Books in CIVIL WAR series

This historical novel tells the story of two boys living in the South during the tragic days of the Civil War. James is a proud Southerner who feels responsible for providing for his newly widowed mother and his younger sister. Eli is the lone outdoor slave of a bitter man who sold off Eli's mother two years earlier. When circumstances force them to work side by side, each boy's eyes are opened to new ways of thinking, leading to an exciting conclusion. Filled with thoughtful prose and historical references, The Songs of Stone River brings the Civil War era to life.

The role of slavery in bringing on the Civil War has been hotly debated for decades. One important way of approaching the issue is to look at what contemporary observers had to say. In March 1861, Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederates States of America, was quoted in the Savannah Republican:“The new constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution African slavery as it exists amongst us, the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the ‘rock upon which the old Union would split.’ He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact.“[Our] foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.”Today, most professional historians agree with Stephens that slavery and the status of African Americans were at the heart of the crisis that plunged the U.S. into a civil war from 1861 to 1865. That is not to say the average Confederate soldier fought to preserve slavery or the average Union soldier went to war to end slavery. Some fought on moral grounds. Some fought because they felt their way of life and prosperity were threatened. Others fought to preserve the Union. Soldiers fight for many reasons—notably to stay alive and support their comrades in arms. The North’s goal in the beginning was the preservation of the Union, not emancipation. For the 180,000 African Americans who ultimately served the U.S. in the war, however, emancipation was the primary aim. The roots of the crisis over slavery that gripped the nation in 1860-1861 go back well before the nation’s founding. In 1619, slavery was introduced to Virginia, when a Dutch ship traded African slaves for food. Unable to find cheap labor from other sources, white settlers increasingly turned to slaves imported from Africa. By the early 1700s, in British North America, slavery generally meant African slavery. Southern plantations using slave labor pro-duced the great export crops—tobacco, rice, forest products, and indigo—that made the American colonies prosperous. Many Northern merchants made their fortunes either in the slave trade or by exporting the products of slave labor. African slavery was central to the development of British North America.

This biography of Pauline Cushman was written in 1865 by her friend, Ferdinand Sarmiento, ""prepared from her notes and memoranda."" Many consider the story exaggerated, but given the nature of the secret work she was doing on behalf of the Union, the lack of corraborative information available at the time may have made her real deeds unprovable. Abraham Lincoln gave her an honorary commission, and she became known as Miss Major Cushman. Pauline Cushman was born Harriet Wood and left her home in Michigan to go to New York City to become an actress. After an unsuccessful career, she eventually met and married Charles Dickinson and moved to Cleveland, Ohio. After the death of her husband Charles in the war and an incident a few months later in Louisville, Kentucky when, after a performance, she was paid to toast Jefferson Davis and was fired by the theater, she found a role as a spy. She was able to infiltrate the Confederate commanders and provide essential espionage back to the Union army. She was captured and sentenced to death, but three days before she was to hang she was rescued by the Union army. After the war, she experienced declining fame and fortune, married Jere Fryer and lived a life of telling and retelling her Civil War story. In 1893, she died impoverished of a drug overdose in a flophouse in San Francisco. She is buried at the Presidio in San Francisco. Her simple gravestone recognizes her contribution to the Union's victory. It is marked, ""Pauline C. Fryer, Union Spy.""

Civil War Resource Book includes battles, battlefields, diagrams, uniforms, insignia, how to make hardtack, a day in the life of a soldier, currency, equipment, artillery, 20 names for the civil war, music, reenactments, ships, subs, sites and more! Click to view four sample pages. Click to view a book review.Lexile Measure: 870On Monday, February 7, 2011, award-winning author and Gallopade CEO Carole Marsh spoke with Public Radio WABE's Steve Goss. They discussed this new 6-book series that is aimed at motivating elementary and middle school students to learn about the Civil War. to listen to the full interview.

For good reason, the second and third days of the Battle of Gettysburg have received the lion's share of attention from historians. With this book, however, the critical first day's fighting finally receives its due. After sketching the background of the Gettysburg campaign and recounting the events immediately preceding the battle, Harry Pfanz offers a detailed tactical description of events of the first day. He describes the engagements in McPherson Woods, at the Railroad Cuts, on Oak Ridge, on Seminary Ridge, and at Blocher's Knoll, as well as the retreat of Union forces through Gettysburg and the Federal rally on Cemetery Hill. Throughout, he draws on deep research in published and archival sources to challenge many long-held assumptions about the battle.

William Corby’s compassionate, sometimes humorous, and articulate account of his time as a chaplain in the Civil War is simply one of the best memoirs of the conflict. For three years he was with his brigade under fire, ministered to their emotional and spiritual needs, and was with several men before their executions. At Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottslyvania, and more, Corby was there. Twice president of Notre Dame University, the statue of Father Corby at Gettysburg was the first non-general statue erected on the site. It stands on the very rock where he delivered absolution to members of the Irish Brigade on the second day of the battle while scores of others watched. At the twenty-fifth anniversary of Gettysburg, Corby got up to speak: “I happened to make this statement—‘Here is what is left of us; where are the others?’ when I filled up very unexpectedly and could not speak for several minutes. I had struck a very tender chord. The celebrant, although eleven years older than I, wept like a child, and the brave old warriors before me who had stood the shock of many battles also wept.” Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever.

The 1862 battle of Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas was one of the largest Civil War engagements fought on the western frontier, and it dramatically altered the balance of power in the Trans-Mississippi. This study of the battle is based on research in archives from Connecticut to California and includes a pioneering study of the terrain of the sprawling battlefield, as well as an examination of soldiers' personal experiences, the use of Native American troops, and the role of Pea Ridge in regional folklore."A model campaign history that merits recognition as a major contribution to the literature on Civil War military operations.--Journal of Military History "Shines welcome light on the war's largest battle west of the Mississippi.--USA Today "With its exhaustive research and lively prose style, this military study is virtually a model work of its kind.--Publishers Weekly "A thoroughly researched and well-told account of an important but often neglected Civil War encounter.--Kirkus Reviews "Offers the rich tactical detail, maps, and order of battle that military scholars love but retains a very readable style combined with liberal use of recollections of the troops and leaders involved.--Library Journal "This book is assured of a place among the best of all studies that have been published on Civil War campaigns.--American Historical Review "Destined to become a Civil War classic and a model for writing military history.--Civil War History "A campaign study of a caliber that all should strive for and few will equal.--Journal of American History "An excellent and detailed book in all accounts, scholarly and readable, with both clear writing and excellent analysis. . . . Utterly essential . . . for any serious student of the Civil War.--Civil War News

The American Civil War continues to be one of the most significant events in US history. In this title, readers will examine one of the most controversial issues that separated the North and the South: slavery. Engaging text introduces readers to the history of slavery and explores the moral and economic reasons this issue was so inflammatory between the Northern and Southern states. Chapters also cover the abolition movement and political developments such as Bleeding Kansas and the US Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision. Additionally, readers will explore the significance of the roles people such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Brown, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln played in the start of the war. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Abdo & Daughters is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

As the Civil War raged, Confederate brigadier general J.E.B. Stuart entrusted a secret album to Laura Ratcliffe, a young girl in Fairfax County, "as a token of his high appreciation of her patriotism, admiration of her virtues, and pledge of his lasting esteem." A devoted Southerner, Laura provided a safe haven for Rebel forces, along with intelligence gathered from passing Union soldiers. Ratcliffe's book contains four poems and forty undated signatures: twenty-six of Confederate officers and soldiers and fourteen of loyal Confederate civilians. In A Southern Spy in Northern Virginia, Charles V. Mauro uncovers the mystery behind this album, identifying who the soldiers were and when they could have signed its pages. The result is a fascinating look at the covert lives and relationships of civilians and soldiers during the war, kept hidden until now.