Red Clay To Richmond: Trail Of The 35th Georgia Infantry Regiment, Csa

Rating:
Summary: John Fox Hits the Mark
Review: A chance encounter at a Columbus, Georgia frame shop in 1987 led to the author's 15-year odyssey that began as a small project to transcribe the letters of a Confederate private, and culminated in a history of a hard-fighting but largely unnoticed Georgia regiment. In Red Clay to Richmond, John J. Fox, III chronicles the 35th Georgia Infantry from muster to surrender, using the soldier's own words as his vehicle.

The battle record of the 35th Georgia parallels that of the Army of Northern Virginia as it fought in a brigade of A. P. Hill's division under Stonewall Jackson, and then as a component of Hill's division after Jackson's untimely death. Along the way, 1,330 men, mostly north Georgia farmers, passed through the ranks of the 35th. Five hundred twenty-three died of battle wounds or disease-a greater than 39 percent mortality rate. At Appomattox, only 15 officers and 121 men remained. Even so, the brave soldiers of the 35th Georgia could rightly boast that no enemy hand had touched their beloved banner during combat.

Fox records in detail the regiment's history: its movements, its tactical engagements with the enemy, and its evolving command structure, all related within the context of the overall Confederate strategic situation. In so doing, he also manages to weave into the fabric of the narrative vivid accounts of the soldier's lives: their fondest hopes and bitter disappointments together with their glorious exploits and awful tragedies. For example, in a letter of June 11, 1862, Private Benjamin Franklin Moody, begged his wife to send an ambrotype, for when his comrades received likenesses of their wives, he was overcome with emotion. Moody never again saw his wife or her image. He fell in battle on June 26, 1862, at Mechanicsville while protecting his regimental colors. Another private, Frank Edwards, survived the war to return home, albeit in a nearly unrecognizable and feeble condition. Captured near Petersburg on April 2, 1865, Edwards was nearly killed within ten minutes of his arrival at Point Lookout, Maryland, when he ventured too close to the prison's wooden wall.

Red Clay to Richmond is profusely illustrated with maps, portraits, and landscape scenes photographed by the author during his extensive travels to battlefield locations. A unit roster compiled from multiple sources is found among a number of appendices, the first three of which might have been incorporated into a concluding chapter or epilogue. Also included in the appendix is the transcript of the court martial of one of the regiment's first lieutenants for conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman-an interesting short story in and of itself.

The casual reader may find the quantity of information contained in Red Clay to Richmond somewhat daunting, but a reader possessed with a working knowledge of the war's people, places, and battles, will find this book to be an excellent synopsis of the war role of the 35th Georgia. The book's greatest strength, however, is the recounting of the experiences of the 35th's soldiers as they trekked through Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania before coming home.


Rating:
Summary: A great gift for anyone who enjoys history
Review: John Fox has utilized first hand accounts from an amazing collection of letters from soldiers during the Civil War to bring history alive. I consider myself somewhat knowledgable about Civil War history but this book has enhanced that knowledge significantly. This book is full of details highlighting much about daily life and the personal struggle that the common soldier faced in this important time. He does this in a creative but accurate way that also traces the course of the war through at least seven major battles that this regiment fought in. This is a factual account that you will have trouble putting down once you start.

Rating:
Summary: Red Clay To Richmond Book Review
Review: This book gives a fascinating account of the Civil War from a Confederate foot soldier's perspective. The author uses extensive research, maps, pictures, and best of all, personal letters and diaries to help the reader experience what these brave men endured. This was one of those books I found very hard to put down until I finished it!