The Iron Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign: History of the Famous Black Hat Union Soldiers | Civil War Battle Reenactment & Historical Study

This book was a great if easy read for anyone interested in the Civil War. Actually, however, I would like to rate the book as five stars minus. First, what is good/great: The author puts a heavy amount of human interest into a story that could be essentially dry, particularly due to the amount of scholarly research the work displays. I found myself sincerely interested in what happened to the Iron Brigade personnel and read quickly to find out. That's why I titled my review in terms usually only given to suspense novels. In addition, the action at Gettysburg was easy to follow and the maps helped significantly. Checking the brigade's action with the OR, I found that the author's account was fully supported. I am always impressed by a work that can be quickly checked and its veracity supported by contemporaneous accounts and reports. Indeed, the Iron Brigade sacrificed itself on the first day of Gettysburg to pave the way for the Union army's ultimate victory. Whether Reynold's death caused the brigade to suffer higher casualties is an interesting controversy, but there is no doubt at all that the brigade earned itself the highest possible honors in the battle. There is much here to learn and digest, and the reader will come away the better for reading this book. On the other hand, allow me to indicate what I thought needs to be fixed for a second edition: The action of the Brigade at Gainesville should be expanded fully as Gainesville was a really remarkable fight that greatly impressed the Confederates. The wounded were left on the battlefield to suffer for two days while the battle of 2nd Manassas raged over them, and this story should include their trials. The same is true for the Iron Brigade at Turner's Gap where Gibbon adopted the novel formation of advancing his two lead regiments, the 7th Wisconsin and 19th Indiana, in ten columns of two men abreast. At Gainesville the Iron Brigade left 30% of its number on the field as dead or wounded, at Turner's Gap they lost about 280 men out of the slightly more than 1100 that went into the battle. I understand these fights were not in the main theme of this book, but they significantly impacted the Iron Brigade, and almost any book about the brigade is incomplete without them. In addition, the author takes us well beyond Gettysburg to the reunions and many personal stories after the war, so the book is hardly only about the Iron Brigade at Gettysburg. Last, and certainly least, there are a few typos in the book, like "Pettigrew Brigade" rather than "Pettigrew's Brigade" but they were not so egregious as to be distracting. I include this comment only in rebuttal to the reviewer who gave the book only two stars. I heartly recommend this book to all and commend the author for writing it. I would, however, like to see a single book covering the whole history of the Iron Brigade as above. The author's research and scholarship is impressive as well as his writing, and an expanded book would be most welcome.