Fans pick 100 books like A Full Blown Yankee of the Iron Brigade

Crafted like a well-told story, Sears’ now classic volume was my first foray into the Battle of Antietam lo these many years ago. It offers readers an engaging, generally accurate overview of the background, events, and results of America’s costliest day, September 17, 1862. Although its three-phase, framing approach to the battle has been surpassed by new interpretations, it remains a useful starting point for those wishing to learn the basics and if readers seek only one work to read on Antietam, this is the book to choose. Every student of the battle—casual, serious, or scholarly--will want to have read and be familiar with Sears' work.     

Murfin’s readable classic account of the battle takes readers deeper into the military movements and fighting action. His detailed maps further enrich readers’ understanding of the “who” and the “how” of Antietam’s battle. Adding considerable numbers of personal soldier stories, Murfin’s work takes readers closer to understanding the common soldier’s experience, while tying those experiences to the larger objectives of senior military officers. Although his analysis generally reflects an earlier era, knowing how the battle was understood during the Civil War’s centennial provides context for most current interpretations of America’s bloodiest day.    

Ezra Carman’s seminal work, a must-read for anyone wanting to master the battle’s often-complex swirl of events, was simply invaluable to my own research on the Battle of Antietam. Unpublished for decades—part of a much larger work, Carman passed away before completing it—Carman’s volume uniquely draws on his personal experience as an Antietam veteran (commanding the 13th New Jersey Infantry Regiment) while also offering the author’s wider analysis. I think Clemens’ is the best of several modern published versions, providing in footnotes the editor’s research identifying Carman’s sources, many of which the author obtained from fellow Antietam veterans and which remain available only in libraries and archives. Be forewarned, however, that Carman writes in the often-obtuse style of his era and because this is a published raw draft, it frequently dives into detailed rabbit holes before suddenly leaping on to a new topic. Even so, no other source offers Carman’s… show more.

Civilians affected by America’s bloodiest day—tiny Sharpsburg, Maryland was literally at the center of the fighting—are too frequently treated as an afterthought, but Kathy Earnst’s excellent book proved a vital resource for capturing their experiences in my own book. Featuring firsthand accounts of these experiences that day, she provides background stories of these average people swept up in this event as well as short descriptions of their lives after the battle.

This memoir has long been considered a classic, referenced by scores of Civil War authors over many decades. The editor of the 1961 edition, historian and author Alan T. Nolan, noted the following: “Its excellence is the product of three factors: the character and abilities of the author; the historical techniques and the materials which he used, and the events in which he and his regiment participated. These factors – author, technique and events – combine to make the book a superb document of its kind.

Named one of the “Top 100 Civil War Books” by the Centennial Commission, this records the history of the most famous Union unit of the war. Nolan uses many first-person accounts to ensure accuracy; Service with The Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers being predominant. This book first inspired my interest in studying the Civil War, and sparked my special admiration for Rufus Dawes, eventually leading to the creation of my own book, To My Best Girl – Courage, Honor and Love in the Civil War: The Inspiring Life Stories of Rufus Dawes and Mary Gates.

Bruce Catton introduced untold readers from the early 1950s through the 1970s to the Civil War. His Army of the Potomac Trilogy—Mr. Lincoln’s Army (1951), Glory Road (1952), and A Stillness at Appomattox (1953; winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History)—provided a compelling narrative of the most important Union army’s soldiers and officers. Catton excelled at creating incisive biographical portraits of figures such as George B. McClellan and Ulysses S. Grant, as well as at evoking the attitudes and experiences of soldiers in the ranks. The trilogy also seamlessly connected events on the battlefield to politics and social developments, a crucial factor in telling the story of how a democratic republic waged a transformative military conflict.

I love this historical novel (set in the battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War) so much that I have read it several times. Each time, it is a sleep robber; it is really hard for me to put it down. It is beautifully written, but it is hard to put down because I find beautiful nuggets of gold about leadership with a small “L” every time I read it.

My favorite character is Joshua Chamberlain, an obscure colonel who led a regiment of Maine volunteers. He has power, but he does not use it to coerce or dominate his troops. He uses it to activate the power that is in them! And they do incredible things at a critical point in the battle. 

This pamphlet, although only 24 pages, is one of the best first-hand depictions of Civil War nursing.  Miss Woolsey and her mother travelled to Gettysburg in the aftermath of the battle and immediately launched into the nursing ranks of the U.S. Sanitary Commission.  She published her account shortly after returning home, when her services were no longer needed.

Jocelyn Green does an amazing job of highlighting the complications of the Civil War with multi-faceted characters who have to examine their faith, their loyalties, and their own pasts and prejudices. With an intricate plot and a cast of layered characters, Widow of Gettysburg was one that kept me enthralled. Not only is the amount of research and details from history clearly evident, Green is a master at making both history and story leap from the page. This was one I couldn’t put down.