Award-winning author Scott L. Mingus, Sr., combines the best stories of Volumes One and Two with new anecdotes and photos presenting a complete edition. The Complete Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign will resonate with all those intrigued by fascinating stories—both humorous and tragic—as seen through the eyes of Gettysburg soldiers and civilians. Using primary sources including diaries, pension records, historical collections, official records, journals, newspapers, and books, features are presented in chronological order.

The Complete Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign

Literature & Fiction

Mingus Sr., Scott L.

United States

Gettysburg Publishing

Tens of thousands of Irish-Americans fought in the Civil War, with "Sons of Erin" playing a vital role in both Union and Confederate armies. Award-winning author Scott L. Mingus, Sr., has teamed with living historian Gerard E. Mayers to present more than 150 of their most memorable personal stories. In this unique collection, readers will find tales of courage, boldness, and humor. Many have rarely been seen in print since their original publication more than a century ago. Stories have been adapted for the modern reader, with original sources cited. The anthology also includes brief biographies of leading Irish soldiers and personalities such as Patrick Cleburne, Father William Corby, James Shields, Michael Corcoran, and the incomparable Thomas Francis Meagher of the famed Irish Brigade and its battle cry, "Ireland Forever." Table of Contents Introduction Foreword by Damian Shiels 1: 1861 2: 1862 3: 1863 4: 1864 5: 1865 Suggested Further Reading About the Authors

Erin Go Bragh: Human Interest Stories of the Irish in the American Civil War

Biographies & Memoirs

Mayers, Gerard E.

Historical

On the morning of June 30, 1863, J.E.B. Stuart led 4,500 Confederate cavalrymen across the Mason-Dixon Line into southern York County, Pennsylvania. He expected to rendezvous with the extreme flank of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia somewhere near the Susquehanna River, likely on a line between York and Carlisle. Instead, he unexpectedly encountered a division of enemy cavalry from the Union Army of the Potomac, much farther north than he expected them to be. After a stalemated battle, Stuart skillfully withdrew his troops and began a grueling two-day trek through the hilly countryside in a futile effort to locate Lee's main force. Along the way, his men created calamity for the citizens.

Confederate Calamity: J.E.B. Stuart's Cavalry Ride Through York County, Pa.

History

Americas

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Finalist for the U.S. Army Heritage Foundation's 2011 Distinguished Writing Award for the Reprint Category. The Gettysburg Campaign has been examined in minute detail from nearly every aspect but one: the key role played by Richard Ewell's Second Corps during the final days in June. Scott Mingus's Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Confederate Expedition to the Susquehanna River, June 1863 is the first in-depth study of these crucial summer days that not only shaped the course of the Gettysburg Campaign, but altered the course of our nation's history. In two powerful columns, Ewell's Corps swept toward the strategically important Susquehanna River and the Pennsylvania capital looming beyond. Fear coursed through the local populace while Washington and Harrisburg scrambled to meet the threat. One of Ewell's columns included a veteran division under Jubal Early, whose objectives included the capture and ransom of towns and the destruction of railroad bridges and the Hanover Junction rail yard. Early's most vital mission was the seizure of the Columbia Bridge, which spanned the Susquehanna River between Wrightsville and Columbia. To capture the longest covered bridge in the world would allow Early's Division to cross into prosperous Lancaster County and move against the capital in Harrisburg from its relatively undefended rear. Along the way, one of Early's brigades under John Gordon occupied Gettysburg and spilled the first blood there days before the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil began on July 1. Flames Beyond Gettysburg vividly narrates both sides of Ewell's drama-filled expedition, including key Southern decisions, the response of the Pennsylvania militiamen and civilians who opposed the Confederates, and the burning of the Columbia Bridge. Mingus's study also features detailed driving tours of the various sites discussed in the book, including the Confederate route of march from Maryland; the June 26 skirmish at Gettysburg and the fight at the Witmer Farm; Lt. Col. Elijah V. White's cavalry raids on Point-of-Rocks and Hanover Junction; Gordon's triumphal march through York; the skirmish at Wrightsville; and the bridge burning. Based upon extensive primary source material and featuring original maps by cartographer Steven Stanley, the fast-paced and gracefully written Flames Beyond Gettysburg is a welcomed and important addition to the Gettysburg literature. About the Author: Scott L. Mingus, Sr. is a scientist and executive in the paper and printing industry. He maintains a popular blog on the Civil War history of his home of York County, PA, for the York Daily Record (yorkblog.com/cannonball), and is a sanctioned Civil War tour guide for the York County Heritage Trust. Scott is the author of five scenario books on wargaming and together with his wife Debi, publishes CHARGE!, the leading international magazine for Civil War miniature wargaming. REVIEWS "Very impressive work! Great research and sources."- Ronald Young, author of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the Civil War. "Fabulously written, and the scholarship is very deep . . . it will be the standard work for the Early/Gordon advance into Pennsylvania."- J. David Petruzzi, co-author of Plenty of Blame to go Around: J.E.B. Stuart's Controversial Ride to Gettysburg. "The final word on this much overlooked part of the Gettysburg campaign. Insightful work, accurately done. And a good read."- James McClure, author of East of Gettysburg: A Gray Shadow Crosses York County, Pa.

Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Confederate Expedition to the Susquehanna River, June 1863

Savas Beatie

WINNER, 2013 JAMES I. ROBERTSON JR. LITERARY AWARD FOR CONFEDERATE HISTORYWINNER, 2013 NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST SOUTHERN HISTORY BOOK AWARDNOMINATED, 2014 VIRGINIA BOOK AWARD, NON-FICTIONWilliam "Extra Billy" Smith, the oldest and one of the most controversial Confederate generals on the field at Gettysburg, was also one of the most colorful and charismatic characters of the Civil War and the antebellum Old South. Despite a life full of drama, politics, and adventure, until now very few books have been written on Smith since a biased account in the 19th century by his brother-in-law. Scott L. Mingus Sr. has ably filled this historical void with Confederate General William "Extra Billy" Smith: From Virginia's Statehouse to Gettysburg Scapegoat.Known nationally as "Extra Billy" because of his prewar penchant for finding loopholes in government postal contracts to gain extra money for his stagecoach lines, Smith served as Virginia's governor during both the War with Mexico and the Civil War, served five terms in the U.S. Congress, and was one of Virginia's leading spokesmen for slavery and States' Rights. Extra Billy's extra-long speeches and wry sense of humor were legendary among his peers. A lawyer during the heady Gold Rush days, Smith made a fortune in California and, like his income earned from stagecoaches, quickly lost it.Despite his advanced age Smith took the field and fought well at First Manassas, was wounded at Seven Pines and again at Sharpsburg, and marched with Lee's Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania. There, on the first day at Gettysburg, Smith's frantic messages about a possible Union flanking attack remain a matter of controversy to this day. Did his aging eyes see distant fence-lines that he interpreted as approaching enemy soldiers--mere phantoms of his imagination?--or did his prompt action stave off a looming Confederate disaster? What we do know is that his calls for support diverted limited Confederate manpower away from attacks against Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill that might have turned the tide of Southern fortunes in Pennsylvania.Mingus's biography draws upon a wide array of newspapers, diaries, letters, and other firsthand accounts to paint a broad, deep, and colorful portrait of one of the South's most interesting leaders and devoted sons. Complete with original maps and photos, Extra Billy Smith will satisfy anyone who loves politics, war, and a story well told.REVIEWS "The life of William "Extra Billy" Smith is just as interesting as many better-known Civil War personalities, but the man who served as Virginia's governor and a Confederate senator has been ignored by history. Scott Mingus, one of today's most talented authors, remedies this oversight with an engaging and often humorous biography of one of the oldest generals in the Confederate army. This deeply-researched and well written study will elevate Smith's memory and place in history to the prominence it deserves." - J. David Petruzzi, author of The Complete Gettysburg Guide"An outstanding work on one of the little known but much maligned generals in the Army of Northern Virginia. Scott Mingus's research on the Gettysburg controversy and Smith's performance is the best. He has also brought together the most information on an excellent brigade of Virginia regiments who fought from Bull Run to Appomattox." - Robert J. Driver, Jr, author of 52nd Virginia Infantry"Scott Mingus has written an engaging and well researched biography of a colorful character of the Confederacy. This book is sure to be a classic."- Ted Alexander, Chief Historian, Antietam National Battlefield and the author of The Battle of Antietam: The Bloodiest Day

Confederate General William “Extra Billy” Smith: From Virginia’s Statehouse to Gettysburg Scapegoat

