Buy Courage on Little Round Top

Good morning folks and welcome to this weekend's Civil War Book Review. I first encountered Thomas M. Eishen a few years back when I visited his excellent Civil War website www.thomaseishen.com . The Canada Civil War Association then traded links and
occasional friendly e-mails update.

After 15 years of work, his first novel, "Courage on Little Round Top: A Historical Novel" is now available online from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, The Twentieth Maine Store, Maine Historical Society, and Walmart.com. Autographed copies are also
available from his websites www.courageonlittleroundtop.com and www.thomaseishen.com

Letter by letter that's " t h o m a s e i s h e n . com "

Like millions of others, Eishen first became interested in America's Civil War when he read Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Killer Angels. As many of my listeners know, Shaara brought to life such men as Lee, Longstreet, Buford, Hancock, and
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Inspiried and influenced by Courage on Little Round Top is the story of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Robert Wicker, the young officer Chamberlain captured during the 20th Maine's charge down the bloody slope of Little Round Top, and the events that brought them together.

Eishen vividly describes the scene as follows - "Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain stumbles down the steep rocky slope of Little Round Top. His charging regiment cheers as the Rebels turn on their heels and flee, all except one. Second Lieutenant Robert Wicker stands his ground and raises his Colt to take aim at Chamberlains head before firing." Courage on Little Round Top is a chronicle of the events that brought these brave soldiers face to face in a fierce battle that remains a vital part of America's history. For Eishen, the most exciting part of The Killer Angels was Chamberlain's capture of a confederate
officer, but Shaara told the story only from Chamberlain's point of view. Also, as he learned more about Chamberlain, Eishen discovered Shaara and left out some exciting details concerning Chamberlain and the Twentieth Maine. Courage on Little Round Top
completes the story of Chamberlain and the 20th Maine by bringing readers a close up look of their adversaries, Lieutenant Robert Wicker, and the men of the 15th Alabama. It is the true story of two men and events that brought them face to face during one of the
most dramatic events in our history.

"Courage on Little Round Top" is a wonderful historical novel that brings exciting history to the forefront. The book has a wonderful cover design by Angela Donelle Underwood with a great illustration by the famous Mort Kunstler. By the way, this well-presented softcover book is sold at special low prices at various online stores.

"Courage on Little Round Top" is published by Skyward Publishing and is available on the following websites:

Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble.com
The Twentieth Maine Store
Maine Historical Society
Walmart.com.

Once again, autographed copies are also available from Eishen's website www.thomaseishen.com or www.courageonlittleroundtop.com

The book has been approved to be sold at the following National Parks Department battlefield parks.

Shiloh National Military Park
Antietam National Battlefield
Appomattox Court House
Fort Washington

As usual, feel free to send me your New Civil War book review e-mail suggestions at mark@markvinet.com .

Until next time, keep on reading!

Mark Vinet, CHOD-FM

Don’t you just hate it when the voices in your head just won’t shut up? Poor 2nd Lt. Robert Wicker of the 15th Alabama has this problem and it plagues him throughout this new novel making him question his courage and whether or not he is going to die in the upcoming battle.

The story flips around but mainly focuses on the march of the 15th Alabama and the 20th Maine toward Gettysburg and their fateful meeting on Little Round Top. Occasionally, however, the narrative wanders to Gen. Robert E. Lee and his actions on July 1 and 2, or back home to Alabama and Lt. Wicker’s family, and even to Maine and Col. Joshua Chamberlain’s thoughts of his wife Fannie.

On the Union side this novel reads like Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels and the dialogue sounds like it is straight out of the movie Gettysburg without Kilrain. We have the usual characters — Meade, Hancock, Vincent, Tozier and Col. Chamberlain’s brother Tom. As there is no counter-story on the Confederate side in either of the aforementioned productions author Eishen has created Wicker and his conflicts both real and imagined. With him we find Col. William C. Oakes, Wicker’s cronies and family, the company commander (a lieutenant brought in from the outside in part because of questions about Wicker’s abilities), and that darned voice in his head.

The volume has a few problems. Eishen spends a bit too much time sending his characters off to the outhouse, latrine or into the bushes to relieve themselves. There are a number of typos and errors of fact — to name just two: Dan Sickles was a U.S. Congressman not a Senator (he was a New York State Senator) and it’s Ranold not Ronald Mackenzie. The author refers to Jeb Stuart’s name as being James Ewell Stuart (what happened to the Brown?).

The book contains five maps, three of which have problems. The map showing the route of the Alabama troops from Herr Ridge to their jump-off position is incorrect as it does not show Law’s men (Longstreet’s column) moving past the Black Horse Tavern and having to do a U-turn.

I also question the map containing the route of the 20th Maine to the Round Tops because it shows Vincent’s brigade passing through The Wheatfield (Vincent’s men were northeast of there near the George Weikert house and moved near but not into The Wheatfield on their way to Little Round Top.). Finally the map showing the action on Little Round Top has been incorrectly screened into the text making extremely hard to read — this problem is the fault of the publisher and not the author. The map’s action is skewed showing the fight of Vincent’s men more to the east than it occurred.

What this reviewer found especially disappointing was that for 250 pages the reader is led toward the ultimate showdown between the Blue and the Gray, Chamberlain and destiny, Wicker and his demons, victory and defeat — only to have it all come to fruition in a mere 30 pages. However, that last 30 pages describing the fighting on the Federal left are action packed, well-written and read very quickly.

Courage on Little Round Top is a first-time effort by author Eishen and he definitely shows potential. For a summer beach book or for something to curl up with in front of a roaring fire, this volume will do quite well.

Not being a battle scenario person of the Civil War, but a person who likes the personal side of the people who fought in this tremendous event in our nation’s history, Courage on Little Round Top fits the bill.

There are two main characters in this book – of course we all know Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, but most of us do not know Second Lieutenant Robert Wicker. The chance of fate that brings these two men together in a tremendous battle at Gettysburg is absolutely a great read.

The thoughts and hopes and dreams of these two men come out in this work. Their families are on their minds all the time, for Chamberlain, his two brothers are with him on the battlefield, he is acutely aware of their
safety, especially his brother John who is not in the military but at
Gettysburg as a civilian. The respect that is due to Chamberlain by his
brother Tom, but at times difficult for either of them to comprehend with
one being the commander and the other a regular officer. For Wicker, he
has many of his relations with him also and men he has grown up with. His friends worry about his health. They want to treat him like the “Bobby” from back home that they all knew. Now he is “Lieutenant” not Bobby.

Both of these gallant men have their own sets of fears. Lieutenant Wicker, who has been severely wounded and returned to the war, is in constant fear that he will be a coward. For Chamberlain, there is no help coming, he must act and quickly, but what is the cost to be?

Tom has brought a personal perspective to the reader of this book. The
Battle for Little Round Top comes to life in the wants and needs of the
men, from no water to ungodly heat, to fear and missed opportunities.
Death is constantly around the corner for each man on both sides. How they personally deal with their fate makes this book a must read from the novice to the experienced Civil War buff.

A book difficult to put down once taken up.

Kathi Schue, President, Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association

Tom has written an interesting Historic Novel of that battle which as we all know was a small but decisive part of the Battle of Gettysburg. This book gives a clear and concise view of the values of the time which helped shape the raw determination on both sides. In order to help the reader have a better understanding of the area where the battle took place, several maps are included within the book. Mr. Eishen brings the heroes in blue and gray to life through the fullness of each character. It is clearly evident that much research went into the writing of this novel.

The book opens with the Confederates dealing with camp life and everyday problems and takes the reader through the weeks before the Battle at Gettysburg while giving the same attention to the Federal Army's activities. The real life characters of R.E. Lee, Longstreet, Johnston, Vincent, Sykes and Meade are brought to life as the author puts to paper what they may have said and thought prior to the battle. However, the reader is focused in on the two main characters consisting of the Federal's Col. Chamberlain and a Confederate Second Lieutenant named Robert Wicker whose lives are changed forever in one intense day. The battle for Little Round Top is brought to life straight from the pages of Eishen's book. A lot of thought was put into the author's portrayal of what may have been said between the everyday soldier and his friend and the worry, ideas and casual comments of his commanders. Let your mind relax from the historic text book type reading that we all usually partake of and enjoy a historically accurate novel just for the fun of it.

