That Bloody Hill

Hilliard’s Legion—a part of Archibald Gracie’s Brigade of Alabama Confederates—at the battle of Chickamauga. The author shows conclusively that Gracie’s command was never forced from the berm at the top of the Horseshoe Ridge and that some men from Hilliard’s Legion penetrated to the top of the Ridge. A reexamination of the battle’s conclusion highlights the Legion’s role in the final movement. A Medal of Honor citation is corrected and the Legion’s post-war contributions are explored. A complete roster is included, with biographical notes on most of the soldiers.

"No chapter in the annals of the most important battle of America's national epic has been more celebrated than the key struggle for possession of the rocky hill at the extreme southern flank of the battle line at Gettysburg, Little Round Top. And no contest during the battle of Gettysburg was deadlier or as dramatic as the high stakes showdown for Little Round Top on the afternoon of July 2, 1863. Gettysburg was the decisive turning point of America's history, and Little Round Top was the crucial turning point of that three-day struggle in Adams County, Pennsylvania. Little Round Top was indeed the bloody Hill of Destiny, when the fate of America hung in the balance and was ultimately determined on the most decisive day of the three days at Gettysburg, July 2. However, some of the most important aspects of the famous struggle for Little Round Top have been distorted by misconceptions, myths, and layers of romance. For the first time, this ground-breaking book, America's Bloody Hill of Destiny, A New Look at the Struggle for Little Round Top, July 2, 1863, has presented a fresh and new look at the key leaders and hard-fighting common soldiers on both sides, who played the most important roles during the climactic struggle that decided the fate of America during one of the most pivotal moments in American history."

The story of the battle that started the Civil War in the West of the Mississippi.

This narrative about Wilson's Creek starts with the backdrop of issues -- from abolition to succession -- in Missouri preceding the Civil War and continues to cover early war issues, such as the search for the Swamp Fox and Battle of Boonville, before cumulating with the Battle of Wilson's Creek and its sub-battle at Bloody Hill.

Hilliard's Legion--a part of Archibald Gracie's Brigade of Alabama Confederates--at the battle of Chickamauga. The author shows conclusively that Gracie's command was never forced from the berm at the top of the Horseshoe Ridge and that some men from Hilliard's Legion penetrated to the top of the Ridge. A reexamination of the battle's conclusion highlights the Legion's role in the final movement. A Medal of Honor citation is corrected and the Legion's post-war contributions are explored. A complete roster is included, with biographical notes on most of the soldiers.

Second in the sweeping history of the Fifth Texas Infantry that fought with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War. In the first volume, Secession to the Suffolk Campaign, John F. Schmutz followed the regiment from its inception through the successful foraging campaign in southeastern Virginia in April 1863. Gettysburg to Appomattox continues the regiment’s rich history from its march north into Pennsylvania and the battle of Gettysburg, its transfer west to Georgia and participation in the bloody battle of Chickamauga, operations in East Tennessee, and the regiments return to Virginia for the overland battles (Wilderness to Cold Harbor), Petersburg campaign, and the march to Appomattox Court House. The narrative ends by following many of the regiment’s soldiers on their long journey home. Schmutz’s definitive study is based upon years of archival and battlefield research that uncovered hundreds of primary sources, many never before used. The result is a lively account of not only the regiments marches and battles but a personal look into the lives of these Texans as they struggled to survive a vicious war more than 1,000 miles from home. “The Bloody Fifth”: The 5th Texas Infantry Regiment, Hood’s Texas Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia, with photos, original maps, explanatory footnotes, and important and useful appendices, is a significant contribution to the history of Texas and the American Civil War. “A scholarly work enhanced with maps and exhaustive notes, yet thoroughly accessible to readers of all backgrounds.” —Midwest Book Review

“A thoroughly researched account of a legendary Confederate infantry regiment that will be of deep interest to the legion of Civil War buffs.” —Richard M. McMurry, author of Two Great Rebel Armies The Fifth Texas Infantry—“The Bloody Fifth”—was one of only three Texas regiments to fight with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Much like the army in which it served, the Fifth Texas established a stellar combat record. The regiment took part in thirty-eight engagements, including nearly every significant battle in the Eastern Theater, as well as the Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Knoxville campaigns in the Western Theater. Based upon years of archival research—complete with photos and original maps—John F. Schmutz’s “The Bloody Fifth” is the first full-length study to document this fabled regimental command. “The Bloody Fifth” presents the regiment’s rich history from the secession of the Lone Star State and the organization of ten independent east and central Texas companies, through four years of arduous marching and fighting. The Fifth Texas’s battlefield exploits are legendary, from its inaugural fighting on the Virginia peninsula in early 1862 through Appomattox. But it was at Second Manassas where the regiment earned its enduring nickname by attacking and crushing the Fifth New York Zouaves. Schmutz’s book, which also details the personal lives of these Texas soldiers as they struggled to survive the war some 2,000 miles from home, is a significant contribution to the growing literature of the Civil War. “The most comprehensive, thoroughly researched account of the [Fifth] Texas Infantry . . . belongs in the library of every serious student of the Civil War.” —John Michael Priest, author of “Stand to It and Give Them Hell”

The definitive account of one of World War II’s bloodiest campaigns—the five-month battle between American and German forces in the Huertgen Forest—told through the words of the men who were there. From the preface: “In the course of research and interviews while writing a series of books on World War II, I became increasingly aware of the campaign for the Huertgen Forest. While survivors of other battles sometimes criticized the strategy and the orders they were given, there was a depth of anger about the Huertgen that surpassed anything I had encountered elsewhere. The unhappiness with what occurred and the absence of much objective coverage in the memoirs of those in the top command slots convinced me to produce this history. As I have reiterated in all of my books, which rely heavily on oral or eyewitness reports, there are always the dangers of flawed memory, limited vantage points, and the possibility of self-interest in such accounts. But the almost universal condemnation of their superiors’ critical decisions by individuals who were under fire in that ‘green hell’ offers a cautionary note on the accuracy and the truths of histories that draw from the official documents and the personal papers of the likes of Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Courtney Hodges (who apparently left little in the way of records), J. Lawton Collins and others in similar positions. . . . Each new war differs from that of the past, but to ignore what happened in the Huertgen enhances the possibilities for another bitter victory, if not a defeat.”