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On the Bookshelf
incorporated into the Army
of the Potomac and joined
the First Brigade, Second Division,
Ninth Corps. They
would fight with this unit
from the horrors of Fredericksburg
to the garrison of
Fort Hell before Petersburg.
Along the way, the regiment
fought engagements in Mississippi
and Kentucky and
would return to Virginia in
1864. Here the men from the
Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers would face constant
danger from Spotsylvania to the North Anna,
Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Poplar
Spring Church. One of the ten companies in that regiment
was Company K. Found in collections throughout
Rhode Island these transcribed and edited letters
tell of a community of men at war. Here are the vivid
accounts of battles and leaders, of fatiguing marches,
and horrible illness as the men recorded it in letters
home to their families. These letters reflect a critical
moment in this nation’s history as these farmers
and mill workers turned their backs from home and
went south to fight in the Civil War. Carefully preserved
through the generations these letters allow
the veterans of the Seventh Rhode Island to speak.
From these simple words, penned on faded pieces
of paper the past is brought to life. These letters are
presented to the reader exactly as the soldier wrote
them, along with historical narrative, identification
of those mentioned in the text, a roster, images, and
bibliographical notes.
The Civil War in TEXAS and
the SOUTHWEST
By Colonel USA (Ret) Roy F.
Sullivan; 2008; 5.5x8.5; 150
pp; softbound. Order from
the publisher at: Heritage
Books, Inc., 100 Railroad
Ave., Suite 104, Westminster,
MD 21157; Phone 800-
876-6103; Fax 410-871-2674
or www.heritagebooks.com;
S4370; ISBN: 0788443704;
$19.00 plus $7.00 p&h.
“The contributions of the
Texas Navy to the Republic
(of Texas) were more important than contemporaries
understood. During the critical first months of revolution,
the Navy fought off blockaders, interrupted
Mexican supply lines, and provided the opportunity
for victory at San Jacinto. Later, aided by American
and French quarrels with Mexico, it prevented a seaborne
or sea-supported attack of Texas. And finally,
in 1843 the Navy thwarted a well-organized full scale
invasion of Yucatan which, if successful, would have
led inevitably to reinvasion, possibly reconquest of
Texas.” Many people have never heard of the Republic
of Texas, nor know that the “Lone Star State” was
its own nation for ten years after winning independence
from Santa Ana at San Jacinto. Texans were
on their own, struggling to create a new republic in
the mold (and shadow) of the United States. A navy
was needed—a strong and feisty one—to defend 600
miles of Texas Gulf coast from a strong and aggressive
Mexico which wanted Texas back. To defend themselves
Texans had three navies. The Impromptu Navy
was a collection of hearty individuals and small craft
curbing Mexico’s harsh authority along the coast. The
First Navy blockaded Mexican ports, seized shipping
carrying arms and munitions to Mexican armies and
reduced Mexico’s powerful navy to an escort role.
The Second (and last) Texas Navy’s sailing ships confronted
Mexico’s state-of-the-art warships, defeated
them, preventing Mexico’s blockade of its rebellious
Yucatan and Tabasco provinces while forcing Santa
Ana to an armistice with Texas.
Abe Lincoln Afloat
By J. C. Ladenheim; 2008;
5.5x8.5; 82 pp; softbound.
Order from the publisher at:
Heritage Books, Inc., 100 Railroad
Ave., Suite 104, Westminster,
MD 21157; Phone
800-876-6103; Fax 410-871-2674
or www.heritagebooks.com;
L4558; ISBN: 0788445588;
$13.50 plus $7.00 p&h.
In 1828, Abe Lincoln, a
gangling 18-year old Hoosier
farm boy, made the first of
two 2,500 mile journeys down and up the Mississippi
River, which he undertook at no small risk to
life and limb. The youth marveled at the hazards of
navigation, the strange plants and animal life, the
crime and bustling commerce encountered along the
great river and the slave plantations emerging from
the wilderness. He visited a great city, heard foreign
languages spoken, saw foreign flags, and watched in
distress as men and women were sold off by pitiless
auctioneers. He returned home by steamboat, realizing
every boy’s prayers, and thereafter held himself
out as an experienced river man. The author, a retired
neurosurgeon, has been a lifelong Lincoln student
Ja n ua ry/Fe b r u a r y 2009 Ev e r t o n’s Ge n e a l o g i c a l He l p e r © 131