Everyone who has read "The Killer Angels" or knows something about the Civil War, probably knows the outcome of the story in "Courage On Little Round Top." Probably everyone knows the outcome of "Moby Dick" too. Like Melville, Thomas M. Eishen makes the journey to that conclusion the best part of this read. Eishen has obviously done a lot of research, but he seamlessly works the information and asides into the story -- a soldier finding a copy of Melville's "The Whale" and pondering reading it is just one such instance. Although the machinations of the officers are not neglected, it is the moment to moment existence of the ordinary solder, and even some of what is happening on the homefront, that is brought life with Eishen's research and writing. You drudge along through long marches; you thirst for more water in the canteen; you are caught up in the unknowing chaos of the preparation for and actual engagement in battle. Both the Civil War re-enactor and the novice will be drawn to this presentation of some of the most important days in American history with some dollops of earlier battles swirled in to add to the context and understanding.

There are two people I would like to see take advantage of this book. One would be a moviemaker who could easily end up with a minor war classic on the order of "The Red Badge of Courage" not a sweeping epic like "Gettysburg." The second one would be someone who teaches high school (or maybe even lower grades) and wants to find a literate and historical way to engage students in our Civil War. Put it on your reading list.

I really enjoyed how this book built up the characters to the point of giving the reader an understanding of how these individuals must have thought and how their past experiences shaped their decision making. Two characters on opposing sides are built up throughout the book and then ultimately brought together face to face in battle.

Very similar in style to "Killer Angels", Eishen does a great job of explaining the main characters in this story's role in other battles fought prior to the Gettysburg battle. The author's depiction of the Little Round Top conflict was detailed and accurate.
This book is easy and fun to read!

As I read this book I couldn't help but note the similarities to Michael Shaara's"The Killer Angels" which has become the standard for Civil War novels in general and the Battle of Gettysburg in particular. The similarity of course stems from both books dealing with the same event and some of the same historical characters. While it is certainly not fair to compare the two works based on literary merit, they do provide interesting parallels and take similar approaches to telling the story of America's bloodiest battle.

Fortunately, Mr. Eishen, rather than penning an imitation of Shaara's work, has taken a single incident of the battle and focused on the events and characters leading up to that event. In this sense the book succeeds in funneling the reader towards the inevitable climax, weaving together the threads of separate lives until they converge in a single, unforgettable moment in time.

Rather than focusing on the battle per se, Mr. Eishen builds upon the
experiences that brought the various characters to this point in time. In so doing, he not only puts flesh and bone on historic characters like Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, but he emphasizes the people around them with whom they interacted and with whom they formed bonds of comradery which can only be understood by those who have faced life and death together.

"Courage On Little Round Top" provides interesting and well-researched
reading for anyone who enjoys historical fiction. The story well illustrates
how a single historic event can be the culmination of multiple,
less-significant events which ultimately affect the fate of individuals as
well as nations.

I didn't like studying history in high school, and as a result I know little of the details of the Civil War. That fact made some of the personalities and the geography of this book hard for me to follow. Even so, the detailed look behind the scenes at the lives of some of the men involved was eye-opening. I had never thought of issues such as the critical need for canteen detail; the relative merits of weevils vs. maggots vs. mold in hardtack rations; or the difficult of getting "real" coffee when Southern supply lines were cut off. The book reads very well throughout, shows evidence of detailed research, and sympathetically brought to light to the human costs on both sides of this war.

I really enjoyed (Courage on Little Round Top). The human 'face' you gave to a historical event stood out dramatically. Rather than dry boring historical data, which everybody has read time and time again, the main characters of Chamberlain and Wicker made the story come alive.

For me, one of the first 'personal' insights in Courage on Little Round Top came when Bill Sellers and Robert Wicker are discussing Wicker's uniform. I alway knew that the South, having very little manufacturing capability, suffered from a lack of manufactured goods such as shoes, arms and other war material. But to read that the South, the biggest cotton exporting area in the western hemisphere, couldn't even supply their own army with proper uniforms was a real eye-opener.

Other personalizations, such as the letters from home, interplay between Wicker family members and Wicker's own inner doubts, gave dimension to the story. All in all, a very good read.

