James Garfield and the Civil War--Now Available!!

November 2, 1880 was an important day in American history. Across the United States, the final votes were being cast to determine who would become the 20th President of the United States. James Abram Garfield, a longtime member of the United States House of Representatives and a former Major General in the Union army, was the Republican candidate, while Winfield Scott Hancock, himself a former Major General as well, was the Democratic nominee. Over 9 million votes were cast for president that year, representing 78% of the eligible electorate, the highest number of voters to turnout up to that time in American history. Once all the votes were finally tabulated, James Garfield of Ohio was the victor.

Garfield spent that day at his farm in Mentor, Ohio, greeting well wishers and handling his daily business of overseeing his farm. That night, he was in the small campaign office behind his home, receiving updates on the polls from across the country. When he retired for the evening at 3 a.m., Garfield had heard good news regarding the results of voting in the Northern states. By the morning of November 3, Garfield knew for certain that he had been elected President of the United States.

Garfield's election to the presidency was the crowning achievement of his life. Unfortunately, his grand story of rising from poverty and a log cabin all the way to the White House is marred by its tragic ending. Nine months to the day after his election, President Garfield was shot twice in a train station in Washington, DC on July 2, 1881. One bullet hit his arm, and the other lodged in his back. He did not die from his wounds right away. Instead, he suffered immensely for several months while doctors did everything within their power to treat him and remove the assassin's bullet from his back. Ultimately, their efforts were unsuccessful, only augmenting the infection and effects of his wound. On September 19, 1881, Garfield succumbed to his wounds, making him the second president to die from assassination.

While these events are no doubt historic and important, they often overshadow other parts of Garfield's life and legacy. Eighteen years to the day before his death, Garfield was a general in the Union army, serving as the Chief of Staff for the Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Chickamauga, one of the great battles of the American Civil War. Garfield's Civil War service, at Chickamauga and elsewhere, is often a footnote in his life story. Far from a small piece of his story, Garfield's Civil War career was essential to who he was and to his rise to the presidency.

I am pleased to announce that today, on the 135th anniversary of Garfield's election to the presidency, my new book James Garfield and the Civil War: For Ohio and the Union is now available. Today is the official publication date for the book, and in it, I hope to tell a part of James Garfield's story which has languished in obscurity for far too long. The book is not an exhaustive look at Garfield's life on a day by day basis, but rather, it tells the story of his Civil War career, placing the future president in the larger events of the war from 1861 to 1865, focusing on his service in recruiting the 42nd Ohio, commanding troops in the field in Kentucky and Tennessee, taking part in political fights in Washington, serving as the Chief of Staff for the Army of the Cumberland in 1863, and ultimately taking his strong views about preserving the Union and abolishing slavery to the halls of Congress. Garfield's Civil War service saw him take part in several of the grand campaigns and battles of the war. He crossed paths with leading figures like Don Carlos Buell, William Rosecrans, George Thomas, Edwin Stanton, Salmon Chase, and Henry Halleck. Along the way, Garfield made friends and enemies, and he experienced his share of highs and lows during the war. Like all veterans, his Civil War service lingered with him through the rest of his days. Even when he was the Republican nominee for president, many still knew him first and foremost as "General Garfield."

I hope you enjoy the book! I will be doing several book talks and signings in Northeast Ohio this upcoming weekend and next week. If you are in the area, I hope to see you there!

Book Talks November 2015

With the publication date for James Garfield and the Civil War: For Ohio and the Union coming next week (November 2, 2015), I wanted to post some information about talks and book signings that I will be doing in the Cleveland area in the second week of November.

These talks are all focused on the new book and the story of James Garfield's Civil War career. I hope to have copies of both the Garfield book and my book on Kennesaw Mountain available at each place. Follow the links for more information, or send me a message through the blog.

Saturday, November 7th:

James Garfield Symposium 2015: Garfield in Washington, Lakeland Community College, Kirtland, Ohio

Keynote Speaker and Book Signing

Sponsored by the James A. Garfield National Historic Site and the Friends of the James A. Garfield National Historic Site.


Sunday, November 8th:

James A. Garfield National Historic Site, Mentor, Ohio, 2 PM

Author Talk and Book Signing


Monday, November 9th:

Reed Memorial Library, Ravenna, Ohio, 2 PM

Author Talk and Book Signing


Tuesday, November 10th:

Mac's Back-Books, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 7 PM

Author Talk and Book Signing


Wednesday, November 11th:

Lorain Community College, Elyria, Ohio, 7 PM

Part of the ongoing 1865: Appomattox and Beyond, the Legacy of the Civil War Lecture Series

Author Talk and Book Signing



Hope to see you in Ohio!

James Garfield and the Civil War: For Ohio and the Union

Greetings all!

