The dramatic story of how the backwoods frontier boys of Indiana and Wisconsin became soldiers of an "Iron Brigade," a unit so celebrated that General George McClellan called it "equal to the best troops in any army in the world."

The Iron Brigade is one of the most celebrated military organisations of the American Civil War. Although it is primarily known for its remarkable stand on the first bloody day at Gettysburg, its stellar service from the earliest days of the war all the way to Appomattox Court House is routinely ignored. The Iron Brigade in the Civil War is based on decades of archival research and includes scores of previously unpublished letters, photos, journals, and other primary accounts. This well researched and written tour de force, which includes reunion and memorial coverage until the final expiration of the last surviving member, will be the last word on the Iron Brigade for the foreseeable future. "When we were young", explained one Black Hat veteran many years after the war, "we hardly realised that we had fought on more fields of battle than the Old Guard of Napoleon, and have stood fire in far greater firmness." Here, at long last, is the full story of how young farm boys, shopkeepers, river men and piney camp boys in a brigade forged with iron helped save the Union. AUTHOR: Lance J. Herdegen is the award-winning author of several books on Civil War topics. His latest work, Those Damned Black Hats: The Iron Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign, won the Army Historical Foundation's Distinguished Writing Award. Lance is the former director of the Institute for Civil War Studies at Carroll University and presently chairs the Wisconsin Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. He was recently inducted into the Milwaukee Press Club's Hall of Fame and lives in Spring Prairie, Walworth County, Wisconsin. SELLING POINTS: The first book-length account of this legendary combat unit from Bull Run to the grand march up Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington ILLUSTRATIONS: 68 b/w photographs & 15 maps

In the tradition of the great regimental histories of the past, this book records the fire which seared the ranks of the Twenty-Four Michigan Regiment of the legendary “Iron Brigade.” Born as the result of a riot, led by a Virginian, met with coldness and hostility by the black-hatted veterans of the brigade, the Twenty-Fourth swore it would win their respect…and so they did with a vengeance. At Fredericksburg, in “artillery hell” and under a murderous crossfire from the guns of “Stonewall” Jackson and “Jeb” Stuart, they performed the manual of arms to stead the line. The first day at Gettysburg they sparked this remark from the confederate ranks…”That ain’t no milishy, there’s those damn black hats again.” With the immortal First Corps they were ordered west of the town to hold long enough for the army to occupy the strategic heights behind them. They held, and by evening they had lost more men than any of the 400-odd Union regiments engaged in the battle. Still later they marched down “that crimson strip across the maps,” which marked Grant’s Wilderness Campaign; they bled at Petersburg and then, their ranks almost decimated, were sent to guard bounty jumpers. The last tribute to their gallant service came as they were chosen the Guard of Honor for Lincoln’s funeral. In a little more than two years of bloody fighting they found their way to nineteenth place on the list of “300 Fighting Regiments.” To read this book is to consort with heroes who, 100 years ago, stood watching their world writhe in agony. It gives hope that in matching their courage, our country will emerge from the cauldron triumphant.

Iron Brigade officer Henry F. Young wrote 155 letters home during the Civil War, enabling readers to witness the war, society, and politics of 1860s America as he did. This honest and occasionally humorous autobiography reveals a rare portrait of a junior officer from America's western heartland.

Master storyteller Howard Pyle at his best, incorporating fascinating historical information about life in a medieval castle, knighthood, and chivalry into the fast-moving and entertaining story of young Myles Falworth's fight to restore his family's rights and good name.

"I am immensely impressed . . . this particular Brigade needed a book of its own and now it has one which is definitely first-rate. . . . A fine book." —Bruce Catton "One of the '100 best books ever written on the Civil War.'" —Civil War Times Illustrated " . . . remains one of the best unit histories of the Union Army during the Civil War." —Southern Historian ". . . The Iron Brigade is the title for anyone desiring complete information on this military unit . . ." —Spring Creek Packet, Chuck Hamsa This is the story of the most famous unit in the Union Army, the only all-Western brigade in the Eastern armies of the Union—made up of troops from Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan.