Edward Ephraim Cross (1832-1863) accomplished more in his short lifetime years than most men who live to be 100. By the eve of the Civil War, he had traveled from Cincinnati to Arizona working as a political reporter, travel writer, editor, trail hand, silver mine supervisor, and Indian fighter. In the summer of 1861, he became colonel of the Fighting Fifth New Hampshire Volunteers and gained fame as a fearless battlefield commander during action at Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fredricksburg, and Chancellorsville before being mortally wounded at Gettysburg. However, behind this great soldier lay a flawed man, an alcoholic with a short temper who fought a constant battle with words against immigrants, abolitionists, and others with whom he disagreed. This detailed biography presents a full portrait of this controversial and little-known figure, filling a critical gap in the literature of the northern Civil War experience.

A lost New Hampshire story comes to life.

The Granite State has a remarkable record of service during the Civil War. It supplied a total of 10,657 recruits for the infantry, cavalry and field artillery divisions in 1861, with the majority of these first recruits enlisting for three years of service. Historian Bruce Heald lets the soldiers and sailors tell their stories in their own words by weaving together the letters to those left behind--families in Portsmouth and Nashua and sweethearts in Concord and Manchester. Heald includes brief introductions to each volunteer regiment, accounts of more than one hundred personal letters and an in-depth look at camp life. This book offers a personal and intimate connection with New Hampshire during the War Between the States through the voices of its heroic sons.

Manuscript of book on the New Hampshire regiments in the Civil War.

A Civil War hero’s exploits told in his own words

"One of the best history books I've read in the last few years." —Chris Hayes The Field of Blood recounts the previously untold story of the violence in Congress that helped spark the Civil War. A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF SMITHSONIAN'S BEST HISTORY BOOKS OF THE YEAR Historian Joanne B. Freeman recovers the long-lost story of physical violence on the floor of the U.S. Congress. Drawing on an extraordinary range of sources, she shows that the Capitol was rife with conflict in the decades before the Civil War. Legislative sessions were often punctuated by mortal threats, canings, flipped desks, and all-out slugfests. When debate broke down, congressmen drew pistols and waved Bowie knives. One representative even killed another in a duel. Many were beaten and bullied in an attempt to intimidate them into compliance, particularly on the issue of slavery. These fights didn’t happen in a vacuum. Freeman’s dramatic accounts of brawls and thrashings tell a larger story of how fisticuffs and journalism, and the powerful emotions they elicited, raised tensions between North and South and led toward war. In the process, she brings the antebellum Congress to life, revealing its rough realities—the feel, sense, and sound of it—as well as its nation-shaping import. Funny, tragic, and rivetingly told, The Field of Blood offers a front-row view of congressional mayhem and sheds new light on the careers of John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and other luminaries, as well as introducing a host of lesser-known but no less fascinating men. The result is a fresh understanding of the workings of American democracy and the bonds of Union on the eve of their greatest peril.

"Men of Granite is a thorough history of New Hampshire combat troops in the years before and during the Civil War. Focusing On the day-to-day experiences of the common soldier and his reasons for taking up the fight against the Confederacy, Shaffer has mined myriad primary sources to draw together the experiences of all of the state's regiments and units into this single, cohesive volume." "Further enhanced by twenty illustrations and twelve maps, Shaffer's detailed survey reinserts the story of New Hampshire forces into the annals of Civil War history and, through frequent quotation of soldiers' own accounts, gives voice to the motivations and daily experiences of determined Union forces from the Granite State."--BOOK JACKET.