When his captain was killed during the Battle of Perryville; John Calvin Hartzell was made commander of Company H; 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He led his men during the Battle of Chickamauga; the siege of Chattanooga; and the Battle of Missionary Ridge. Edited and introduced by Charles Switzer; Ohio Volunteer: The Childhood and Civil War Memoirs of Captain John Calvin Hartzell; OVI documents military strategy; the life of the common soldier; the intense excitement and terror of battle; and the wretchedness of the wounded. Hartzell's family implored him to set down his life story; including his experiences in the Civil War from 1862 to 1866. Hartzell did so diligently; taking more than two years to complete his manuscript. The memoir reveals a remarkable memory for vivid details; the ability to see larger and more philosophical perspectives; and a humorous outlook that helped him bear the unbearable. He also depicted the changing rural economy; the assimilation of the Pennsylvania Dutch; and the transformations wrought by coal mining and the iron industry. Hartzell felt individualism was threatened by the Industrial Revolution and the cruelties of the war. He found his faith in humanity affirmed--and the dramatic tension in his memoir resolved--when 136;000 Union soldiers reenlisted and assured victory for the North. The common soldier; he wrote; was "loyal to the core."
#1887591 in Books Paulett Robert 2012-09-01 2012-09-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .63 x 6.00l; .91 #File Name: 0820343471264 pagesAn Empire of Small Places
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. "Anglo-Creek-Chicksaw trading route"--"1670-1795"By T. phillipsI like this book but feel that the average reader will find it difficult to read. I recommend this book to serious students of Creek and Georgia and Alabama history but not to the casual reader. It is not "light reading"; how ever it is professional and well researched.As a long time collector of books of anything related to Creek Indians and early Alabama and Georgia history I ordered this book with great anticipation of seeing maps of trading paths. There are about 10 maps offered in this book but there is one big problem...the maps are not legible. I dont blame this on the author but the printer. Why the University of Ga would print a book with maps one cannot read is beyond me. I recently read the very fine book on Fort Mims by Dr Waselkov and he provided many maps that are highly legible so this proves that good maps can be done by book printers if they want to. It takes some effort.The map on the front of the book; very legible; done by a Chickasaw Indian is a stunning map but there is one problem..its almost impossible to interpret and the author doesn't attempt to interpret it. The wording on it is in French and there is no translation. The author gets a bit caught up in "spatial" concepts about how Indians interpreted and made maps which got beyond my understanding. The author wonders off often into area of "spatial concepts" in history and architecture related to history and even maps and geography but often in mystical ways that lost me.Thus; if you are interested in this book to study trading paths and maps of the time period of 1730s to 1790s-- you will be disappointed as was I.The maps are difficult to read and I was ready to stop reading the book when I discovered this.But hold on there is some good news----- The author has written a fine scholarly book and you really don't need the maps to follow the story. He goes in depth into trading routes especially those of Augusta and the Savannah River.He gets into depth in the people involved and the boats and horses and gives us a good picture of the trading activity going on. He also covers some of the Cherokee trading out of Augusta and wars that develop between the two. He goes into depth into the powerful trading companies and the people involved in them. We find that a dozen or so "Gentlemen of Augusta" traders control the Indian trade who provide a network of spies as well as embassies for the British government with their creek village based stores. This has been covered in other books but he does carry the ball a few yards more down the field.Here is the author's description of the book " I have focused on one segment of the Anglo-Indian deerskin trade within a specific set of years. This book is concerned with those spaces linked by the Anglo-Creek-Chickasaw trading route running from Charles Town up the Savannah River through Augusta; through the Creeks; and finally reaching the Chickasaws"------"I have devoted the bulk of the study"---"1732 and the American Revolution in 1774"This book focuses on the era from the founding of Savannah by Oglethorpe to the time of the American Revolution and the Anglo-Creek trading routes and patterns and practices that evolve.He interestingly claims that Augusta was formed by Oglethorpe with the express purpose of taking the deer skin trade away from Charles Town and shifting the trade from South Carolina to the new colony of Georgia. Georgia is always the aggressor!!He focuses heavily on the city of Augusta Ga from its founding until it becomes the hub of deerskin trading in the Southeast during most of the latter half of the 18th century. He focuses on the traders who formed large trading houses such as Brown; Rae; McGillivray; ( father of the famous Creek Chief Alexander McGillivray) Galphin; and many others in Augusta; Ga. He demonstrates how these traders became a vital link between the British empire and the Indian nations in the Southeast. He digs deeply into the Colonial Record of Georgia and South Carolina and finds all kinds of arcane and interesting tidbits of quotes from traders; travelers;and local officials as well as the British governors. He brings us many colorful eyewitness accounts I have not seen before.He borrows heavily from the well known eye witness accounts of Adair (a Chickasaw trader) and Bartram ( a naturalist) which should be required reading for anyone interested in this time period in the Southeast.He cleverly points out that both Adair and Bartram already carved out "civilization plans" for the Indians long before Washington and Jefferson hatch their plans of civilization for the Indian Tribes in the 1790s.The author seems to have a great interest in boats and covers well the subject of boat travel up and down the Savannah River especially as it relates to deer skin trading and as a vital means of communications (oral and written) for both Whites and Blacks. His descriptions of life on the trading trail and on the river are very good as well as his overall overview of the Anglo-Creek trade during the time period.As an aside; the Creek deerskin trade does not die after the Revolution (when this book ends) but shifts to the Pensacola and Mobile area dominated by the giant trading firm of William Panton. As the author states this is outside of his coverage time . There is a wonderful book on the subject of the Panton trading company in Pensacola. See the following:Indian Traders of the Southeastern Spanish Borderlands: Panton; Leslie and Company and John Forbes and Company; 1783-1847by William S. CokerFor someone interested in the general subject of Creek Indians and trading check out authors Braund. Cashin; and Amos J Wright jr.Deerskins and Duffels: The Creek Indian Trade with Anglo-America; 1685-1815 by BraundLachlan McGillivray; Indian Trader: The Shaping of the Southern Colonial Frontier by CashinThe McGillivray and McIntosh Traders by Amos J WrightWilliam Bartram on the Southeastern Indians (Indians of the Southeast) edited by Waselkov and Braund ( recent and excellent edited version of Bartram's travels among the Indians in the Southeast)0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Good book; long neededBy Robert Davis Jr.One of many books needed to better understand the Southeast in early American History; it is well written and researched.
