Book Review-Grandfather Mountain: Images of America

Hardy, Michael C. Grandfather Mountain (Images of America). Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2014. 128 pages. ISBN 9781467121040, $21.99.


If you have ever been to a historic location or been in a new bookstore you are most likely familiar with the Images of America series. These price friendly books can provide a quality reminder of a vacation while possibly adding to the visitor's knowledge of an area. They are a standard in many cities and unfortunately sometimes serve as the only book available.


It would seem possible that at some point the well would run dry on opportunities for this series. It hasn't yet though and veteran North Carolina writer Michael C. Hardy has recently published a volume on Grandfather Mountain, the nearly 6,000 feet high North Carolina mountain that is the highest peak in the eastern Blue Ridge Mountains.


Depending on your point of view Grandfather Mountain is a mountain, a state park, or a non-profit organization. Mr. Hardy does a good job covering these aspects in the limited amount of text he is given. Books in the Images series rely almost exclusively on photos and have limited text other than brief photo captions. Good captions are what can turn a plain book of photos into a worthwhile purchase. In Grandfather Mountain Mr. Hardy delivers the goods.


Chapters include: first photographs, famous faces, Grandfather Mountain from Afar, Grandfather Mountain's Winding Roads, Singing on the Mountain, Highland Games, State Park, Flora and Fauna and Visitors From Near and Far. Chapters are usually around 10-12 pages long and have many photos with in-depth captions.


Annual events such as Singing on the Mountain and the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games are looked forward to by many people each year. Singing on the Mountain has attracted some of the biggest names in music and religion including Johnny Cash and three generations of the Graham family. The highland games has grown from a single day event to one that now spans over four days of competition. Both events receive their own chapter and have plenty of interesting photos.


The story of the completion of the Blue Ridge Parkway through the property of Grandfather Mountain is well told photographically. Grandfather Mountain is home to an incredible and diverse variety of plants and wildlife. Come face to face with the famous bear, Mildred, in the pages of this book.


Far from telling the whole history of the Grandfather Mountain property and the men who have owned it this book is not trying to do that. It succeeds admirably in what it sets out to do which is to showcase, in photos, the beauty and history that is Grandfather Mountain. For those wanting more reading material on what appears to be a fascinating history there is a small bibliography included.


Highly recommended!


Please consider visiting Michael C. Hardy's website and ordering a signed copy direct from the author. Visit by clicking here.

Book Review--Remembering North Carolina's Confederates

Hardy, Michael C. Remembering North Carolina's Confederates (NC) (Images of America) . Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2006. 128 pages. 9780738542970, $21.99.


Books in the Images of America series follow a fairly standard formula. 128 pages, they are jammed with b/w photos and have little text other than the photo captions. The quality of the photo captions is what sets the excellent apart from the just interesting. In Michael Hardy's book Remembering North Carolina's Confederates we have what can be called an excellent book. Captions don't just tell what the photo is but instead there is real and solid research behind them. It is obvious that service records, local histories, official records and more were consulted for the writing process.


Mr. Hardy has mined an impressive 19 sources for the photos used in this book. OK, one of the sources were his personally taken or owned photos but that is to be expected. The sources used vary tremendously and do not include the Library of Congress. If you want to see rare North Carolina Confederate photos from libraries and historical societies from across the state in addition to some from personal collections this is the place.


The book is broken up geographically which can be a help if you are looking for an ancestor. There is no index (not due to Mr. Hardy but rather the publisher's format) so this breakdown can save the casual reader time. Chapters include: the Mountains, Southern Piedmont and Foothills, Northern Piedmont, Coastal Plain, North Carolina's Tribute to Jefferson Davis and Out of State.


I could list many favorites but will let it go with just a chosen few that are special in my mind. First is the headstone for Josh Waggoner of Ashe County that proudly announces his Confederate service. The problem is his service record lists him as a deserter. Next is the headstone of Egbert Ross, buried in Charlotte. He died during the Battle of Gettysburg. His headstone reads like a standard definition of "good death": "Thus the soldier died calmly and bravely amid the storm of battle that raged around him. One of the purest patriots of the war." The story of Colonel John Randolph Lane is one of bravery and medical marvel. He was shot in the back of the head while rallying troops at Gettysburg. He lived until 1908 despite this potentially fatal wound. Finally, upon his death in 1930 Charles Stedman was the last remaining Congressman to have served in the Civil War. There is a wonderful photo of Major Stedman shaking hands with Isaac Sherwood. General Sherwood was the last member of the Union forces to serve in Congress.  You will no doubt find many others that will be your favorites!


