During the Polish campaign, SS combat units were seconded to various formations of the Heer. Still considered more parade troops than frontline soldiers, they did not prove a decisive factor in the fighting, but the campaign was important for their transformation into real fighting units. They were criticized for their losses, and the officers were blamed, being considered poorly and inadequately trained. The SS officers in turn accused Heer commanders for sacrificing SS troops in suicidal missions. Himmler became convinced that if his units were used autonomously they could have better demonstrated their full potential, leading him to push for the SS to be considered a separate fighting force.Fully illustrated, this Casemate Illustrated describes the actions of the SS units that fought on the front line in Poland, primarily the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, the SS-Verfügungstruppen and the SS-Heimwehr-Danzig.

During the Second World War Royal Air Force Bomber Command suffered unprecedented casualty rates. Those who served, were killed, and were found, now rest in Commonwealth War Graves Commission graves across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. Of these, almost 30,000 headstones bear emotive and poignant epitaphs, chosen by the next of kin, which, in varied ways, express their loss. Some families selected literary quotes or decided upon a phrase in Latin or other language. Many wished to reflect the sacrifice made in confronting the enemy, in defence of their country, or the sacrifice of a pilot who stayed at the controls of his aircraft to save his crew. Other families referenced siblings of the airmen, who were similarly lost. There were those who chose mild humour. Often the epitaph would mention the wife and children of the casualty, or the bereaved may have selected a phrase from the last letter they received from their loved one. Others found, in their hearts, their own words.In Epitaphs of Bomber Command Steve Darlow and Dave Gilbert select one hundred epitaphs, providing further detail about the respective casualty, along with an insight into the words chosen for the inscriptions. Words that were restricted by a war graves commission limit on the number of letters.This collection, published eighty years after the end of the Second World War and specific to RAF Bomber Command, provides a direct and sombre insight into the cost of war at a personal level. ‘We Will Remember Them’.

This book contains information about a tank very important in the development of Polish armored weaponry. Although only 38 of these combat vehicles were purchased in 1932, allowing for the formation of just two companies, it was significant that the Polish Army received a modern tank, whose utility and properties could be tested in daily service. Simultaneously, a license for the production of Vickers E tanks was purchased - and this was even more important than the acquisition of the equipment itself. Operating Vickers E tanks provided essential knowledge about the necessary design changes - which was crucial for the initiated production of more advanced Polish tanks named 7TP and C7P artillery tractors.The book includes nearly 200 illustrations, consisting of large, clear photographs from the era and colorful profiles of Polish "Vickers" with faithfully reproduced details of equipment, painting, and markings.

"Engaging and readable..

On March 29, 1863, 12-year-old Frederick Grant, the eldest son of Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, arrived at his father’s headquarters at Young’s Point, Louisiana. Grant’s Army of the Tennessee was preparing to move against Vicksburg, Mississippi, and young Fred had no intention of missing out on the adventure. His incredible journey would consume more than three months and would not end until shortly after the surrender of the Confederate bastion on the Fourth of July. Posterity is the beneficiary of the younger Grant’s brief memoir on the subject, which Albert A. Nofi has edited and annotated as Fred Grant at Vicksburg: A Boy’s Memoir at his Father’s Side during the American Civil War.For nearly 100 days, young Fred roamed freely within the army, often not seeing his father for days while living amongst the troops, sharing their rations, and seeing war firsthand. At times hungry, cold, and alone, he was also often under fire, slept where he could, was nearly captured, and was lightly wounded in the Battle of the Big Black River Bridge. The pre-teen twice watched as Union ships ran the Vicksburg batteries, acquired souvenirs, met some of the most notable Americans of the time, and nearly died from dysentery—all the while witnessing and participating in some of the most decisive events of the Civil War.Years after the war, Fred began recounting his adventures at veteran reunions or during interviews with journalists. In 1887, he contributed a long account of his dramatic experiences to The National Tribune, the nation’s principal newspaper for Union vets. This book is based primarily on that main account. Editor and annotator Nofi supplemented Grant’s memoir with material from more than a dozen other versions of his adventures, which often add additional details or explanations omitted in the longer National Tribune telling.Fred Grant at Vicksburg is one of the greatest yet least-known adventure stories of the age. This entertaining and enlightening new study adds another facet to our understanding of Vicksburg, the Civil War, and the unique relationship of father and son.

