"One
of a score or so of outstanding unit histories."
--
Edwin C. Bearss, former Chief Historian, National Park Service, author, The Petersburg Campaign
Regimental
histories are, for the most part, necessary resources for campaign histories
but rarely worth reading beyond that. John Horn’s The Petersburg Regiment in
the Civil War is a decided exception to this rule. Charting the course of a
single regiment from 1861 to the war’s end is a daunting challenge but Horn is
up to the task. His handling of the numerous campaigns is solid, and he deftly
fits his regiment into the mix, almost always adding vivid anecdotes to the
overall narrative (many appearing for the first time) by skillfully employing
an extensive selection of first-hand accounts drawn from published and
unpublished sources. As an added plus, the maps are numerous and well-drawn.
John Horn’s book is a model of its kind.
-- Noah Andre Trudeau, author, The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia,
June 1864-April 1865 and Lincoln’s Greatest Journey
John
Horn’s splendid history of the 12th Virginia will stand among
the classics of the discipline.
Long
years of research and patient crafting allowed the author to deliver an account
as detailed and precise, as honest and clear, as any regimental accounting
we’ll ever see. Following the men of Petersburg and its environs
from the naïve enthusiasm of the war’s initial months through near-disaster
amid the gore at Crampton’s Gap, and on through a series of tough stands in the
Chancellorsville campaign to the blunt savagery of the war’s last year, this
chronicle of one hard-used, heroic regiment is a true soldier’s book—and that
is a great compliment. John Horn takes us as close as words on a
page can bring us to the soldier’s experience. From merry snowball
fights between entire brigades, to the final, bitter defense of their home
city, the men of the 12th Virginia leap to life.
Horn’s
reliance on first-hand accounts reminds us of how casual death became—as well
as how hungry those men in gray became as early as the winter of 1863, when at
least a few acquaintances of the regiment found rat meat a tasty supplement to
their rations.
Simple
pleasures and harsh punishments, battlefield confusion and clashes of
character…informal truces on the picket line and the shock of finding your
powder wet as the enemy approaches…so often, it’s the telling detail, the
tidbit ignored by the proponents of grand history, that really bring those
Civil War soldiers to life again. And Horn is the master of such
details.
--Ralph Peters, author, Cain at Gettysburg and The
Damned of Petersburg
The
culmination of years of study and research, John Horn’s definitive history of
the Petersburg Regiment narrates the wartime adventures of the 12th Virginia
Regiment with the skill of a master story-teller. We meet the regiment’s
members and experience with them the horrors of battle, the exhaustion of the
march, and the tedium of camp life. Grounded in primary source materials,
told with engaging verve, and accompanied by an ample array of maps, this is
Civil War history at its best. The Petersburg Regiment sets a new standard for
regimental histories.
--Gordon
C. Rhea, author, On to Petersburg: Grant and Lee, June 4-15, 1864
John
Horn has written important books on the entire Siege of Petersburg and on some
of its most crucial battles. His latest book focuses on the “Petersburg
Regiment,” the 12th Virginia Infantry. This hard-fighting
unit of Robert E. Lee’s army was heavily engaged from early 1862 to the Civil
War’s final days. Its significant service is compellingly narrated
throughout these pages. Complementing this narration are keen analyses of
the 12th’s strengths – and shortcomings. This book is
essential reading for anyone interested in the humanity of the military
experience.
--Dr. Richard
J. Sommers, author, Challenges of Command in the Civil War and Richmond Redeemed
The
12th Virginia had not consistently distinguished itself early in the war, John Horn
writes, but in his stirring regimental history, the Petersburg Regiment finally
gets its (over)due. Horn writes with
humanity of a band of brothers who push through the hard work of war across
Virginia only to spend the last unhappy months fighting on their own doorsteps
to protect their home town. Horn’s book
is a model for the way regimental histories should be written: compelling,
empathetic, and highly readable.
--Chris
Mackowski, editor, The Emerging Civil War Series, author, Hell Itself: The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864
A comprehensive biography of a fighting regiment in the Army of Northern Virginia, especially useful in delineating the hometown support system that sustained the regiment throughout the war.
--Dr. William Glenn Roberson, author, The First Battle of Petersburg