With quality photo choices, excellent research and writing and a reasonable cover price this is a book that anybody with an interest in North Carolina Civil War history should own. If you are interested in little known Confederate photos this is also for you. While there are large number of modern photos they are of excellent quality and fit right in with the theme.  Genealogists working on North Carolina relatives who served in the Civil War should also give this a close look. Highly recommended.


I have posted the link to Amazon through the bibliographical information and the photo above. You might also consider contacting Mr. Hardy directly and buying a signed copy direct from the author. Please visit his website here.

Book Review--Watauga County North Carolina in the Civil War

Hardy, Michael C. Watauga County, North Carolina in the Civil War.  Charleston, The History Press. 2013. 123 pages, 114 pages of text, index, notes, b/w photos. ISBN 9781609498887, $19.99.

When it comes to Civil War North Carolina it is hard to find someone more knowledgeable than Michael C. Hardy. He has currently published 18 books and has another scheduled for early this year. Not all are Civil War related but the majority are. He knows his subject.


His most recent book deals with Watauga County and the Civil War. Located in the upper northwest portion of North Carolina, Watauga County shares a border with eastern Tennessee, an area known for Union sympathies. In fact Hardy outlines that some "Union" men went over the mountain to either join Union forces or avoid service in the Confederate army.


The book has nine chapters along with two appendices. Chapters include: 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, The Life of Watauga County's Johnny Rebs, Reconstruction, Remembering Watauga County's Civil War and Watauga County's Unionists. Appendices include Looking for Watauga County's Civil War Soldiers Today and The Song of the Home Guard.


By tracing the history of the county chronologically Hardy allows us to see how the Civil War affected an average Confederate county. We see men joining the Confederate army either by volunteering or being conscripted. For those who were not able to serve on the front lines many were put into the Home Guard. One of the main goals for these troops was to coral and return deserters. As the war continued a lack of goods began to take its toll on families left behind. 1864 brought the re-election of Governor Zebulon Vance showing there was still strong war support in the county. Vance polled 272 votes to only 95 for his challenger William Holden in Watauga County. In 1865 cavalry under the command of George Stoneman stormed through Watauga County. The brief encounter ended with all men of the area being arrested by Stoneman's men. Several Union field hospitals were established.


In the chapter on Watauga County's Johnny Rebs author Michael Hardy provides an excellent overview of the war including explaining different types of guns and how they were loaded. Artillery is covered as well. The changing nature of war from long lines to troops to trench warfare is explained. In some ways this chapter is reminiscent of the classic The Life of Johnny Reb by Bell Irvin Wiley.


I am a big fan of works on reunions and monuments along with current commemorations of Civil War events and soldiers. This book does not disappoint. The chapter Remembering Watauga County's Civil War is loaded with information on various reunions and efforts to place monuments on battlefields where men from Watauga County fought. The appendix discussing soldiers today is in many ways a brief bibliographic essay mentioning several of the most vital resources.


This is a standard work from The History Press. There are many photos, both vintage and modern. If you are interested in the Civil War, North Carolina, or want to see an excellent local history this is a book you should purchase. Highly recommended!


Thanks to The History Press for sending  a complimentary review copy.

New Arrivals From LSU Press and Southern Illinois University Press

A couple of new books have arrived in the mailbox recently. Both look interesting.

From Southern Illinois University Press comes The Vicksburg Campaign, March 29-May 18, 1863 (Civil War Campaigns in the Heartland) edited by Steven E. Woodworth and Charles D. Grear.

From the publisher:

Ulysses S. Grant’s ingenious campaign to capture the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River was one of the most decisive events of the Civil War and one of the most storied military expeditions in American history. The ultimate victory at Vicksburg effectively cut the Confederacy in two, gave control of the river to Union forces, and delivered a devastating blow from which the South never fully recovered. Editors Steven E. Woodworth and Charles D. Grear have assembled essays by prominent and emerging scholars, who contribute astute analysis of this famous campaign’s most crucial elements and colorful personalities.