June 1863. The Gettysburg Campaign is underway. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia is pushing northward through the Shenandoah Valley toward Pennsylvania, and only one significant force stands in its way: Maj. Gen. Robert H. Milroy’s Union division of the Eighth Army Corps, in the vicinity of Winchester and Berryville, Virginia. What happened next is the subject of the provocative new book The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory That Opened the Door to Gettysburg, June 13-15, 1863. Despite being heavily outnumbered, General Milroy defied repeated instructions to withdraw his command even as the overpowering Second Corps under Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell approached within striking distance. The veteran Indiana politician-turned-soldier was convinced the enemy consisted of nothing more than cavalry or was simply a feint. Milroy’s controversial decision to stand and fight pitted his outnumbered and largely inexperienced men against some of Lee’s finest veterans. The complex and fascinating maneuvering and fighting that followed on June 13-15 cost Milroy hundreds of killed and wounded and some 4,000 captured (about one-half of his command), with the remainder of his command routed from the battlefield. The combat cleared the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley of Federal troops, demonstrated Lee could obtain supplies on the march, justified the elevation of General Ewell to replace the recently deceased Stonewall Jackson—and sent shockwaves through the Northern states. Today, the Second Battle of Winchester is largely forgotten. But in June 1863, the politically charged front-page news caught President Lincoln and the War Department by surprise and forever tarnished Milroy’s career. The beleaguered Federal soldiers who fought there spent a lifetime seeking redemption, arguing their three-day “forlorn hope” delayed the Rebels long enough to allow the Army of the Potomac to arrive and defeat Lee at Gettysburg. For the Confederates, the decisive leadership on display outside Winchester proved an illusion that masked significant command issues buried within the upper echelons of Stonewall Jackson’s former corps that would only make themselves known in the earliest days of July on a different battlefield. Award-winning authors Eric J. Wittenberg and Scott L. Mingus Sr. combined their researching and writing talents to produce the most in-depth and comprehensive study of Second Winchester ever written. Their balanced effort, based upon scores of archival and previously unpublished diaries, newspaper accounts, letter collections, other firsthand sources, and a deep familiarity with the terrain in and around Winchester and the lower Shenandoah Valley, explores the battle from every perspective. The Second Battle of Winchester is comprehensive, highly readable, deeply researched, and immensely interesting. Now, finally, the pivotal battle in the Shenandoah Valley that opened the door to Gettysburg has the book it has long deserved.

The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory that Opened the Door to Gettysburg

Wittenberg,Eric J

Targeted Tracks: The Cumberland Valley Railroad in the Civil War, 1861-1865

The Civil War was the first conflict in which railroads played a major role. Although much has been written about their role in general, little has been written about specific lines. The Cumberland Valley Railroad, for example, played an important strategic role by connecting Hagerstown, Maryland to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Its location enhanced its importance during some of the Civil War’s most critical campaigns. Despite the line’s significance to the Union war effort, its remarkable story remains little known. The publication of Targeted Tracks: The Cumberland Valley Railroad in the Civil War, 1861-1865, by Scott L. Mingus Sr. and Cooper H. Wingert, rectifies that oversight. Because of its proximity to major cities in the Eastern Theater, the Cumberland Valley Railroad was an enticing target for Confederate leaders. As invading armies jostled for position, the CVRR’s valuable rolling stock was never far from their minds. Northern military and railway officials, who knew the line was a prized target, coordinated—and just as often butted heads—in a series of efforts to ensure the railroad’s prized resources remained out of enemy hands. When they failed to protect the line, as they sometimes did, Southern horsemen wrought havoc on the Northern war effort by tearing up its tracks, seizing or torching Union supplies, and laying waste to warehouses, engine houses, and passenger depots. In October 1859, Abolitionist John Brown used the CVRR in his fateful Harpers Ferry raid. The line was under direct threat by invading Confederates during the Antietam Campaign, and the following summer suffered serious damage during the Gettysburg Campaign. In 1864, Rebel raiders burned much of its headquarters town, Chambersburg, including the homes of many CVRR employees. The railroad was as vital to residents of the bustling and fertile Cumberland Valley as it was to the Union war effort. Targeted Tracks is grounded on the railway’s voluminous reports, the letters and diaries of local residents and Union and Confederate soldiers, official reports, and newspaper accounts. The primary sources, combined with the expertise of the authors, bring this largely untold story to life.

Wingert, Cooper H.

The Civil War was the first conflict in which railroads played a major role. Although much has been written about the role of railroads in general, little has been written about specific lines. The Cumberland Valley Railroad, for example, played an important strategic role by connecting Hagerstown, Maryland, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Its location enhanced its importance during some of the Civil War's most critical campaigns. Despite the line's significance to the Union war effort, its remarkable story remains little known. Now available in paperback, the publication of Targeted Tracks: The Cumberland Valley Railroad in the Civil War, 1861-1865, by Scott L. Mingus Sr. and Cooper H. Wingert, rectifies that oversight.Because of its proximity to major cities in the Eastern Theater, the Cumberland Valley Railroad was an enticing Confederate target. As invading armies jostled for position, the CVRR's valuable rolling stock was never far from the minds of Rebel leaders. Northern military and railway officials knew the line was a prized target and coordinated--and just as often butted heads--in a series of efforts to ensure the railroad's prized resources remained out of enemy hands. When they failed to protect the line, as they sometimes did, Southern horsemen wrought havoc on the Northern war effort by tearing up its tracks, seizing or torching Union supplies, and laying waste to warehouses, engine houses, and passenger depots.In October 1859, Abolitionist John Brown used the CVRR in his fateful Harpers Ferry raid. The line was under direct threat by invading Confederates during the Antietam Campaign, and the following summer suffered serious damage (and played a major logistical role) during the Gettysburg Campaign. In 1864, Rebel raiders burned much of its headquarters town at Chambersburg, including the homes of many CVRR employees. The railroad was as vital to residents of the bustling and fertile Cumberland Valley as it was to the Union war effort.Targeted Tracks is grounded on the railway's voluminous reports, letters and diaries of local residents and Union and Confederate soldiers, official reports, and newspaper accounts. The primary sources, combined with the expertise of the authors, bring this largely untold and engaging story to life.