Wars change the course of history and touch in intensely personal ways the lives of everyone involved. Thankfully, surviving firsthand accounts offer modern readers a deeply personal window into earlier times. From Camp Douglas to Vicksburg: The Civil War Letters of William J. Kennedy, 55th Illinois Infantry, 1861-1863, edited and annotated by Rachael E. Mellen and David A. Powell, constitutes a rich and informative glimpse into one such life.William J. Kennedy was a second-generation Irish-American born in New York in 1827. By 1861 he was a harness-maker running his own business in the small town of LaSalle, Illinois. When Governor Yates called for volunteers, Kennedy jumped at the chance. He even recruited many of his friends and relatives into Company G of the 55th Illinois Infantry, a new regiment being organized in Chicago under Col. David Stuart. Kennedy had ambitions to become a captain and, like most men his age, dreamed of battlefield heroics.With a sharp eye and an even sharper wit, Kennedy played the role of embedded reporter during some of the most momentous events in the Western Theater. His letters to his wife Jane, family members, and friends are often as detailed as newspaper accounts and battle reports. His observations span the gamut, from corruption in the army and the alien culture in Tennessee and Mississippi, to his unyielding confidence in President Lincoln’s judgment. Most students of the war will treasure his previously unseen descriptions of the fighting at Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, the triumphal entry into Memphis, the disaster of Chickasaw Bayou, and the misery of digging canals around Vicksburg. Sadly, it was there, on the undulating hills near the Mississippi River during the final fatal assault against that fortress, that William lost his life.His original letters reside in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Archives in Springfield, Illinois. A genealogical long shot led Mellen to discover the connection between her family and the letters at the library. Editors Mellen and Powell used their expertise to sift through genealogical records, histories of the war, and other regimental accounts to flesh out the people, places, and events that can now be shared with everyone. These documents have brought William Kennedy and his family back to life for their 21st century relatives and a wider audience.From Camp Douglas to Vicksburg adds significantly to the historiography of the war and is one of the finest Western Theater letter collections to reach print in many years.

By the time Albert Castel’s Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 appeared in 1992, Savas Woodbury Publishers had already made important contributions to the campaign scholarship by publishing a collection of original essays by some of the field’s most noted authors, including Steven Woodworth, writing about the Confederacy’s command options in the Winter of 1863-64. Editors Theodore P. Savas and David A. Woodbury next assembled another group of articles that included such luminaries as Richard McMurry and William R. Scaife. The pair of paperbacks were published together in 1994 in a special hardcover edition with fold-out maps entitled The Campaign for Atlanta & Sherman’s March to the Sea, Volumes I and II. Now, almost three decades later, Savas Beatie proudly announces the publication of its third volume in the series. Once again, cutting-edge scholarship is presented in such essays as Brian Wills’ “Forrest and Atlanta” and Larry Daniel’s “The Adairsville Affair.” Stephen Davis wonders why the battle of Jonesboro (August 31-September 1) still draws so much attention when Federal troops had already cut Hood’s last railroad line into Atlanta, sealing the fate of the city even before the battle had begun.Additional essays address the impact of Sherman’s campaigns on Georgia women, Joe Johnston’s self-aggrandizing campaign accounts, and more.Like its predecessors, The Campaign for Atlanta and Sherman’s March to the Sea, Volume 3 will be highly sought by students of the campaign, and western theatrists in general.

