From May 23 through July 9, 1863, the Union Army conducted the longest siege in United States history. Among the other battles and events of which the Fifty-third Massachusetts were a part, they were at Port Hudson. Henry Willis was a participant and wrote this exciting history of the 53rd Regiment. Over 950 men from age 15 to 52 joined the Mass. 53rd. This is the story of millers, bakers, apothecaries, shoemakers, an artist, a clergyman, a jeweler and more who answered the call. Some didn't return home. Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever. For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

During the Civil War, control of the Mississippi River was hotly contested by both the Union and Confederate armies. By late 1862, the South held only a 110-mile stretch of this vital waterway. Determined to defend this critical span, the Confederacy built two fortresses to defend it--Vicksburg on the north end, Port Hudson on the south. Drawing on the letters and memoirs of soldiers and officers on both sides, this book chronicles the brutal struggle for Port Hudson, Louisiana, beginning with Admiral Farragut's costly naval attack by the Union fleet, through the furious infantry assaults ordered by General Nathaniel Banks--including the first charge made by black troops in the Civil War--and finally to the 48-day siege itself. Among the most tragic campaigns of the war, it is recognized by historians as the longest siege in American military history.

As these soldiers fortified the bluff, they sought to avoid drawing fire from Union naval vessels already present in the area. Throughout their occupation of Port Hudson, the Confederate troops were able to hold their position tenaciously, fighting off federal efforts to block supply ships by controlling the mouth of the Red River. The Union's failure to starve out the Confederates eventually led them to launch a direct assault on Port Hudson. This attack was unsuccessful and was followed by an equally disastrous siege. Consequently, Port Hudson did not surrender until after the capitulation of Vicksburg in 1863. Hewitt also discusses a unique outcome of this period of the war: the increased enlistment of black soldiers in northern units. According to the author, the newspaper coverage of the charge by black troops at Port Hudson proved to be vital in convincing the northern masses to accept the enlistment of nearly 180,000 black soldiers in the Army before the end of the war.

Osborne Oldroyd had two residences in common with his martyred Commander-in-Chief, Abraham Lincoln. He and his family rented the Lincoln house in Springfield after the war and he was instrumental in convincing Robert Lincoln to donate the house to the state. Oldroyd later lived in the Peterson House, where the late President died across the street from Ford's Theater. What was it like day to day for the soldier in the trenches? Osborn Oldroyd, just shy of 21-years-old, kept a diary during the siege and published it in 1895. For the first time, this compelling, thrilling, sad, and humorous account is available in an affordable, well-formatted abridged e-book. Far from being mere cannon fodder, many of the soldiers of the Civil War were keen observers of the events that changed America forever. They were capable of writing intimate, engaging prose and they were not insensible to the beauty of the night sky or the awful beauty of destruction. With wit, irony, and fierce patriotism, Oldroyd draws us in. From Oldroyd's diary: "...kept up the firing for four hours, during which time the smoke was so thick we could see nothing but the flash of the guns. No fog could have so completely hid from view objects around...such a screeching of shot and shell must prove a terror to them, and my heart has not yet grown so hardened that I can not feel for them." And: "Soldiers grow more friendly as they are brought better to realize the terrible ravages of war. As Colonel Force called us to 'Attention!' this morning, one of the boys remarked, 'I love that man more than ever.'" Even in the midst of the crash of battle, Oldroyd tells us, "Boys at the front have time for sport, which is not to be interrupted even by stray shells." He then goes on to describe a card game during which the boys did not even acknowledge shells flying over their heads. Later he writes of sneaking into a Vicksburg home during the siege and being invited to stay for a birthday party. No history can convey the awful and comical events of Vicksburg like the stories of the common soldiers. No general's account of strategy can bring the same kind of immediacy to events. You'll find yourself at Vicksburg in a way you never thought possible. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.

Among the enormous body of American Civil War memoirs, this one stands out as a unique indictment of military despotism and ineptitude by a highly-educated and articulate officer, Colonel Edward Savage Bacon.Stinging with irreverence and humor, articulate and profane, Bacon wrote one of the best Civil War memoirs and illuminates in wonderful prose the vagaries of commanding men under corrupt leadership. His descriptions of battle are detailed and afford a look at the human side of combat, not just statistics. His description of the siege of Port Hudson and the disastrous Union charges there is among the best you'll find in any war memoir.Twice brought before courts martial and acquitted, attorney Bacon then brought charges against his commander:"Thomas S. Clark, was drunk, and being drunk, did then and there make an indecent exposure of his own person and of the person of a certain woman of color called Maria, and did then and there attempt [redacted] and other things then and there did too enormous to be mentioned..." He also used his men "for purposes of private gain and speculation in obtaining cotton and otherwise, whereby the health and lives of officers and men were endangered."Through court-martial for refusing an order to move his men out of barracks into swamps, the pillage of Ponchatoula by Union troops (the cotton thieves) to the siege of Port Hudson and the Battle of Baton Rouge, Bacon observed while high officers whored, drank to excess, avoided combat, and pillaged for personal gain. All the while the rank and file soldiers are subjected to disregard and abuse. (Port Hudson was the first time African-Americans were used in a major Civil War battle and they appear here.)This was not the only instance Bacon observed of commanding officers using war to comfort or enrich themselves at the expense of the rank and file. After the war, Bacon had a successful career as an attorney in Niles, Michigan.Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever.