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by George Christman Bradley (Author)
Based on a study of over 1,100 Civil War pension files, in this book, and its predecessor volume, Surviving Stonewall, the author provides a front-line view of the Civil War experienced by the 1,800 men who once served with the 46th Pennsylvania Volunteers. The first volume described the experience of the original group of volunteers who came together to form the 46th regiment in the summer of 1861 and followed them from that time through the Battle of Gettysburg, where less than 250 of the original 968 enlistees were able to make on to the battlefield. This volume, which begins as the regiment left Gettysburg, details the experience of the 46th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, which was essentially a new unit, formed around a core group of veterans who reenlisted in late 1863 and early 1864. Joining them to bring the regiment back up to full strength were more than 200 draftees and more than 400 new recruits, many of them attracted by large bounties offered to encourage enlistments in 1864. The original regiment fought on battlefields in the east. They fought in the First Battle of Winchester, at Cedar Mountain (where they lost half of the men who walked on to the field), and at Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Through Chancellorsville, they faced men led by Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, and at Chancellorsville they were involved in the events that led to Jackson's fatal wounding by his own men. The Veteran Volunteer Regiment saw all of its active service fighting with Major General William Tecumseh Sherman. They participated in the battles of Resaca, New Hope Church, Gilgal Church, Kolb's Farm, Peach Tree Creek and the Siege of Atlanta. From Atlanta they marched to the sea and Savannah, and in 1865 went with Sherman through the Carolinas, seeing action at Averasboro and Bentonville before the surrender of Johnston's army at Raleigh in April. This is not a book about strategy and tactics. It is about the men who carried out the plans and orders. It is about what happened to them as a result of the decisions made by others with greater authority. It is about the company officers, NCOs and enlisted men who fought the Civil War to its conclusion. This is the Civil War up close and personal.