After Gettysburg, it was the Civil War's largest battle, but until recently, little of consequence had been written about Chickamauga. You can count on one hand the number of authors who have tackled Chickamauga in any real depth, and most of their works cover the entire battle. Left unmined and mostly forgotten are the experiences of specific brigades, regiments, and state-affiliated troops. Scott Mingus and Joseph Owen's Unceasing Fury: Texans at the Battle of Chickamauga, September 18-20, 1863, is the first full-length book to examine in detail the role of troops from the Lone Star State.Texas troops fought in almost every major sector of the sprawling Chickamauga battlefield, from the first attacks on September 18 on the bridges spanning the creek to the final attack on Snodgrass Hill on September 20. Fortunately, many of the survivors left vivid descriptions of battle action, the anguish of losing friends, the pain and loneliness of being so far away from home, and their often-colorful opinions of their generals.The authors of this richly detailed study based their work on hundreds of personal accounts, memoirs, postwar newspaper articles, diaries, and other primary sources. Their meticulous work provides the first exploration of the critical role Texas enlisted men and officers played in the three days of fighting near West Chickamauga Creek in September 1863.Unceasing Fury provides the Lone Star State soldiers with the recognition they have so long deserved.

Unceasing Fury: Texans at the Battle of Chickamauga, September 18-20, 1863

Owen, Joseph L.

Scott L. Mingus Sr. and Eric J. Wittenberg, the authors of more than forty Civil War books, have once again teamed up to present a history of the opening moves of the Gettysburg Campaign in the two-volume study “If We Are Striking for Pennsylvania”: The Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac March to Gettysburg. This compelling study is one of the first to integrate the military, media, political, social, economic, and civilian perspectives with rank-and-file accounts from the soldiers of both armies as they inexorably march toward their destiny at Gettysburg. This first installment covers June 3–21, 1863, while the second, spanning June 22–30, completes the march and carries the armies to the eve of the fighting.\nGen. Robert E. Lee began moving part of his Army of Northern Virginia from the Old Dominion toward Pennsylvania on June 3, 1863. Lee believed his army needed to win a major victory on Northern soil if the South was to have a chance at winning the war. Transferring the fighting out of war-torn Virginia would allow the state time to heal while he supplied his army from untapped farms and stores in Maryland and the Keystone State. Lee had also convinced Pres. Jefferson Davis that his offensive would interfere with the Union effort to take Vicksburg in Mississippi. The bold movement would trigger extensive cavalry fighting and a major battle at Winchester before culminating in the bloody three-day battle at Gettysburg.\nAs the Virginia army moved north, the Army of the Potomac responded by protecting the vital roads to Washington, D.C., in case Lee turned to threaten the capital. Opposing presidents Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, meanwhile, kept a close watch on the latest and often conflicting military intelligence gathered in the field. Throughout northern Virginia, central Maryland, and south-central Pennsylvania, meanwhile, civilians and soldiers alike struggled with the reality of a mobile campaign and the massive logistical needs of the armies. Thousands left written accounts of the passage of the long martial columns.\nMingus and Wittenberg mined hundreds of primary accounts, newspapers, and other sources to produce this powerful and gripping account. As readers will quickly learn, much of it is glossed over in other studies of the campaign, which cannot be fully understood without a firm appreciation of what the armies (and civilians) did on their way to the small crossroads town in Pennsylvania.

“If We Are Striking for Pennsylvania”: The Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac March to Gettysburg - Volume 1: June 3–21, 1863

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mingus Sr., Scott L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Mingus Sr., Scott L.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mingus Sr., Scott L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Complete Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign

Erin Go Bragh: Human Interest Stories of the Irish in the American Civil War

Confederate Calamity: J.E.B. Stuart's Cavalry Ride Through York County, Pa.

Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Confederate Expedition to the Susquehanna River, June 1863

Confederate General William “Extra Billy” Smith: From Virginia’s Statehouse to Gettysburg Scapegoat

The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory that Opened the Door to Gettysburg

Targeted Tracks: The Cumberland Valley Railroad in the Civil War, 1861-1865

Targeted Tracks: The Cumberland Valley Railroad in the Civil War, 1861-1865

Unceasing Fury: Texans at the Battle of Chickamauga, September 18-20, 1863

“If We Are Striking for Pennsylvania”: The Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac March to Gettysburg - Volume 1: June 3–21, 1863