So much has been written about Gettysburg, goes the well-worn cliché, that there is nothing new left to write. Now in paperback, The Second Day at Gettysburg: The Attack and Defense of Cemetery Ridge, July 2, 1863, by David L. Shultz and Scott L. Mingus Sr. aptly demonstrates that there is indeed still much to learn about the war’s largest and bloodiest battle.Based upon a faulty early-morning reconnaissance, General Robert E. Lee decided to attack up the Emmitsburg Road in an effort to collapse the left flank of General George Meade’s Army of the Potomac and decisively defeat it. The effort got underway when General James Longstreet’s First Corps troops crushed General Sickles’ Peach Orchard salient and turned north and east to drive deeply into the Union rear. A third Confederate division under Richard Anderson, part of A. P. Hill’s Third Corps, joined in the attack, slamming one brigade after another into the overstretched Union line stitched northward along the Emmitsburg Road. The bloody fighting stair-stepped its way up Cemetery Ridge, tearing open a large gap in the center of the Federal line that threatened to split the Union army in two. The fate of the Battle of Gettysburg hung in the balance.Despite the importance of the position, surprisingly few Union troops were available to defend the yawning gap on the ridge. Major General Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps had been reduced to less than one division when his other two were sucked southward to reinforce the collapsing Third Corps front. Reprising Horatio at the Bridge, the gallant commander cobbled together a wide variety of infantry and artillery commands and threw them into the action, refusing to yield even one acre of ground. The long and intense fighting included hand-to-hand combat and the personal heroics of which legends are made.Veteran Gettysburg authors Shultz and Mingus merge their subject matter expertise and keen understanding of the complex undulating terrain and physical features to produce the most detailed study of this action ever written. In addition to demonstrating how the fighting on the far Union left directly affected the combat to come in the center of General Meade’s line, the authors also address some of the most commonly overlooked aspects of the fighting: what routes did some of the key units take to reach the front? What could the commanders actually see, and when could they see it? How did the fences, roads, farms, trees, ravines, creeks, and others obstacles directly affect tactical decisions, and ultimately the battle itself?Based upon extensive research and graced with dozens of photographs and detailed original maps, The Second Day at Gettysburg offers a balanced, compelling, and ultimately satisfying account of one of the most overlooked and yet important aspects of the defining battle of the American Civil War.

Carlton McCarthy, a former artilleryman with the Richmond Howitzers, noted after the war that historians would only write about big battles and campaigns, not how the common soldier fried his bacon and baked his biscuits. McCarthy was correct. Save for a few small references in scattered books, no one has set out to document how an army was fed, or the daily eating habits of Confederate soldiers until Michael C. Hardy’s Feeding Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.Although seldom studied, food (or the lack thereof) and the logistics behind it played a critical role during the war, contributed mightily to the success and failure of campaigns, and impacted the overall outcome of the conflict. Understanding how soldiers fried their bacon and baked their biscuits, how they ate and, very often, went hungry, is a vital tool to understanding their individual experiences and the larger history of supply and logistics within the Confederate army.Hardy bases his unique study on more than 300 sets of letters and diaries that closely examine the importance of sustenance in the day-to-day life of the soldiers in the Army of Northern Virginia. Various chapters examine food issued by the army, food sent from home, and food carried, collected, and eaten during campaigns. These accounts dispel many misconceptions and assumptions about food during the war and provide a rich and complex picture of the arduous journey various meats, grains, and other foodstuffs underwent to reach the hungry soldiers in the field.In addition to the common soldier, Feeding Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia examines what the Confederate high command ate and also explores the relationship between hospitals and food, demonstrating the importance of proper nutrition in the recovery and care of the wounded. The vital role of camp servants is also studied, as is the critical connection between proper nutrition and morale. The voices of the men themselves provide a multi-faceted examination of this critical, but often overlooked, field of history.Battles and campaigns would not have been possible without a proper diet and a functioning logistical system to support the men at the front. Feeding Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia offers invaluable insight into this overlooked and understudied topic that made it all possible.

What actually happened during the first six weeks of new-found peace once General Lee surrendered the remnants of the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant? What were the initial reactions of the soldiers and Virginia citizens to the devastating news of Lincoln’s assassination? How did they handle the situation of the emancipated slaves? These and many other issues are covered in depth by Chris Calkins, former chief historian at Appomattox, in The Final Bivouac: The Confederate Surrender Parade at Appomattox and the Disbanding of the Virginia Armies, April 10-May 20, 1865.The first installment in this unofficial set, “No One Wants to be the Last to Die” (formerly The Battles of Appomattox), set the stage for the final dramatic act of the Civil War in Virginia: the surrender parade at Appomattox. Calkins vividly captured the intense feelings and emotions of both Union and Confederate soldiers as the former enemies faced each other for the last time. The honor and respect shown the victorious Federal troops toward the defeated Southerners is one of the most moving episodes in American history.The Final Bivouac continues the story with accounts of homeward-bound Confederates, the Union encampment at Burkeville, the Danville Expedition, and the occupation of Southside Virginia. The narrative concludes as the last few regiments in blue cross the James River at Richmond on their way to Washington, D.C., and then, finally home.Calkins based his work on primary source material, photographs, and archaeological evidence. When primary sources differ, as they occasionally did, he presents all of the information so readers can weigh the facts for themselves. The Final Bivouac will stand the judgment of time and will be of deep interest to everyone who enjoys reading about the American Civil War.

