The
galleys have arrived for The Petersburg
Regiment in the Civil War: A History of the 12th Virginia Infantry from John
Brown’s Hanging to Appomattox, 1859-1865.
It won’t be much longer before this book is available from Savas Beatie.
John Wilkes
Booth stood in the ranks of one of this remarkable regiment’s future companies
at John Brown’s hanging. Known as the
Petersburg Regiment because most of its companies came from the Cockade City,
the 12th Virginia declined to have Stonewall Jackson appointed its first
colonel. Its men first saw combat in
naval battles, including Hampton Roads and First Drewry’s Bluff. At Seven Pines, their first fight on land,
they embarrassed themselves. They
excelled during the Seven Days and at Second Manassas/Bull Run. Almost annihilated at Crampton’s Gap, the
regiment fielded only twenty-five soldiers at Sharpsburg/Antietam. The 12th distinguished itself again at
Chancellorsville, but its role at Gettysburg remains controversial. In the Wilderness, it played a prominent role
in Longstreet’s flank attack as well as in his near-fatal wounding. Spotsylvania saw its men giving the bayonet
to Burnside’s Corps and capturing their first enemy flag. At Jerusalem Plank Road, they helped put to
flight Hancock’s Corps, the pride of the Federal army. They fought in defense of Petersburg at the
battle of the Crater. At Globe Tavern
they narrowly escaped destruction. At
Second Reams Station they contributed to a miraculous Confederate victory. They captured three enemy flags at Burgess
Mill, which thwarted Grant’s last thrust toward Richmond before Lincoln’s
re-election. They helped stop the
Federals at Hatcher’s Run in February 1865.
Two days before the surrender at Appomattox, they participated in Lee’s
last victory—the rearguard action at Cumberland Church. By this time, they numbered among the Army of
Northern Virginia’s most renowned shock troops.
This
history follows the Petersburg Regiment from the hanging of John Brown to
Appomattox. These pages set forth the
reasons the men of the 12th Virginia gave for fighting, leaving the ranks, and
returning from “bomb-proof” (safe from combat) detached duty. The book’s tables compare the prowess of
these soldiers with that of friend and foe.
The book resolves the controversy over the fate of the regiment’s last
battle flag—was it captured on April 6, 1865, or torn up at Appomattox?
With
thirty-two original maps, eight original diagrams, three illustrative tables,
many photos, and numerous explanatory footnotes, this book will put readers in
the shoes of the Petersburg Regiment’s soldiers from the Civil War’s beginning
to its end.
Advance
Praise for The Petersburg Regiment
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
-- 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