Encompassed in this first of five planned volumes on the Vicksburg campaign are examinations of the pivotal events that comprised the campaign’s maneuver stage, from March to May of 1863. The collection sheds new light on Grant’s formidable intelligence network of former slaves, Mississippi loyalists, and Union spies; his now legendary operations to deceive and confuse his Confederate counterparts; and his maneuvers from the perspective of classic warfare. Also presented are insightful accounts of Grant’s contentious relationship with John A. McClernand during the campaign; interactions between hostile Confederate civilians and Union army troops; and the planning behind such battles as Grierson’s Raid, Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, and Big Black River Bridge.

From LSU Press and author Brian Steel Wills comes Confederate General William Dorsey Pender: The Hope of Glory (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War).

From the publisher:
During the Civil War, North Carolinian William Dorsey Pender established himself as one of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's best young generals. He served in most of the significant engagements of the war in the eastern theater while under the command of Joseph E. Johnston at Seven Pines and Robert E. Lee from the Seven Days to Gettysburg. His most crucial contributions to Confederate success came at the battles of Second Manassas, Shepherdstown, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. After an effective first day at Gettysburg, Pender was struck by a shell and disabled, necessitating his return to Virginia for what he hoped would be only an extended convalescence. Although Pender initially survived the wound, he died soon thereafter due to complications from his injury.

In this thorough biography of Pender, noted Civil War historian Brian Steel Wills examines both the young general's military career and his domestic life. While Pender devoted himself to military service, he also embraced the Episcopal Church and was baptized before his command in the field. According to Wills, Pender had an insatiable quest for "glory" in both earthly and heavenly realms, and he delighted in his role as a husband and father. In Pender's voluminous correspondence with his wife, Fanny, he shared his beliefs and offered views and opinions on a vast array of subjects. In the end, Wills suggests that Pender's story captures both the idealistic promise and the despair of a war that cost the lives of many Americans and changed the nation forever.

 

History Press New Releases

Thanks to my good friends at The History Press for sending along copies of a couple of their new releases.

First up from prolific author Michael C. Hardy is Watauga County, North Carolina in the Civil War.

From the publisher: Some say that Watauga County's name comes from a word meaning "beautiful waters," yet during the Civil War, events in this rugged western North Carolina region were far from beautiful. Hundreds of the county's sons left to fight gloriously for the Confederacy. This left the area open to hordes of plundering rogues from East Tennessee, including George W. Kirk's notorious band of thieves. While no large-scale battles took place there, Boone was the scene of the beginning of Stoneman's 1865 raid. The infamous Keith and Malinda Blalock called Watauga County home, leading escaped POWs and dissidents from Blowing Rock to Banner Elk. The four brutal years of conflict, followed by the more brutal Reconstruction, changed the county forever. Join Civil War historian Michael C. Hardy as he reveals Watauga County's Civil War sacrifices and heroism, both on and off the battlefield.

 

Mike Bunn is the executive director of the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the author of Civil War Eufaula  

From the publisher: Told here for the first time is the compelling story of the Bluff City during the Civil War. Historian and preservationist Mike Bunn takes you from the pivotal role Eufaula played in Alabama's secession and early enthusiasm for the Confederate cause to its aborted attempt to become the state's capital and its ultimate capture by Union forces, chronicling the effects of the conflict on Eufaulans along the way. Civil War Eufaula draws on a wide range of firsthand individual perspectives, including those of husbands and wives, political leaders, businessmen, journalists, soldiers, students and slaves, to produce a mosaic of observations on shared experiences. Together, they communicate what it was like to live in this riverside trading town during a prolonged and cataclysmic war. It is the story of ordinary people in extraordinary times

 

Upcoming Posts--Bruce Levine and North Carolina fiction

A couple of new releases have arrived in my mailbox over the last few weeks.

Thanks to the good folks at Random House for sending a copy of Bruce Levine's new book The Fall of the House of Dixie: The Civil War and the Social Revolution That Transformed the South.

From the dust jacket:  In this major new history of the Civil War, Bruce Levine tells the riveting story of how that conflict upended the economic, political, and social life of the old South, utterly destroying the Confederacy and the society it represented and defended. Told through the words of the people who lived it, The Fall of the House of Dixie illuminates the way a war undertaken to preserve the status quo became a second American Revolution whose impact on the country was as strong and lasting as that of our first.

After seeing the "reviews" on Amazon this looks like it will be an interesting book. Those who refuse to accept that slavery was the driving force in the cause of the war seem to have taken it upon themselves to post a bunch of 1 star reviews with little real thought or insight.


Thanks go out to author David C. Reavis for sending along a nicely autographed copy of Upon These Steps: Brothers in NC 23rd Regiment.

