The little-known true Civil War story of the Confederate soldiers who served in the Union Army by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author. Historian Dee Brown uncovers an exciting episode in American history: During the Civil War, a group of Confederate soldiers opted to assist the Union Army rather than endure the grim conditions of POW camps. Regiments containing former Confederates were not trusted to go into battle against their former comrades, and instead were sent to the West as “outpost guardians,” where they performed frontier duties, including escorting supply trains, rebuilding telegraph lines, and quelling uprisings from regional American Indian tribes, which were sweeping across the Plains. This is an account of an extraordinary, though often overlooked, group of men who served in unexpected ways at a pivotal moment in the nation’s history. From the bestselling author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, The Galvanized Yankees is “an accurate, interesting, and sometimes thrilling account of an unusual group of men [and] a fresh and informative study of the Old West in transition from frontier to stable society” (The New York Times Book Review). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dee Brown including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

The “fascinating” #1 New York Times bestseller that awakened the world to the destruction of American Indians in the nineteenth-century West (The Wall Street Journal). First published in 1970, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee generated shockwaves with its frank and heartbreaking depiction of the systematic annihilation of American Indian tribes across the western frontier. In this nonfiction account, Dee Brown focuses on the betrayals, battles, and massacres suffered by American Indians between 1860 and 1890. He tells of the many tribes and their renowned chiefs—from Geronimo to Red Cloud, Sitting Bull to Crazy Horse—who struggled to combat the destruction of their people and culture. Forcefully written and meticulously researched, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee inspired a generation to take a second look at how the West was won. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dee Brown including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Based on the diaries and memoirs of the men who made the legend, on newspapers and official records, and illustrated with contemporary photographs, this story of a famous regiment in action creates a feeling of actual participation in the entire Civil War, from Shiloh to the fall of the Confederacy.

Early in the morning of April 17, 1863, volunteer brigade of union cavalrymen under the command of Col. Benjamin Grierson rode south from their headquarters just above the Mississippi border. 16 days, 600 miles, and a number of skirmishes later, the sixth and seventh Illinois cavalry regiments entered Baton Rouge in triumph having marched the entire length of the state of Mississippi. Such a bold cavalry thrust deep into Confederate territory had never been attempted before. Col. Grierson was on his own: he was simply told to harass the Confederates - thus diverting their attention from Grant, who was poised for attack on Vicksburg - and to sever the Vicksburg railroad. How he accomplish these objectives is skillfully told here in a day-by-day account of the raid: the long and grueling marches; the consternation of the Confederate commanders, whose intelligence reports were thrown off time and again by Grierson's bluffs and the tricks of his advanced scouts, the "Butternut Guerrillas"; the daring attack on the Vicksburg railroad; the tatterdemalion parade into Baton Rouge, with 300 fleeing slaves happily bringing up the rear. GRIERSON'S RAID does more than follow the fascinating twists and turns of the union force whose maneuvers so flabbergasted the Confederates, often with amusing results. The author has fashioned a smooth flowing narrative that also includes short biographies of the key men - notably, of course, Col. Grierson, a music teacher turned cavalrymen who heartily distrust of horses. [When he was a boy a horse kicked him in the face, leaving him blind for two weeks; he bore the scars for the rest of his life.] But Grierson's attitudes towards horses did not hinder his generalship. One reads this book with keen admiration for the brilliance of a tactician whose brazen raid anticipated the free wheeling thrusts of a Guderian or a Patton in World War II. Mr. Brown has been able to draw from unusually full sources in writing this book. In addition to official records and newspaper accounts, he has made use of a privately published record of services and a manuscript autobiography by Grierson, and the letters and journals of two other members of the brigade. -- Publisher.

DIVDee Brown’s sparkling account of a momentous year in American history/divDIV In 1876, America was eager to celebrate its centenary, but questioned what might lie ahead. The American Republic had grown to four times its original population, and was in the midst of enormous changes. Industrialization was booming, and new energy sources were being used for fuel and power. People were suddenly less bound to agriculture, and there were revolutions in transportation and communication. It was a time of Indian wars, the first stirrings of the labor movement, and the burgeoning struggle form women’s and other civil rights. Historian Dee Brown takes the measure of America in a rare moment of reflection on the nation’s past, present, and future. /divDIV /divDIVThe Year of the Century was one of Brown’s favorites among his works. In page-turning prose, he tells of a tumultuous era and of a young nation taking stock./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an illustrated biography of Dee Brown including rare photos from the author’s personal collection./div

Three true tales of Civil War combat, as recounted by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. The acclaimed historian of the American West turns his attention to the country’s bloody civil conflict, chronicling the exploits of extraordinary soldiers who served in unexpected ways at a pivotal moment in the nation’s history. Grierson’s Raid: The definitive work on one of the most astonishing missions of the Civil War’s early days. For two weeks in the spring of 1862, Col. Benjamin Grierson, a former music teacher, led 1,700 Union cavalry troops on a raid from Tennessee to Louisiana. The improbably successful mission diverted Confederate attention from Grant’s crossing of the Mississippi and set the stage for the Siege of Vicksburg. General Sherman called it “the most brilliant expedition of the war.” The Bold Cavaliers: In 1861, Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan and his brother-in-law Basil Duke put together a group of formidable horsemen, and set to violent work. Morgan’s Raiders began in their home state, staging attacks, recruiting new soldiers, and intercepting Union telegraphs. Most were imprisoned after unsuccessful incursions into Ohio and Indiana years later, but some Raiders would escape, regroup, and fight again in different conflicts. “Accurate and frequently exciting” (Kirkus Reviews). The Galvanized Yankees: The little-known and awe-inspiring true story of a group of captured Confederate soldiers who chose to serve in the Union Army rather than endure the grim conditions of prisoner of war camps. “An accurate, interesting, and sometimes thrilling account of an unusual group of men who rendered a valuable service to the nation in a time of great need” (The New York Times Book Review).

Includes material on George Catlin, Francis Parkman, Josiah Gregg, John Butterfield, Theodore Roosevelt, among others.