town of Sharpsburg. South Mountain is adequately treated in the classic Antietam campaign studies of James Murfin, Stephen Sears, and Joseph Harsh, but much detail and context is necessarily missing in these accounts. Antietam Battlefield ranger, historian and author John Hoptak has convincingly filled a critical need for a comprehensive, stand-alone study of this important battle.

The Battle of South Mountain, published by the History Press as part of its Sesquicentennial series is a crisp, concise but comprehensive account of the battles at the four passes or “gaps” across South Mountain on September 14, 1862. Beginning with an overview of the Maryland Campaign, the book then focuses a chapter on the fight at each of the four gaps. Chapter Two covers Fox Gap where Jesse Reno’s Ninth Corps battled most of General Daniel Harvey Hill’s division, and elements of D.R. Jones and John Hoods divisions in a daylong struggle for the critical southern flank of the Confederate line along the National Pike. Chapter Three is the story of Fighting Joseph Hooker’s fight for Turner’s Gap and the more northern Frosttown Gap. Union General John Gibbon’s Black Hat brigade of crack Midwestern soldiers contested the main road with Alfred Colquitt’s veteran brigade of Georgians and Alabamians. Further north at Frosttown, General Robert Rodes brigade of Alabama soldiers tenaciously defended that gap against George Meade’s Pennsylvania Reserve Division. After a daylong forced march from Hagerstown, Confederate reinforcements from Nathan Evans South Carolina brigade, and the other half of D.R. Jones division, arrived in time to blunt a final attack by three brigades of mostly New York troops in John Hatch’s division. Chapter Four is the story of the attack on Crampton’s Gap, undoubtedly the key element in George McClellan’s plan to rescue 11,000 beleaguered Union troops encircled by Confederate General Stonewall Jackson’s forces at Harpers Ferry. Here the two divisions of General Franklin’s powerful Sixth Corps are pitted against a small cavalry force under Thomas Munford and two weak infantry brigades from Major General Lafayette McLaw’s division.

The story is well told. It benefits from numerous battlefield tromps where Mr. Hoptak thoroughly researched the terrain, distances, vegetation, and road network. With that he paints a clear picture of this mountainous field of battle. Using many commander’s reports and the letters and diaries of individual soldiers, he recounts a stirring story of the desperate fighting that raged along a front of nearly seven miles. His descriptive style allowed me to always maintain a clear situational awareness of units, and leaders at all times and I came away with an increased understanding of the ebb and flow of this battle. There are also excellent biographical sketches of many of the regimental, brigade, and division commanders that fought the battle.

The book is rich in photographs and drawings of the soldiers and the battlefield. With eight fine maps rendered by fellow Antietam Ranger Mannie Gentile, a detailed order of battle, a bibliography with over seventy primary sources, and many other secondary references, the book is a truly scholarly effort that will satisfy both serious Civil War students and the general reading public. For Maryland Campaign aficionados, it is a must have addition to your library and is now the definitive account of the battle. It surely further secures John's place as a premier Maryland Campaign scholar.

The final chapter of the book concludes with McClellan’s pursuit of Lee’s defeated army to the banks of the Antietam. And if the story had truly ended there, with Lee retreating across the Potomac without giving further battle, the Battle of South Mountain would have been accorded a much higher standing in Civil War historiography. At long last, this book goes a long distance toward according the battle the scholarship and undivided attention that it deserves. You can read my review and more information about the book here at Amazon.

Out Early!!

John Hoptak’s long awaited new book The Battle of South Mountain is now available. It was not scheduled for release until March 7th but John advises on his blog that it is now available from publisher History Press or through the major online book retailers.

I am sincerely looking forward to reading my copy once it arrives. This prequel to the Battle of Antietam has cried out for an up to date interpretation and John is just the man to do it.

I sincerely wish John all the best in his latest writing endeavor.

"That sandwich will need no pepper."

I just finished a new book about Abner Doubleday. Titled easily enough Abner Doubleday A Civil War Biography, the book is the work of Thomas Barthel whose previous works have centered on the game of baseball. The book effectively debunks the theory that Doubleday had anything to do with the game of baseball. On the plus side, I learned a lot about Doubleday as a man, his background in upstate New York, his life after his Army career, and his great interest in spiritualism and strong support for abolitionism.

The soft cover edition with its front cover photos of both the Dunker Church and the Middle Bridge at Antietam compelled me to buy the book. I was hopeful that there would be a lot of attention on the Maryland Campaign. Doubleday's brigade played an important role at Frosttown Gap on September 14th. As the newly minted commander of Hatch's division after that officer was wounded at South Mountain, he played a critical role in the attacks down the Hagerstown Pike in the early hours of the Battle of Antietam. Unfortunately the book is very short of details on Doubleday’s military career except perhaps for his time at Fort Sumter and his controversial days at Gettysburg where he commanded the First Corps on July 1, 1863 but was relieved of command by his junior in rank John Newton. And despite its cover, the book sadly devotes few pages to the Maryland Campaign. Even worse, there are a number of glaring errors that somehow slipped by the editor. For example, the author states that Lee moved out of Frederick on September 7, 1862 to execute Special Order 191. Lee’s Army departed Frederick on September 9. He says the Battle of Turner’s Gap is sometimes referred to as Frostburg. I believe he means Frosttown Gap. He says that after its surrender, Jackson left 10,000 men at Harpers Ferry to guard the 12,000 prisoners. A.P. Hill had perhaps half that number and they were there to parole prisoners, not guard them. He says that the skirmishing in the East Woods the night of September 16 occurred between Albert Magilton’s brigade of Meade’s division and Lawson’s Confederates. First of all it was Truman Seymour’s brigade of Meade’s division that fought Hood’s men in the East Woods. And it is Lawton’s men that he is referring to, not Lawson’s. Finally, he says that Lee left perhaps 7,700 dead bodies when he retreated from Maryland. The actual death count was around 3,700 for both sides, with many more perishing of their wounds later on.