In the spring of 1864, many in the North, including President Lincoln, were growing frustrated. Although Lincoln’s armies were achieving success on the battle¬fields, the gruesome toll was becoming increasingly unacceptable. The president needed a general who would ¬ finally put an end to the war. He found him in Ulysses S. Grant, who would close out the conflict a little more than a year after his appointment. Determined to destroy Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, Grant bulked up the Army of the Potomac with the addition of Burnside’s IX Corps, swelling the army’s numbers to nearly 120,000. The campaigns of 1862 and 1863 had inflicted heavy losses on Lee’s army, including some of his most talented commanders, among them “Stonewall” Jackson. In the spring of 1864, Lee’s army was more scattered than Meade’s, but the Army of Northern Virginia was not only capable but also deeply familiar with the Virginia terrain.Grant planned several offensives involving attacks against Richmond, Atlanta, and the Shenandoah Valley. In the north, the Army of the Potomac would strike hard at Lee, while the Union Army of the James would head inland toward Richmond to cut supply lines and then join with Meade’s army. On May 3, 1864, the Army of the Potomac headed for the Wilderness to open the Spring Campaign. The next six weeks saw the most brutal ¬ fighting of the entire war. Repeatedly, Grant brought Lee into battle—notably at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, and Cold Harbor—yet each time Grant was frustrated in his efforts to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia. Finally, unable to capture Richmond, Grant reached the James River where his forces built a long bridge to facilitate its crossing to attack Petersburg. While Grant had failed to destroy Lee’s army or capture Richmond, the relentless pressure of the campaign effectively sealed the fate of the Confederacy.

Summer 1942. Defeatism hangs in the air. Britain stands alone. Winston Churchill is determined to strike back and has ordered the formation of a special operations force, dubbed "Commandos", with the mission to "set Europe ablaze." U.S. Marine Captain Jim Cain and his Gunnery Sergeant Leland Montgomery are surprised to receive orders to the British Commando training center in the Scottish Highlands. There they are put through the brutal specialized training that will hone their fighting skills and physical endurance. Pitiless forced marches, dangerous live fire exercises and hazardous assault courses separate the men from the boys, while building a strong sense of brotherhood among the British soldiers and the two Marines. Lucky to be quartered in the spacious home of the Commandos' CO, Cain has the pleasure of meeting Loreena. The stunning auburn-haired daughter of the CO is secretive about her work in London. Before Cain can learn more about her, the training course is interrupted. He and the commando squad are sent on a special mission to destroy a German radar station on a Nazi-held island off the coast of France. The site is defended by a squad of second-rate garrison soldiers who are no match for the highly trained and motivated commandos. A reaction force of infantry, led by a blooded German combat veteran, joins the fight. The action is fierce and bloody and there are heavy losses on both sides. The surviving raiders are able to withdraw to Royal Navy motor torpedo boats, as a marauding squadron of Schnellboots (E-Boats) lies in wait. The Commandos: Set Europe Ablaze is rich in detail and military accuracy which makes the story "come alive" and enables the reader to easily visualize the characters, the settings and the action scenes.

The summer of 1863 started off disastrously for the Army of the Potomac in the Eastern Theater. In early May, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia defeated and humiliated Major General Joseph Hooker’s army at the Battle of Chancellorsville. While both armies reorganized in the wake of Chancellorsville’s massive losses, Lee then maintained the initiative and launched an invasion of Pennsylvania. Throughout June, Lee’s army advanced deeper into Pennsylvania and Northern efforts to stop his progress were ineffective until Major General George Meade replaced Hooker as commander of the Army of the Potomac. On July 1, 1863, Meade and Lee’s large armies collided outside of the crossroads town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The stakes were never higher for either army as the newly promoted Meade defended Northern soil, while General Lee risked everything by taking the war into enemy territory.The first day of the Battle of Gettysburg is often overshadowed by fighting on the following days, but July 1 was one of the bloodiest single engagements of the entire Civil War. Many of the decisions leading to and through Gettysburg’s first day remain steeped in controversy. Did Meade intend to fight on the Pipe Creek line in Maryland until subordinates such as Major General John Reynolds forced the engagement at Gettysburg? Did the absence of J. E. B. Stuart’s cavalry really leave Lee “blind” to his opponent’s movements? Was Lee’s desire to avoid a general engagement ignored by his own officers? With neither commanding general on the battlefield for much of the day, crucial decisions remained in the hands of subordinates such as John Buford, John Reynolds, A. P. Hill, Richard Ewell, and Oliver Howard.This Casemate Illustrated volume sets the stage for the Civil War’s greatest battle and covers the heroism, decisions, and mistakes made on the first day at Gettysburg.

