Eric J. Wittenberg’s Top Ten Civil War Books

Originally published November 2020 · p. 30

Eric J. Wittenberg’s Top Ten Civil War Books 1. The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War text by Bruce Catton and the coolest maps ever. American Heritage Publishing Co., 1960. What’s not to love? 2. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant. Charles L. Webster, 1885– 1886. Written brilliantly by a dying Grant, this is the standard against which all other Civil War memoirs are measured. 3. Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Command, by Douglas Southall Freeman. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1942–1944. This is the standard reference study of the command structure of the Army of Northern Virginia. Although tainted by Lost Cause dogma, these are indispensable volumes for any student of the Civil War in the East. 4. Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas by John J. Hennessy. Simon & Schuster, 1993. I think that this book is the single finest one-volume campaign study ever published. 5. The Union Cavalry in the Civil War, 3 vols., by Stephen Z. Starr. Louisiana State University Press, 1979– 1985. For the cavalry historian, these three volumes are the standard reference and starting point for any serious study of mounted operations in the Civil War. While dated, they remain indispensable. 6. Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam by Stephen Sears. Easton Press, 1983. This was one of the first critical campaign studies that I ever read. It remains a classic today. 7. The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command by Edwin B. Coddington. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1968. THE definitive work on the Gettysburg Campaign and on the command decisions made by the high ranking officers of both sides. Although this book is now more than 50 years old and had to be completed posthumously, it remains the standard reference on the campaign. 8. Annals of the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry by

Samuel L. Gracey. E.H. Butler & Co., 1868. This is my favorite regimental history of all-time, written by the regimental chaplain of the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, also known as Rush’s Lancers. This book launched my own studies of the exploits of the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry. 9. Gordon C. Rhea’s six volume study of the Overland Campaign of 1864, Louisiana State University Press, 1994– 2017. I realize that the assignment asked for 10 specific books, but this series of book constitutes THE definitive campaign study of any aspect of the American Civil War. These are the gold standard for campaign studies and likely will remain the authoritative study of their subjects for the foreseeable future. 10. “Co. Aytch,” Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment; or a Side Show of the Show by Samuel Watkins. Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, 1882. The best-known and probably finest soldier memoir of the American Civil War, written by an enlisted man of the Army of Tennessee. The narrative is both amusing and moving all at the same time. It’s a great read. Eric J. Wittenberg is an accomplished American Civil War cavalry historian and author. An attorney in Ohio, Wittenberg has authored more than 21 books on various Civil War subjects, with particular focus on cavalry operations, as well as three dozen articles in popular magazines such as North & South, Blue & Gray, America’s Civil War, and Gettysburg Magazine. His first book, Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions (Thomas Publications, Gettysburg, PA, 1998) won the prestigious 1998 Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award. The second edition won the Army Historical Foundation’s Distinguished Writing Award, for Reprint, 2011. His 2014 book, “The Devil’s to Pay”: John Buford at Gettysburg. A History and Walking Tour, was awarded the Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable’s 2015 Book Award. Wittenberg is a favored speaker at Civil War Roundtables, and conducts tours of various Civil War battlefields and related sites. He was instrumental in saving important battlefield land at Trevilian Station and Brandy Station, Va., and wrote the text for the historical waysides located at Trevilian Station. He serves on the board of directors of the Central Virginia Battlefield Trust, and is the program coordinator for the Chambersburg Civil War Seminars. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife Susan and their three golden retrievers.