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Loading... Lions of the Dan: The Untold Story of Armistead's Brigadeby J. K. Brandau
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Lions of the Dan: The Untold Story of Armistead's Brigade chronicles those men of Pickett's Charge over the full course of the Civil War. While time-honored celebrations of Armistead and Pickett focus narrowly on moments at Gettysburg, primary sources declare the untold story of the best of men in the worst of times and refutes Lost Cause myths surrounding Armistead and Pickett. Written by retired scientist J.K. Brandau, for the first time, Lions of the Dan widens the aperture to introduce real heroes and amazing deeds that have been suppressed until now. Brandau presents the experiences of real soldiers in their own words and highlights the much-ignored history of Southside Virginia, presenting the Civil War start to finish from a unique, regional perspective. Readers find their pedestrian notions of the founding of the South's peculiar institution challenged as they read an objective account of Virginia's secession and celebrate the courage and devotion of soldiers on both sides. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)929.920973History and Geography Biography, genealogy, insignia Genealogy; Heraldry FlagsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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The narrative is from the side of the rebels or CSA. The book does some pretty deep dives of CSA troops, and their daily life in Virginia, how they waged war, their victories and their defeats. Ken introduces us to the leaders, their background and a pretty comprehensive look at their family ties and relations. We can spy on the leaders, learn how they think, their demonstrated weakness' and strengths, character, disappointments, and actions during several of the campaigns, all extracted from journals, letters and notes.
Ken describes camp life or 'garrison' life in times of plenty as well as times when no resupply was available. Winters for the soldiers came both with and without shelter and warm clothing. Time was spent building cabins to shelter them from extreme cold and wind. The springs and summers brought their own misery, in the form of heat, humidity, dust and later mud from what seemed like endless rain. The book describes the rhythm of Armistead and the 38th along with some 'sister' brigades'.
I was aware of most of the battles described, but of others, I had no real knowledge. Battles that were lost due to fatal mistakes and battles that were won due to other mistakes. I think, especially if you are a student of history and a student of the civil war, that Ken's comprehensive look at the 38th and Armistead will give you a better understanding of the soldier's life, the slowness of that life between engagements, the battles and the cost of the whole. Ken is a gifted writer and I highly recommend this book as a great stop among the wealth of writings found about our civil war. ( )