Review of Last Days
A nice review by Jeff Wert of Last Days in Civil War News:
The Last Days of Stonewall Jackson: The Mortal Wounding of the Confederacy's Greatest Icon.
By Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White.
Illustrated, photos, maps, appendices, 168 pp., 2013, Savas Beatie, www.savasbeatie.com, $12.95 softcover.
The mortal wounding and final days of Stonewall Jackson have been recounted in many published works from the memoirs of his aides to the works of modern biographers and historians. The details of the fatal volley from the 18th North Carolina Infantry, the amputation of the Confederate hero’s left arm, and his final days at Guiney Station have been well documented.
This book, written by historians with published works on the Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville campaigns, provides a fine retelling of the events of May 2-10, 1863.
Although the authors include neither notes nor a bibliography, their familiarity with unpublished and published sources is evident. They quote extensively from the memoirs of Jackson’s widow, Mary Anna, his staff officers and attending physicians.
In brief appendices the authors present timelines of the Chandler office building at Guiney Station; Jackson’s life in Lexington, Va.; Jackson in written memory; monuments to the general; a “what if” he had not been shot; a short biography of Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire; and brief sketches of the postwar lives of the main figures in those final days. The appendices offer welcome information in a readily available format.
This book should appeal to Civil War buffs and casual visitors to the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. It is well written despite the authors’ flair for dramatic prose in some sections. It will serve as a handy reference for anyone who visits the scene of the wounding and Guiney Station.
Jeffry D. Wert
The Last Days of Stonewall Jackson: The Mortal Wounding of the Confederacy's Greatest Icon.
By Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White.
Illustrated, photos, maps, appendices, 168 pp., 2013, Savas Beatie, www.savasbeatie.com, $12.95 softcover.
The mortal wounding and final days of Stonewall Jackson have been recounted in many published works from the memoirs of his aides to the works of modern biographers and historians. The details of the fatal volley from the 18th North Carolina Infantry, the amputation of the Confederate hero’s left arm, and his final days at Guiney Station have been well documented.
This book, written by historians with published works on the Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville campaigns, provides a fine retelling of the events of May 2-10, 1863.
Although the authors include neither notes nor a bibliography, their familiarity with unpublished and published sources is evident. They quote extensively from the memoirs of Jackson’s widow, Mary Anna, his staff officers and attending physicians.
In brief appendices the authors present timelines of the Chandler office building at Guiney Station; Jackson’s life in Lexington, Va.; Jackson in written memory; monuments to the general; a “what if” he had not been shot; a short biography of Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire; and brief sketches of the postwar lives of the main figures in those final days. The appendices offer welcome information in a readily available format.
This book should appeal to Civil War buffs and casual visitors to the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. It is well written despite the authors’ flair for dramatic prose in some sections. It will serve as a handy reference for anyone who visits the scene of the wounding and Guiney Station.
Jeffry D. Wert