From the Editor

I’m not much of a fried chicken fan, if I’m being perfectly honest. I have nothing against it, personally. I’m not philosophically opposed to it. It just tends to be a little greasier than I prefer, and it can be downright messy if you let it get away from you.

But the first time I visited the Louisville Civil War Roundtable in Kentucky, they had chicken on the buffet. As the old saying goes, “When in Rome. . . .” I figured, if anyone knew what they were doing when it came to fried chicken, it would be the folks in Kentucky.

And indeed they did! I have raved about that chicken ever since. In fact, I recently made my third visit to the roundtable, and all I could keep thinking about was that chicken. Mmmm mmmm!

My first visit to the Louisville roundtable was also memorable because they paid me in Kentucky Bluegrass. (Yes, they also offered a kind honorarium.) The bluegrass came in a tiny plastic bag, and I was able to plant it the following spring. They roundtable has also been thoughtful enough to “pay” me in fine Kentucky bourbon. The bottle was even autographed by master distiller Chris Morris.

In Hershey, Pennsylvania, I’ve been paid in chocolate. In Cuba, New York, I’ve been paid in cheese. In Seattle, Washington, I was paid in local smoked salmon and treated to a vintage baseball-themed calendar.

I’ve been presented with hats and pins and plaques and certificates. I’ve had challenge coins passed to me by handshake. I’ve been given etched glassware, rustic stoneware, and roundtable-branded mugs. Buffalo, New York’s, roundtable presented me with its prestigious “McKinley Cup,” a tin coffee cup named in honor of U.S. President (and onetime coffee-fetcher) William McKinley, who once survived the bullets at Antietam only to eventually be mortally wounded by an assassin’s bullet in Buffalo.

I keep all these treasures—for treasures they are—on the shelves of my Civil War library. When I reach for a book, I often have to slide one of these gifts to the side so I can pull the book. (I have not saved any of the foodstuff except as fond memories of tasty treats.)

Roundtables are full of generous people eager to share the things that make their communities and their roundtables unique. It’s a privilege to experience America this way. It’s a pleasure to break bread—or share fried chicken—with such fine people.

— Chris Mackowski, Ph.D.

Editor-in-Chief, Emerging Civil War

Decisions at Shiloh: The Twenty-Two Critical Decisions That Defined the Battle by Dave Powell (University of Tennessee Press, 2023), with maps by David Friedrichs.

From Dave: “I sort of fell into Decisions at Shiloh when fellow author and series editor Matt Spruill asked me to take on the project. I agreed, because to me Shiloh is a fascinating engagement, an early-war brawl that involved little finesse. The losses suffered here dwarfed earlier Civil War battles, providing a shocking dose of reality as to just how bloody this struggle might become. But that does not mean it was without key decision points—far from it. Johnston’s decision to pivot at the 18th Wisconsin camp, Sherman and McClernand’s risky venture to counterattack out of Jones Field, and Beauregard’s ultimately controversial choice to halt the Confederate onslaught on the evening of April 6 are each prime examples. The Decisions series focuses not on narrative, but on analysis: who made those decisions, why, and how each effected the outcome. This was my second such project, after a similar book on Chickamauga, and I enjoyed the chance to dive so deeply into another field of conflict.”

To Hell or Richmond: The 1862 Peninsula Campaign by Doug Crenshaw and Drew Gruber (Savas Beatie, 2023)

—part of the Emerging Civil War Series

Long-delayed by COVID, Doug and Drew’s book on the 1862 Peninsula Campaign, To Hell or Richmond, is finally available, and readers will agree that it’s been worth the wait. The book tracks George McClellan’s Union army as it advanced from Fort Monroe to the Confederate capital, with Confederate forces under Joe Johnston carefully giving ground before it. The book takes advantage of new Civil War Trails sites on the Peninsula, too, ensuring tour-followers will have plenty of cool places to visit, good restaurants to eat at, and refreshing microbrews to quench their thirst. To Hell or Richmond: The 1862 Peninsula Campaign serves as a prequel to Doug's 2017 ECWS book Richmond Shall Not Be Given Up: The Seven Days' Battles.

Man of Fire: William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War by Derek Maxfield (Savas Beatie, 2023)

—part of the Emerging Civil War Series

Man of Fire tells the story of a man who found himself in war—and that, in turn, secured him a place in history. Condemned for his barbarousness or hailed for his heroics, the life of this peculiar general is nonetheless compelling—and thoroughly American. According to Derek, his second book is special for its collaboration with his colleagues at Genesee Community College. “You know, while I am proud of the biography,” Maxfield said, “I am especially proud of the contributions from my friends at GCC who wrote great essays for the appendix. Their work added to the quality of the book immeasurably.” The book features appendices penned by GCC Associate Professor of English Tracy Ford, Associate Professor of English Michael Gosselin, and Student Success Coach Jess Maxfield.

Garry Adelman took a picture of Kris White taking a picture of Chris Mackowski and legendary Vicksburg historian Terry Winschel along the banks of the river in front of Vicksburg.

Rocking their "Man of Fire" world tour t-shirts, Derek Maxfield, Tracy Ford, Jess Maxfield, and Michael Gosselin appeared at the book launch party for Derek's new ECWS title.

April

4: Chris Mackowski, Brunswick (NC) Civil War Roundtable

11: Dave Powell, “Tullahoma,” McHenry County CWRT, Woodstock, IL

14-16: Chris Mackowski, American Civil War Roundtable of the U.K. Annual Conference

14: Dwight Hughes, “From Shenandoah to Seeadler: The Legacy of Civil War Commerce Raiders in WWI,” Falls Church Military History Forum, Falls Church, VA

15: Dan Welch, “Last Road North, Carnegie Civil Symposium, Carnegie, PA 

May

3: Dwight Hughes, “Unlike Anything That Ever Floated: The USS Monitor and the Battle of Hampton Roads,” Civil War Round Table of Wilmington, DE

6: Chris Mackowski, Harrisburg-Hershey Civil War Round Table, Chancellorsville bus tour

8: Jon Tracey, “A Veteran’s Truth at Antietam and Gettysburg: John Rankin of the 27th Indiana,” Indianapolis (IN) CWRT

10: Jon-Erik Gilot, “Hardships & Dangers Will Bind Men as Brothers: The Ohio National Guard in the Summer of 1864,” Academy of Lifelong Learning, Steubenville, OH 

13: Neil Chatelain, “Defending the Arteries of Rebellion,” Civil War Round Table of Central Louisiana’s Second Saturdays with Savas Beatie, Virtual Presentation

17: Meg Groeling, “First Fallen: The Story of Col. Elmer Ellsworth,” North Bay CWRT (on-site) 7:00 p.m. PST

17: Dwight Hughes, “Unlike Anything That Ever Floated: The USS Monitor and the Battle of Hampton Roads,” Fairfax City Military History Group, Fairfax, VA

18: Jon-Erik Gilot, “Jenkins’s 1862 & 1863 Trans-Allegheny Raids,” Southeastern Ohio CWRT, Cambridge, OH