Book Report: The New Civil War Handbook

The New Civil War Handbook.

Hughes, M. (2013)

El Dorado Hills, California: 

Savas Beatie

If you are researching an ancestor who served in or lived during the time of the Civil War it would be good to brush up on the facts. This 158 page handbook might be just the place to begin. You can learn there are almost two dozen names for the conflict including ‘The Brothers’ War’. You can learn that the average age of Union soldiers at the time of enlistment was 25.8 years and that one in every four Union soldiers was born outside of the United States.

I learned that although the Union won the war more Union soldiers (43,012) were mortally wounded than Confederate soldiers (37,000) and more Union soldiers (224,586) died of disease than Confederate soldiers (120,000). I learned that my state, New York, lost more soldiers in the war (46, 534) than any other state.

I knew that my 2nd great grand uncle, John Mark, had been killed in action at Chickasaw Bayou, Miss. Dec. 28th 1862. Mark Hughes’ Handbook records 1,929 Union soldiers and 207 Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, captured or missing as a result of that battle. This gave me a clearer picture of the scope of the battle that claimed John Mark. 

If you are interested in details of battles, war strategies and biographies of those involved you will want a more detailed book. This one is just an introduction but it will get you started on the right path. 

Contents

Section I: The Facts

• Naming the War
• Civil War Voices
• Did You Know? Interesting Facts about eh Civil War
• Civil War Veterans Better Known for Other Achievements
• Organization of the Armies

Section II: Images

• Civil War Begins
• Generals
• Soldiers
• A Soldier’s Life
• Battles and Battlefields
• Technology and the War
• Weapons of War
• War on the Water
• Caring for the Sick, Wounded and Dead
• Prisoners of War
• Civilians Caught up in the War
• Women and War
• African Americans and the War
• The Civil War and Native Americans
• The War ends
• Reconstruction

Section III: Figures

• Numbers and Loses (Overall)
• Strength of the Union Army
• Losses in Major Battles
• Number of Engagements by State
• Alternate Names of Battles
• Troops Furnished by Various States
• Causes of Battle Wounds (Union)
• Major Causes of Death (Union)
• Principal Union Prisons (Peak Occupancies and Deaths)
• Principal Confederate Prisons (Deaths)

Section IV: Miscellany

• African Americans in the Civil War
• Native Americans in the Civil War
• Glossary of Civil War Terms
• Civil War Points of Interest
• Civil War Bookshelf
• Civil War on the Web

MY LIBRARY

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