So for me, the book failed to educate me at all on Doubleday’s role in the Maryland Campaign. I learned more about the man and came away with more respect for him and his sense of duty as a soldier and public figure after the war. I did managed to add 40 quotes about Doubleday to my collection. You can read all of them here at Antietam Voices. Here are a few of my favorites.

"I wish Abner Doubleday, now a captain in the First Artillery, to be a major in the similar corps if possible."

Shortly after the hero of Fort Sumter returns to the North, Abraham Lincoln sends over this note from the White House to the War Department. Unfortunately the author did not cite the source of this quote.

"That sandwich will need no pepper." Abner Doubleday July 3 1863

It is at the height of the Confederate artillery barrage prior to Pickett-Pettigrew assault against the Union center. Abner Doubleday has removed a sandwich from his pocket and is about to eat it when he and the food are showered by dirt and gravel from a nearby exploding Confederate shell. He makes this wry remark to Major Harty T. Lee of his staff. This quote was originally from History of Pennsylvania Volunteers 1861-5: Prepared in Compliance with Acts of the Legislature by Samuel P. Bates. (Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot, 1993.).

"He is deficient considerably in the requisites of a commander. He does not drink whiskey…stays with his command and seems anxious to do his duty and fight Rebels….He also allows his wife to stay with him when he ought to keep a mistress." William O. Blodget

This tongue in cheek quote is from First Lieutenant William O. Bldogett of Company F, 151 Pennsylvania Infantry. It was originally found in The 151st Pennsylvania Volunteers at Gettysburg: Like Ripe Apples in a Storm by Michael Dreese and Timothy H. Smith. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2000.)

"Gen. Doubleday was not a man of 'personal magnetism' nor what is called a dashing officer.' He was an earnest and conscientious man and a safe and steady soldier-precise, methodical, and to be depended on in any emergency." Don Carlos Buell

This quote is attributed to General Don Carlos Buell who no one could ever accuse of possessing personal magnetism or of being a dashing officer. The quote describes Buell as much as it does Doubleday. Unfortunately the author did not cite the source of this quote.

"Gen. Doubleday who is a gallant officer. I saw him at Antietam…. He was remarkably cool and at the very front of battle, near Battery B at the haystacks." Rufus Dawes of the Sixth Wisconsin observed General Doubleday at the Battle of Antietam. Coming from this brave officer, this is high praise indeed. The quote is originally From Service with the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers by Rufus R. Dawes. (Marietta, OH: E.R. Alderman, 1890.)

"General Abner Doubleday was a tall dignified looking gentleman as is commonly called of the old school. At the time I met him he was inclined to be portly. His forehead was very full. His hair was dark, crisp and oily-well streaked with white. A large full high beaked nose; gray eyes; heavily bagged underneath. A short trimmed bushy mustache, almost black; very swarthy. His hands [are] small and smooth in structure. His expression was very serious, but lighting up when he started to tell his fine, wholesome, and humorous stories. I made a study of his head which his friends said was good- to me it seemed a little prim as Mrs. Doubleday insisted on brushing his hair and slicking him up." Kelly

Long after the war, a sculptor known in the book only by the name of Kelly describes Doubleday and his story telling expertise. The quote is originally from Interviewing the Commanders of the Civil War by William B. Styple. (Kearny, NJ: Grove, 2005.)

Book Bonanza

On a snow Saturday afternoon, there is nothing better than poking around a bookstore or two in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. That is what I did yesterday. In the past when I have been to Gettysburg with the kids, they have not had the patience or inclination to indulge my passion for nosing around so I have not been able to give these places more than a cursory look. Yesterday was another story. With no one tagging along I spent a couple of pleasant hours in two fine establishments slowly going over their collections. They were Battlefield & Beyond Military History Bookshop, and the American History Store on 461 Baltimore Street.

I will be eating macaroni and cheese for a couple of weeks to defray my investments on Saturday but emerged with the following new titles for my collection:

Abner Doubleday A Civil War Biography by Thomas Barthel

Battle at Bull Run – A History of the First Major Campaign of the Civil War by William C. Davis

Giants in Their Tall Black Hats – Essays on the Iron Brigade edited by Alan T. Nolan and Sharon Eggleston Vipound

Personal Recollections of the Civil War by John Gibbon

The Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862 edited by Gary W. Gallagher

The Smoothbore Volley That Doomed the Confederacy by Robert K. Krick

Why the South Lost the Civl War by Richard Beringer, Herman Hattaway, Archer Jones, and William N. Still, Jr.

Many of these are titles that I have been interested in acquiring for years and now I am pleased to own them. I really like the anthology type books and three of these (Black Hats, Smoothbore Volley, and Shenandoah Valley) fall into that category. William C. Davis's book on First Bull Run was recommended to me when I visited that battlefield recently. I just read How the North Won by Hattaway and Jones, one of my all time favorites and when I saw the companion piece about the South, it went into the shopping cart too. Two biographies about Antietam generals Doubleday and Gibbon (actually Gibbons is an autobiography) also made the 40 mile trip back to Jefferson Maryland yesterday.

My normal mode of acquiring books is on line and I likely paid more for several of these titles at yesterday than if I had gone after them on line. However it is important I think to keep the brick and mortar institutions, and especially the small retail stores in business. They fulfill an important role in the book retailing industry. And as I said earlier, just the experience of looking at the books and putting hands on them is a cool thing for me.

I will be curled up around some very good books on these long winter (and likely spring and summer) nights.