Following their defeat at Saratoga in upstate New York in 1777, the British decided to implement a Southern Strategy against the American insurgents, a plan to “roll up” the rebellious colonies from Georgia through the Carolinas to Virginia. Instead, they triggered a savage partisan war of raids, ambushes, assassinations, and large pitched battles that rivaled any fought in the northern colonies.Untrained Patriot militiamen—occasionally stiffened by contingents of the Continental Line—were pitted against Britain’s Cherokee and Creek allies, and Loyalist militia and British regulars led by General Cornwallis and his two ablest subordinates, Patrick Ferguson and the ruthless Banastre “Bloody Ban” Tarleton. In October 1780 the Loyalist militia was virtually destroyed at King’s Mountain, the battle that Lord Clinton, the British commander in Chief, said was “the first link in a chain of events that followed each other in regular succession until they at last ended in the total loss of America.” Other defeats at Blackstock’s Farm and Cowpens, and a Pyhrric victory at Guilford Courthouse, gutted the British Southern Army and drove Cornwallis north to encirclement and surrender at Yorktown.This study uses battlefield terrain analysis and the words of the officers and common soldiers, from pension records and littleknown interviews, to bring to life the crucial role of one militia regiment—the Second Spartans of South Carolinathat fought in virtually every action of the vicious backcountry war that decided the fate of America. Or as one private in the Second Spartans said, expressing admiration for his colonel: “. . . a few Brave Men stood true for the cause of liberty.”

Join Garner, Dodge, and the rest of RT Iowa as they venture “across the fence” to help stem the flow of the North Vietnamese on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Tense hours of moving in areas “denied” to the U.S. military are interspersed with fierce firefights; back at Kontum, the Green Berets unwind with wild abandon, while the recon first sergeant makes repeated, often doomed attempts to ensure the teams’ success—and survival.First published in 1990, this classic account of Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observation Group, was written as a novel by a veteran of Recon Team Iowa to bring his experiences and those of fellow MACV-SOG soldiers to a wider audience at a time when their dedication and sacrifice was little known. The small tight recon teams—each comprising three U.

A fully illustrated introduction to the role, and experience, of the Panzer crewman.The German Panzerwaffe ripped up the rulebooks of war that had been laid down by the grinding slaughter of the trenches of World War I. Armored vehicles, close-air support, and bold leadership based on mission command, Auftragstaktik, cut a deadly swathe through the armies of east and west Europe. The Panzers made a significant contribution to Nazi successes; they remained steadfast in defense as their conquests slipped away their grasp from the apogee at Stalingrad and El Alamein in late 1942, through the long years of retreat to final defeat. Attrition and overwhelming odds blunted the opportunities for advances, but with increasingly powerful weaponry, the Panzerwaffe stiffened the German defensive backbone right to the end.Part of the reason for these successes was undoubtedly the Panzers themselves, but it wasn’t just the weapons that led to the Panzers’ successes—it was the way they were handled. A weapon is only as good as those who use it and the Panzertruppen—from higher command down to individual crew members—proved themselves to be very good at using their weapons. Not just the men who fought in the tanks but those who maintained them and kept them in the field, recovered and rebuilt the casualties, and dealt with the over-complexity of design and the huge variety of types of tank, weapon and ammunition. Selection and training standards—so good in the early war years—may have dropped off as wartime exigencies bit deep, but from 1939 to 1945 German Panzer crew were second to none. This Casemate Illustrated provides a full introduction to the role, and experience, of the Panzer crewman.