I really did like this book. It tells a good tale with an interesting storyline and well-developed characters. There is true wartime heroism here but book is not gory or unnecessarily graphic.

It also gives you a view from both sides but without preaching or becoming moralistic.

If you want an easy-to-read book with a good story to tell then I recommend it.

This is one really fantastic book. This book delves into the personal lives of the men that fought at Gettysburg. The way the book is written, you feel as if you are there with them all the way. The author describes the different areas of the battlefield and even has printed maps. I think I've read almost every book concerning Gettysburg but this one has it all; accurate accounts for each day's fighting and the thoughts and actions of several key people such as Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain with the 20th Maine and Robert Wicker with the 15th Alabama. This is a book that I'll read over and over again.

Robert Wicker of the Fifteenth Alabama Regiment is promoted to Second Lieutentant after his predecessor was killed in action. Robert's regiment along with the rest of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia are now on northern soil. Soon they will be at the crossroads of a small Pennsylvania town. It is here that Wicker will take part in the deciding battle of the Civil War. At a place named Gettysburg. Commanding the Army of the Potomac is George Meade. It is his responsibility to defeat Lee and prevent the southern army from marching on Washington. Among the many officers in Meade's command is a former professor at Bowdoin College in Maine. Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the commanding officer of the 20th Regiment of Infantry, Maine Volunteers. Brigadier General Evander Law's brigade, in which Robert is a part of, is ordered to turn the Union left flank. This will require attacking up the hill of a formation known as Little Round Top. With the Confederates gaining ground and moving up the hill, Colonel Chamberlain and his men find themselves out of ammunition with few options. It is then that Lawrence did the unthinkable. He orders his men to fix bayonets and charge down the hill to meet the advancing Rebels. In this fierce fighting Chamberlain and Wicker come face to face. Lawrence with is drawn sword and Robert with his Colt. Wicker takes aim at Chamberlain's head. COURAGE ON LITTLE ROUND TOP recounts those events leading up to the confrontation between Chamberlain and Wicker. Thomas M. Eishen helps us understand this historic Civil War battle and the brave men who fought and died on three hot days in July of 1863.

The story focuses on the days immediately preceding the fight for Little Round Top, at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, as seen through the eyes of Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain of the 20th Maine, and Second Lieutenant Robert Horne Wicker, Company L, 15th Alabama Infantry. Wicker is the Confederate officer who narrowly missed killing Chamberlain during the 20th Maine's desperate final charge down Little Round Top. While I had read about this particular incident in several Chamberlain biographies -- how the Confederate officer pointed a 'big Navy Colt revolver' (in Chamberlain's own words), literally in Chamberlain's face, and fired...only to miss its intended target; he subsequently was taken prisoner by Chamberlain, and ordered to turn over both his sword, and the revolver -- Wicker was never mentioned by name. Mr. Eishen has given Lt. Wicker his due. In his Acknowledgments, Mr. Eishen mentions Wicker's own granddaughter, Anne Magorian, for her research assistance. He's also consulted sources in Maine, such as the Pejepscot Historical Society and Bowdoin College, in Brunswick.

Mr. Eishen begins the story describing then-Private Wicker's severe wounding at the Battle of Gaines Mill (also called Cold Harbor), during the Peninsula Campaign in June 1862. He was, in the words of the 15th Alabama's commander, Colonel William C. Oates, 'absent....about two months, but returned, and was at the surrender of Harpers Ferry, in the battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam), in the Maryland campaign, and was thereafter present in every battle, until captured at Gettysburg, and not exchanged during the war". (Wicker was first sent to the Fort Delaware POW camp immediately after Gettysburg, and then transferred to the Johnson's Island POW camp for officers in Ohio, until being released in June 1865, and returned to Alabama. He eventually moved to Texas, where he died in February 1877, age 39.)

Wicker is also fighting a few personal demons along the way: his rather prickly relationship with Company L's First Lieutenant, J. J. Hatcher; his still-unresolved grief at the deaths of his brother William, and sisters Martha and Jane back home in Alabama; and -- most importantly -- a rather nasty inner voice that accuses him of battlefield cowardice, and dares him to run away in the midst of battle. Mr. Eishen portrays Wicker as a courageous and principled man, determined to prove he can be a good officer -- even while being overly scrutinized by the disagreeable Hatcher.