From the book cover: Two brothers are faced with whether or not to join the Confederate Army. One decides to voluntarily enlist, while the other joins only after being drafted. The brothers’ episodes reflect the chronicles of the “Granville Rifles,” a Company within the NC 23rd Regiment. From the Battle of Bull Run to Sherman’s occupation of Raleigh, the plight of each boy gives the reader an insider’s glimpse of the war. Left behind on the family farm are their parents and siblings. Relive what a Southern family had to endure during the war years. All major events seem to originate on the home’s unique circular rock steps. Soldiers leave for and return from war, slaves are freed, Yankees pay a visit, and suitors come a calling. The epic story of this Southern family is a unique blending of historical fiction with a storyline that reflects the resilience of the human spirit. The book is the result of over 35 years of genealogy research of the author. All characters are based on actual people living during the Civil War, with many events being based on eyewitness accounts as recorded by the soldiers in letters written home.

Mr. Reavis is retired from the State of North Carolina and has been doing genealogy research for over 35 years. Please be sure to see his websites www.reavishistory.com and www.uponthesesteps.com . Theres is also a Facebook page for the book here.

Book Review--North Carolina in the Civil War

Hardy, Michael C. North Carolina in the Civil War. The History Press, Charleston, SC. 2011. 157 pages, selected bibliography, b/w photos. ISBN 9781609491062, $19.99

Michael C. Hardy is kind of the "Renaissance Man" when it comes to North Carolina history, in particular the Civil War. He has his own website, an active blog, posts regularly to Facebook, and keeps a speaking schedule that would wear most of us down. Oh yeah, he also finds to time to write some darn good history.

His most recent book is a brief introduction to the the state of North Carolina and it's contributions to the Civil War. In normal fashion for The History Press this is a brief book and on this subject I am sure that Mr. Hardy could write volumes. In fact he has. Check his website.

In a fast paced 151 pages of text we have nine chapters. The first five deal with the years 1861-1865 each year being a chapter to itself. Chapter six is titled "Tar Heels to the Front" and covers the actions of various regiments in different battles and theaters of the war. This chapter is really a brief gloss over and serves as an excellent introduction for those wishing to study the contributions of NC troops in the war. A chapter on Reconstruction follows. The final two chapters are my favorites, possibly because of my interest in the subjects covered. Chapter eight is titled "Remembrance" and deals with the formation and goals of organizations such as the Ladies Memorial Associations, the various veterans groups that eventually became the United Confederate Veterans and the Grand Army of the Republic, and also the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The concluding chapter deals with various historical locations in the state. As Mr. Hardy points out in his closing sentence: "We can learn much about the most tumultuous period of North Carolina's history by visiting the sites associated with the time period..." (page 151).

This is a book that is quick to read and that is helped along with many b/w photos and illustrations of the main participants. There is no map and the lack of foot or end notes was bothersome at times. I'm one of those who does occasionally check them. That said many of the titles from The History Press do not have these due to space constraints. There is however a nice selected bibliography for those wanting further reading or researching ideas.

Recommended highly for high schoolers and up who are interested in learning about the state of North Carolina and the contributions of it's citizens to the Confederacy. This is a great introductory work that anybody with an interest in the Civil War should consider reading!

* I strongly recommend going to Mr. Hardy's website if you are interested in purchasing this book. He has his other titles listed as well and will gladly sign your books plus he shipped mine quickly. It's also nice to directly support authors who work so hard to bring history to life!

Civil War Death Counts Revisited

I stumbled across this just now and found it interesting. A couple of researchers are "recounting" deaths from the Civil War. If their current research holds up in appears Virginia will now have the most losses in the Confederacy. Currently accepted numbers show North Carolina having the most deaths in the Confederacy with over 40,000.

Read the full article here.

So what do you think? Is this really much ado about nothing? I know states take/took pride in the number of soldiers sent off to battle but are these recounts really needed and do they prove anything? Well, yes and no in my opinion. As historians it is only proper that the most accurate and honest information be provided to readers. In that regard YES these counts are important and maybe other states will have their numbers evaluated. There is no doubt more to be learned here. However, in the same vein that makes us question original government counts should we not have the same skepticism over modern counts? We all resources consulted? How accurate and complete are these sources? Are the same methods being used by historian A as by historian B? If not does this sku their findings? Finally though, can we ever really know a true number? Of course not. In that regard maybe it is best to just let sleeping soldiers lie.