Chancellorsville Campaign~War Dept Records~1890~2 Vols

 "The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies" Prepared, Under the Direction of the Secretary of War, By Lieut. Col. Robert N. Scott, Third U.S. Artillery, and Published Pursuant to Act of Congress Approved June 16, 1880. Series I - Volume XXV in Two Parts (Part I & Part II). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1889. First Edition. THIS IS NOT A REPRINT!!

Rather than selling the individual books and separating each "Volume", we will be offering them complete with all their parts. The original complete set of Series I was 53 volumes, but some of the volumes consisted of up to 5 parts (books), they were released over the years and Series I ended around 1898-9, but then there were more records found, thus there was a Series II which followed this into the early twentieth century. This lot consists of: Part I being the reports, Part II being the correspondence, of both Union and Confederate Armies. 

As alluded in the title, these books are quite literally the orders, correspondence, reports, etc., of both the Union and Confederate Armies, and thus documents and records, with no bias, the literal events as they unfolded, some in real time on the battlefield. Most of these reports were made in the days following the occurrences, while the memories were still fresh, not the re-hashed and well-thought out reminiscences of the major players in their twilight years.

Each volume lists the contents of all of the preceding volumes, and has the summary of all of the principle events included in the current volume. The "Reports" section is loaded with organizational data, maps, and charts, etc.,  scattered through all of these documents. The reports also serve to cite and recognize distinguished services of individuals, organizations, as well as describing events, needs, plans, and proposals.

Please note this two book set documents the events of the  "Battle of Chancellorsville" which sullied the sobriquet of "Fighting Joe" Hooker and further elevated accolades of General Robert E. Lee. Major General Joseph Hooker had six months to train and fit out the "Army of the Potomac" and he had a well developed plan which if executed, would have turned the tide of the war. Unfortunately, General Hooker, for some unknown reason, stood in his headquarters in a stupor, while General Lee exploited this opportunity and turned the tide almost in the opening volleys. Quite sadly, the only result of this debacle was the further erroding of the military assets of both armies as they turned and marched towards the fields of Gettysburg. This was, quite literally, a dress rehearsal for the impending battle.

Operations in North Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.  January 26 thru June 3, 1863

Following are some of the battles, campaigns, events which are covered in this particular volume (there are far too many to list them all):

Major-General Joseph Hooker supersedes Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside in command in the Army of the PotomacSkirmishes near Fairfax Court-House at Middleburg, Va.Skirmishes near Winchester, Va.Engagement at Kelly's Ford, Va.Operations at Rappahannock BridgeImboden's Expedition into West VirginiaJones' Raid on the Northwestern (Baltimore & Ohio) RailroadOperations in the Shenendoah ValleyThe Chancellorsville CampaignThe Stoneman RaidOperations on Northern Neck Va.

and much, much more.

Some of the correspondents who are documented in this work are:

President Abraham LincolnU.S. GrantJefferson C. DavisMajor-General BurnsideGeneral HalleckE.M. StantonGeneral Joseph HookerS. Williams - Assistant Adj. GeneralColonel A. BuschbeckMajor-General O.O. HowardMajor-General Daniel ButterfieldMajor-General HowardRufus Ingalls - Chief QuartermasterBrig. General PleasontonMajor-General John SedgwickMajor-General SlocumBrig. General J.H. Van AlenMajor-General MilroyMajor-General Dan SicklesJames A. SeddonMajor-General Samuel JonesR.H. Chilton - Assistant Adj. & Inspector GeneralJno. Withers - Assistan Adj. GeneralGeneral Arnold ElzeyGeneral J.E.B. StuartGeneral A.P. HillColonel John McClausandBrig. General W.M. PendletonGeneral Robert E. LeeLt. General James LongstreetMajor-General Isaac R. TrimbleMajor-General John B. HoodMajor-General George E. Pickett  (at the pinnacle of his career)

and many, many others.

The above are just a sampling gleaned from the pages of this work and gives just a small flavor of what can be found in this work. What makes it  truly remarkable, is that these are the actual orders and reports from the field and not not the politcally correct intrepretation of an academic who wouldn't know the difference between a parrot gun and a mortar. This is what really occurred, it does this fairly to both sides, both North and South and puts more humanity to these events than any other book or document ever will.

The index to this work is quite an achievement, you have to remember this was before computers and the capacity to have everything cross referenced, not only the recipients or authors of the documents, but also mention of third parties are included from the text. After you review the index, you will understand why this set was years in its' compilation and released over a 30 year span.

This is an invaluable tool for the researcher, historian, or Civil War buff, and in these new bindings, these books should be around for at least another hundred plus years.

Condition: These ex-libris books and its (1269)+(975) pages is in excellent condition, the pages exhibit modest toning, there is no noteworthy foxing, soiling, damp-staining to the pages. The bindings are new, the hinges covers and spine cover are all new, all of which is well represented in scans below. This is the original 1889 book enjoying brand new bindings and covers.

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