California Sabers is the story of the California Battalion and Hundred; a group of 500 select men who were the only organized group of Californians to fight in the East during the Civil War. They volunteered their enlistment bounty to pay their passage across Panama and on toMassachusetts; where they became the cadre of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry.From mid-1863 to July 1864; the Second Massachusetts fought a bloody guerilla war in northern Virginia against John S. Mosby; the confederacy’s "Gray Ghost." In July 1864 the regiment became part of Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah; and that fall it played a major role in the decisive battles of Winchester; Toms Run; and Cedar Creek.In early 1865 the regiment was in the column that marched across Virginia destroying the vital railroad and canal that carried supplies from the Shenandoah Valley to the besieged Army of Northern Virginia. In late March; the Second Massachusetts was in the forefront of the battles at Dinwiddie Courthouse and Five Forks; the two actions that finally broke the stalemate at Petersburg and forced Lee to retreat to the west. In the ensuing chase; the regiment was the part of the cavalry spearhead that finally blocked Lee’s army at Appomattox Courthouse.This work; based on extensive research; is the first comprehensive history of this relatively unknown group and will be of great interest to Civil War enthusiasts and historians.
#876880 in Books Mann Kristin 2010-01-25 2010-01-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x 1.12 x 6.12l; 1.80 #File Name: 0253222354488 pagesSlavery and the Birth of an African City Lagos 1760 1900
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A well-reasoned monographBy MakkabeeIn my recent studies I've read several books about the impact of the trans-Atlantic slave trade on various West African Societies. This is the best of them. It's quite comprehensive; dealing not only with how the slave trade turned Lagos from a minor settlement to a major West African trade center; but how the city managed to not only survive but thrive after the slave trade ended.The book achieves balance; not an easy thing to do when talking about a subject as emotionally charged as the mass-kidnapping of human beings. It examines both European and African complicity in the trade; looks at how coastal trading elites benefited from the system and; and examines the good intentions and moral compromises that characterized early British colonialism in West Africa.The text is strong both in its economic analysis of how Lagos and its hinterland shifted from a slave-exporting economy to one built around agricultural exports and the internal use of unfree labor; and in its legal analysis of how the elites; both black and white; controlled this labor in the face of British law which declared slavery illegal. Without assuming a hectoring tone the book demonstrates very clearly how the British failed to properly apply their anti-slavery principles in the early years of their rule over Lagos.For any student of African history or colonialism; this is a worthwhile text. Lagos is one of the world's major cities and Nigeria one of the most important nations in the developing world; and this book tells a big chunk of the story of how that city and the country of which it is the metropolis became what they are today.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I had the great benefit of taking a class from DrBy CustomerI had the great benefit of taking a class from Dr. Mann at Emory University. She remains one of the most knowledgeable professors in the field of African American History in the era of the Slave Trade. Excellent text to understand the history; geography; culture and details of Lagos.
