Oh, for a Touch of the Vanished Hand : Discovering a Southern Family and the Civil War

Rating:
Summary: Family and Civil War History
Review: As a history and genealogy buff, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not only did it contain family information which was important to me, but I enjoyed the details about many different Civil War battles, (such as Peach Tree Creek).
There have been several Units and or battles, I've tried to find details on over the years, and found only spotty information.
I was very surprised to find great details about those in this book. Thank you so much. You really brought these stories to life.

Rating:
Summary: A model of family history writing
Review: Like many of his generation, Mangham was first drawn to the Civil War by the books and movies that appeared during the Centennial celebrations in the early 1960s. Family visits to sites like Stone Mountain and Peachtree Creek cemented his interest, as did the many CSA markers in the small country cemetery where his grandfather was buried. (The title of this book comes from the epitaph on his great-grandmother's headstone.) His family also encouraged an abiding interest in his own genealogy. After graduating from LSU, his career path led to the army, the eventual rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and a tour as professor of history at the Military Academy at West Point -- and the confluence of these interests and traditions make him perhaps uniquely qualified to write this fascinating combination of military and family history. The author's grandfather, Henry Gordon Mangham, probably was named for General John B. Gordon, who rose from captain of volunteers to Lee?s only non-West Point corps commander. Henry's own grandfather had served in a Georgia Sharpshooter battalion in the Army of Tennessee and two of his great-uncles had fought in the 13th Georgia Infantry, a unit which not only helped make Gen. Gordon's reputation but which also suffered the second-highest casualty rate of any regiment at Sharpsburg/Antietam. Both uncles, in fact, had been seriously wounded there. Many Mangham cousins also served in the War and at least five never returned home. However, the author goes on to discuss the experiences and activities of dozens of other units from seven Southern states and this fat volume will be of considerable interest to any serious Civil War historian or hobbyist. But that's not all! Nearly half the book presents a detailed and extremely well-documented history of the Mangum / Mangram / Mangham family beginning with the marriage of John Mangum to Frances Bennett in Isle of Wight County, Virginia about 1694, and following their migrations first to North Carolina and eventually to Georgia about 1790, with some branches of the family moving on to Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Some 500 Manghams and their offspring are brought together in a seven-generation Descendant Report, which includes cross-references to the main text, a very handy feature. Col. Mangham has also included a very good glossary to military terminology and a 34-page bibliography, as well as a brief instructional guide to Civil War research.