Reviews for Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain

The average rating for Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-03-28 00:00:00 Alicia Nisbet Having first read Robert Krick's book; "Conquering the Valley: Stonewall Jackson at Port Republic" in 1998 and quite enjoying it I then ordered his other book covering the 1862 Shenandoah valley campaign; "Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain". It seems it has taken me twenty-two years to finally getting around to reading it and I found that it was just as good, entertaining and as interesting as his other book. The book is 472 pages in length of which 356 pages cover the campaign narrative; the rest of the book is appendices, notes and index. Of the sixteen chapters making up the narrative, nearly every chapter has a basic map outlining the movements covered in that chapter. The maps (16 in total) are basic but workable for the story although I probably would have enjoyed more detailed maps. There are a number of black and white photographs taken of the battlefield and surrounding area dating from 1910 to 1989. The Appendixes (7 in total) cover such topics as; "The Military Aftermath", "Organization of Contending Armies", "Casualties", "Cedar Mountain Battlefield, 1862-1865" and "The Battlefield since the War", along with a few other subjects. The story is well told and very engaging and although the author shows a slight Southern bias in some of his statements it in no way interferes with the actual combat narrative. As in his other book; "Conquering the Valley", the author utilizes numerous first-hand accounts from the soldiers involved. Mainly Confederate but along with some Federal participants, we hear about the advance to contact, the initial skirmishing and then the battle that took place at the foot of Cedar Mountain. The author then describes in some detail a confusing but relatively short battle that saw the Federals begin to roll up the Confederate line, that saw a charge of Union cavalry against Confederate infantry formations and then the Confederate counter-attack that cleared the Union forces from the battlefield. Sometimes the narrative moves back and forth chronological as the author covers each distinctive battlefield area in detail (the cornfield and the wheatfield/bushy field separated by the Culpeper Road) which was slightly off-putting but nothing that puts your off the narrative. I really enjoyed the numerous first-hand accounts peppered throughout the book and the stories of the Confederate leaders such as Jackson, Ewell and Early. Like this story concerning General Dick Ewell who was stationed on Cedar Mountain just prior to the battle commencing: "The general spied a brilliantly caparisoned quartermaster on the mountain and bluntly asked for his identity and mission. When the man identified himself as a captain and quartermaster in a Virginia regiment, Ewell threw up both hands in one of his characteristic jerky gestures and squeaked: 'Great Heavens! A Quartermaster on a battle-field; who ever heard of such a thing before?' The general then offered a line as old as the genus staff officer when he added, 'But as you are here I will make you useful as well as ornamental.' The quartermaster carried a message or two and then went back to his train, carrying along a good story on himself and on 'Old Bald Head' Ewell which quickly became a standard part of army lore." Here is a vivid description of what it felt like to be under fire from a member of Stonewall Jackson's staff: "Jackson's gallop along the Crittenden Lane ridge brought him opposite the guns. 'The musket balls were flying over and around us pretty thick,' Blue reported. The projectiles filled the air with 'that sizzing, hissing sound peculiar to the Minnie ball, a music which any old soldier will tell you is not pleasant at any time, more especially when compelled to sit quietly and listen to their singing with nothing to do except almost break ones neck by jerking his head from one side to the other whenever one of those little messengers fanned his cheek or brushed his nose'." This account is from the Union attack on the Confederate left flank during the Battle of Cedar Mountain: "By the time the New Yorkers finished their bloody work for the afternoon, seventeen of the eighteen officers with the regiment were casualties. No fewer than seven bearers of the Fifth Connecticut's colors fell dead during the advance, the regimental historian claimed, and others were wounded. By his count, three 'distinct and tremendous volleys had swept through the ranks' by the time the Fifth reached the halfway point across the field and the firing became continuous. A sergeant carrying the Connecticut state flag was shot down, got up and stumbled forward, then was shot down again just as he began the ascent from the last hollow to the Confederate woods. When the wounded man regained consciousness, he wrapped the flag around his body and crawled to the rear for help." Another very funny account from the book covered this incident when Union General George Hartsuff was trying to give his men a pep talk whilst under Confederate artillery fire: "During the shelling Hartsuff sat tall in his saddle and encouraged the men by both word and example. He even mustered an impressive array of statistics, under the circumstances, to support his point. 'Men, remember that it takes a man's weight in lead, even, to kill him; and as for shells, I am not able to give the exact statistics but they are comparatively harmless, anyway, and it is foolish to dodge.' The general observed entirely accurately that dodging at the passing sounds was dodging too late. Needless to say, the episode ended precisely like each of several dozen similar Civil War episodes ended (else they would not have been worth the narrator's effort). Just as the general finished his lecture, wrote a witness, 'a terrible monster, with unearthly screech, whizzed by, and down he went on to his animal's neck, while the whole brigade burst out laughing.' Hartsuff's rejoinder, when the merriment subsided, was: 'Well, boys, I couldn't help it. I was always taught to be polite'." So overall I found this book to be an engaging and informative account of the Battle of Cedar Mountain. I will confess that the book had a few issues but nothing that affected my reading enjoyment and as such I would have no hesitation in recommending this book for anyone looking for a decent combat narrative of the 1862 Battle for Cedar Mountain.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-12-30 00:00:00 Melissa Wyatt After purchasing the board game Stonewall's Sword, I became interested in the battle of Cedar Mountain. Luckily for me, my local library has this book on its shelves and I was able to quickly dive into it rather than wait on it to ship to me from Amazon. As the title suggests, this book focuses heavily on the Confederate side of the battle. The author has performed meticulous research and the book is heavily laden with anecdotes by eyewitnesses of the battle. The maps that are included in the book are of a workman quality, they will do the job, but I am glad that I had the board game map laid out while I was reading the book along with the map from the Civil War Trust so that I could better visualize what was happening. The author also included several pictures throughout the book to help the reader visualize the terrain and also period sketches and photographs of the battlefield. This is the must read book if you are interested in the Battle of Cedar Mountain. I enjoyed the first part of this book, the chapters leading up to the battle. That part of the book flew by for me, but once the battle started, the narrative drug on. Mr. Krick used numerous primary sources from the private soldiers who fought this battle, and while using primary sources is a great idea and greatly appreciated by historians, Mr. Krick's use of them was over the top, in my opinion. There is little need to use five primary source quotes to tell the reader that it was hot the day of the battle. Also, the use of multiple quotes to let the reader know that Jackson doffed his cap at the 13th Virginia was excessive. I also did not enjoy the way that Mr. Krick's narrative floated around the battle. True it was a relatively short and messy affair, with the battle lasting roughly two hours, but to focus on the corn field battle and then spend 100 pages on the two hours of fighting at the wheat field and then go to Ewell's troops on Cedar mountain only to finally return to the fighting at the corn field after finishing the battle narrative of the wheat field was a little much for me. It is true that the wheat field fighting was the crux of the battle with Gen. Banks' men routing most of the Confederates who were positioned there, well honestly most of Jackson's force, but it would have helped me mentally follow the flow of the battle if Mr. Krick's narrative flowed a little more chronologically than he wrote his book. Also, I wish that Mr. Krick was able to give a more detailed look at the Union side of the battle, to balance the book a little more. Of course if he did that, then the book title would probably need changing. Overall, this was an interesting read and a very detailed look at the short battle of Cedar Mountain. If you are a student of the American Civil War, I would recommend this book. If you are interested in the smaller battles of the war that generally get the short shrift, then this is a great book. If however you are interested in the Union side of the battle, it would be better to look elsewhere.