As to his portrait of Joshua L. Chamberlain, Mr. Eishen does an excellent job in humanizing him. He describes Chamberlain's rather 'warm' dreams about his wife, Fannie, during his all-too-short moments of sleep (which I got a kick out of, personally!). He also puts Chamberlain in the midst of dealing with his youngest brother Tom -- who is his adjutant in the 20th Maine -- and his middle brother John, who is a civilian attached to the Christian Commission, and who spends considerable time with Joshua and Tom before Gettysburg. I particularly like the scene in which both John and Tom are working in tandem, to get older brother Lawrence (as he was known still to family and childhood friends) to stay on his horse during the march north into Pennsylvania, while Chamberlain was recovering from a bout with heatstroke:

Lawrence looked over at him and smiled. John didn't smile back. Neither did Tom, who stayed on his horse. "Because the horse needed a rest", he said as he chuckled.

John's eyes narrowed. "That's not funny. You are still recovering from heatstroke. You have no business walking."

The conversation goes on, where Chamberlain tells Tom that he (Tom) doesn't give HIM orders, even if civilian John tells him plainly his own feelings. John ends up getting so exasperated with Lawrence that he actually calls him "JOSHUA" --which definitely gets Lawrence's attention. After that, he follows his brothers' requests, and does get back up on the horse.

The buildup to the battle of Little Round Top is handled very well: lots of suspense, as the 20th Maine and the 15th Alabama (and both Northern and Southern armies) march towards the inevitable clash. There are interesting short vignettes with the major players on both sides: General Lee and some of his staff, General Longstreet, General Evander Law (the 15th Alabama's brigade commander) -- and even General Isaac Trimble -- on the Confederate side; Generals Meade, Hancock, Sykes, Warren -- and "Dan the Man" Sickles -- along with Colonels Strong Vincent and James Rice -- on the Union side.

The battle itself is done quite well. The reader will get a good sense of the noise, smoke, chaos and confusion that was part and parcel of a Civil War battle. Mr. Eishen does an excellent portrait of Chamberlain's coolness under fire, as he comes up with both the "refusing the line' maneuver, and the decision to make the climactic charge. He also shows Chamberlain's care for his men -- especially with the dying Private George Washington Buck, as he promotes Buck back to Sergeant. Buck had been unjustly demoted to Private some months before, for refusing to be bullied by a cruel Quartermaster in camp. Chamberlain almost tearfully promotes Buck to his deserved rank, after the soldier suffers a mortal wound.

There are a couple of quibbles I do have, however. One is the number of typographical errors I found ("Twentieth Main", the word "shuttered" used instead of 'shuddered', when describing Chamberlain's freezing Fredericksburg experience, the Eighty-Third Pennylsvania', to name those I did find). Being the amateur proofreader that I am, I cannot understand WHY any publisher would allow any book to go out without making sure everything's spelled right! It reflects badly on the publisher and the author, when there seems to be no proofreading.

The other criticism is about calling Chamberlain "Lawrence", outside the family circle. Chamberlain's birth name was "Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain". His father, Joshua Chamberlain Jr., named him after Commodore James Lawrence, a War of 1812 naval hero whose ship, the "Chesapeake", was attacked and sunk by the British. His dying words, "Don't Give Up the Ship!", became the Navy's battle cry. When Chamberlain was a Bowdoin College student, he decided he liked the sound of "Joshua Lawrence" better, so he changed his name. His father and paternal grandfather were named "Joshua Chamberlain"--there was no "Lawrence" used as a middle name by either man (and that's what it says on both men's graves in the cemetery in Brewer, Maine). To say that Chamberlain was named "Joshua Lawrence" after his father and grandfather is incorrect. Plus, I think his Civil War officer comrades would have called him "Joshua"--not "Lawrence".

But these two criticisms in no way detract from the overall excellence of the book. Mr. Eishen has done a tremendous job with his first book, and I look forward to his subsequent literary efforts. And I thank him, for allowing me to read and review "Courage On Little Round Top".