I am excited to say that a project which I have been working on for a little over a year is now almost finished. With a publication date of November 2, 2015, I am pleased to announce the publication of my second book, James Garfield and the Civil War: For Ohio and the Union. The front and back cover are below:

This project, being published by The History Press, focuses on the Civil War career of native Ohioan and 20th President of the United States James Abram Garfield. I have been fascinated by Garfield for many years, having grown up just a short 20 minute drive from his home in Mentor, Ohio. Over the past few years, I have gotten to know the staff at the James A. Garfield National Historic Site, and have had the pleasure to do some volunteer work there, taking part in the park's Major Battles of the Civil War lecture series. It is a great NPS site, and I encourage you to visit there if you are ever in the Cleveland area.

While other presidents who served in the army during the Civil War have had books written which chronicle their service, no such books exist for the military career of James A. Garfield. From 1861 to the end of 1863, Garfield served in the Union army, raising a regiment of Ohio troops, leading men in combat in Kentucky, taking part in the second day of the Battle of Shiloh, sitting on a court martial of a prominent Union general, and serving as the Chief of Staff for the Army of the Cumberland. His Civil War career was as eclectic as it was important. Garfield had a hand in several of the war's most important battles and campaigns, and his experience shows how hard work and perseverance allowed a man born in a log cabin in the old Western Reserve of Northeast Ohio rise to become a major general in the Union army.


This book tells the story of Garfield's Civil War service, following him through the conflict and examining the role this famous Ohioan played in our nation's most trying hours. While the focus is on his time in the army during the war, I also discuss his early years and career before the war began, as well as his post-war political career, and how the Civil War had a continuing impact for the rest of Garfield's life. Garfield held many titles throughout his life, but none was more meaningful to him than "General Garfield." While Garfield's presidency was tragically cut short by his assassination in 1881, twenty years earlier he bravely donned his country's uniform and took part in the American Civil War. Just as the war changed the United States, it also changed the lives of those who took part in it. James Garfield was among them. His post-war political career and his eventual rise to the presidency were made possible by his heroic service to the Union cause during the Civil War.


I hope to post more on this forum in the coming weeks and months, sharing more regarding the life and Civil War career of James Garfield and the publication of the book. Stay tuned for updates!

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

"I feel it to be my first duty to do what I can for my country and I would willingly lay down my life for it if it would be of any good".

With these words, Charles Appleton Longfellow notified his father, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, that he was joining the Union army in 1863. The younger Longfellow was wounded in November 1863 during the Mine Run Campaign in Virginia, giving his father great cause to worry about the life of his son. With his own son having shed blood in the war and the conflagration of death and suffering across the nation showing no sign of ending soon, Christmas of 1863 saw Henry Wadsworth Longfellow pen the words to a poem which would eventually become one of the most celebrated Christmas Carols of all time.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

and wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime,A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the soundThe carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The hearth-stones of a continent,

And made forlornThe households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail,The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men."

July 4, 1864: Ohio Soldiers Reflect on Independence Day

150 years ago today, the United States–a nation mired in the fourth year of a bloody Civil War–was celebrating the anniversary of its independence from Great Britain. In the ranks of the vast Union armies fighting to preserve that nation, the significance of the day did not go unnoticed.

On July 4, 1864, hundreds of thousands of Union soldiers were spread out across the Southern United States, occupying lands of the Confederacy in what was the final year of the American Civil War. Most notably, two Union commanders were on the precipice of seizing major southern cities. In Virginia, Grant was settling in near Petersburg, beginning a months long siege that would force he and his men to wait until 1865 until their goals of victory in the campaign for Richmond could be realized.

Far to the south, in the state of Georgia, William Tecumseh Sherman’s army group, consisting of the Army of the Cumberland, the Army of the Tennessee, and the Army of the Ohio, rested just miles from Kennesaw Mountain, the imposing height which had stalled Sherman for the latter half of June and the first several days of July. It had only been on the morning of July 3rd that Union soldiers discovered that Confederates had vacated their Kennesaw trenches, having been forced out by yet another flanking maneuver from Sherman. Kennesaw Mountain had been a resounding defeat for Sherman’s men, as each attacking column the Federals sent forward on the morning of June 27, 1864, was handsomely repulsed. Yet, one week later, the Confederates had retreated, and the Union soldiers who had seen their comrades slaughtered in such great number in front of the Kennesaw Line were preparing to push for the Chattahoochee River and toward Atlanta itself.

Thus, 150 years ago, Union soldiers had cause for both sadness and gratefulness, for both remorse and relief. The troubles of Kennesaw Mountain were past, yet the struggle for Atlanta lay firmly in their future.


“One year ago were in Shellbyville Tenn. Wonder next 4th will find us, or me. Enjoying the blessings of peace, I hope. Hardly think it will. One consolation, my term of service will have nearly expired. Weather very warm. A man would have been called insane three years ago, who would have prophesied that the war would last till July 1864”
O.M. Scott, Commissary Sergeant, 121st Ohio Volunteer Infantry
 
“This is a holiday to all Americans whether it will be so to us remains to be seen.”
Sgt. Israel Connell, 51st Ohio Volunteer Infantry

“We are celebrating the birthday of the Nation by firing an occasional salute on the works of the foe in our front. Company E was on the skirmish line all day, and it was very interesting. A year ago we were at Shelbyville, Tenn., and on that day Vicksburg was taken by General Grant. Where will we be July 4th, 1865?”
Francis McAdams, 113th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

“Thankful should we be to Divine Providence that our ever honored and memoriable National Birthday is thus made the more sacred by a victory over the Nation’s and Freedom’s enemies.”
Albert Champlin, 105^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Traveling to Georgia!!

 One week from today, I will be in the great state of Georgia once again!! I am traveling for the Kennesaw Mountain 150th. It will be my great privilege to be bringing my ranger hat to Georgia to assist the staff of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park by providing interpretive programs next weekend at the battlefield park. I don't know where I will be stationed just yet, but I do know that I will be quite busy!!



In addition to my NPS work in Georgia, I will be doing several author talks and book signings in the area. The schedule is listed below. You will have plenty of chances to catch up with me if you are in the area. I am particularly pleased to be speaking at the park on the morning of the 27th on the lives of Charles Harker and Dan McCook, two exemplary individuals who sacrificed everything at Kennesaw Mountain.



If you live in the Atlanta area, or if you will be traveling there for the Kennesaw 150th, I hope to see you either at the park or at one of my book talks in the area!!




Athens Clark-County Public Library, Athens, Georgia–June 26, 2014
1:00 Author Talk and Book Signing
Atlanta History Center–Atlanta, Georgia, June 26, 2014
8:00 Evening Lecture and Book Signing
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park: 150th Anniversary Events–Kennesaw, Georgia, June 27, 2014
Author Talk (10:00) “Facing Fearful Odds: Colonel Dan McCook and Brigadier General Charles Harker at Kennesaw Mountain” and Book Signing
Marietta Museum of History–Marietta, Georgia, June 28, 2014
Author Talk (2:00) and Book Signing

May 7, 1864: Grant Turns South

150 years ago this evening, the American Civil War took yet another turn. After two days of bloody, chaotic, and brutal fighting in the Wilderness west of Fredericksburg, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant faced a key decision. In the past, generals with names such as McClellan, Pope, Burnside, and Hooker had turned back after difficulties and defeats. The Wilderness had not been a total defeat, simply an impediment to Grant's southward push. Lee's Confederates had proven themselves able to deliver vicious blows into the Federal lines, leaving thousands of men in Blue and Gray bleeding among the Virginia forest, some of them burning from the fires among the leaves set by the blaze of muskets and cannon.

On the evening of May 7th, with the fires of the Wilderness still smoldering, Grant began to move. Instead of turning back to Washington to recuperate, Grant and his army turned south. The sight of Grant continuing southward sent waves of admiration through the men of the Army of the Potomac. They knew that unforeseen and unknowable difficulties and trials lay ahead. They knew that turning south meant more fighting, killing, and dying. Yet, with Grant in command, these veteran soldiers were ready to make the final push into Virginia, hoping that with this campaign, the days of the war were numbered.

The situation has been best described by the words of Bruce Catton, whose work A Stillness at Appomattox still stands as a gold standard of writing on the Civil War, or on any history topic for that matter. For myself, and for many others who have written books about the Civil War, Catton is a standard to which we always aspire to reach but will always fall short. His work shows us that history can be well written and truthful.

This army had known dramatic moments of inspiration in the past—massed flags and many bugles and broad blue ranks spread out in the sunlight, with leadership bearing a drawn sword and riding a prancing horse, and it had been grand and stirring. Now there was nothing more than a bent shadow in the night, a stoop-shouldered man who was saying nothing to anyone, methodically making his way t of the head of the column—and all of a moment the tired column came alive, and a wild cheer broke the night and men tossed their caps in the darkness.

They had had their fill of desperate fighting, and this pitiless little man was leading them into nothing except more fighting, and probably there would be no end to it, but at least he was not leading them back in sullen acceptance of defeat, and somewhere, many miles ahead, there would be victory for those who lived to see it. So there was tremendous cheering, and Grant’s big horse Cincinnati caught the excitement and reared and pranced, and as he got him under control Grant told his staff to have the men stop cheering because the Rebels were not far away and they would hear and know that a movement was being made.

It was the same on other roads. Sedgwick’s men backtracked to Chancellorsville, and as the men reached that fatal crossroads the veterans knew how the land lay and knew that if they took the left-hand fork they would be retreating and if they turned to the right they would be going on for another fight. The column turned right, and men who made the march wrote that with that turn there was a quiet relaxing of the tension and a lifting of gloom, so that men who had been slogging along quietly began to chatter as they marched. Here and there a regiment sang a little.

Back by the wagon trains one of Sedgwick’s officers came upon Burnside’s division of colored soldiers, so dust-colored the men looked white. They were heading south like everyone else, and the officer saw a big colored sergeant prodding his men on with the butt of his rifle and ordering, “close up dere, lambs.”