Strange and Obscure Stories of the Civil War is an entertaining look at the Civil War stories that don’t get told, and the misadventures you haven’t read about in history books. Share in all the humorous and strange events that took place behind the scenes of some of the most famous Civil War moments. Picture a pedestal in a public park with no statue on top; Rowland’s book explains that when the … that when the members of the New York Monument Commission went to hire a sculptor to finish the statue, they were shocked to discover that there was no money left in the agency’s accounts to pay for the project. The money for the statue of Dan Sickles had been stolen—stolen by former monument committee chairman Dan Sickles!
Brig. Gen. Philip Kearny was the son of a New York tycoon who had helped found the New York Stock Exchange, and who groomed his boy to be a force on Wall Street. The younger Kearny decided his call was to be a force on the field of battle, so despite a law degree and an inheritance of better than $1 million, he joined the U.S. Army and studied cavalry tactics in France. His dashing figure in the saddle earned him the name of Kearny the Magnificent, probably because Kearny rode with a pistol in one hand and a sword in the other while holding the horse’s reins in his teeth. This habit proved useful after he lost his left arm in the Mexican War, because he was able to continue to wave his sword with all the menace to which he was accustomed while still guiding his horse.
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This book is notable for its many (real) character vignettes and fine-grained anecdotes of a wide variety of men and women caught up in the War Between The States.
Tim Rowland has presented a collection of tales, Strange and Obscure Stories of the Civil War. Sixteen chapters are filled with many elements of history mostly skipped in high school textbooks. No trigger warnings are necessary but there would probably be objections if young minds were exposed to the prevalence of venereal disease, tales of …
I’ve read many Civil War biographies and autobiographies so I had encountered some of these reports. This author gave the tales I’d enjoyed previously a more human shine while polishing and at times buffing out misunderstandings.
A fun read. Not too much in the way of new hustorical facts but an essybsnd interesting read.
Dry but interesting
I’m a history buff, especially American history, in which the civil war is a critical aspect. I consider myself well-read regarding the Civil War. This book opened up parts of the war between the states that I had never heard or would have known, I thoroughly enjoyed learning about lesser-known issues that were at the heart of this book.
A quick read with a lot of historic stories about the civil war that I had never herd before.
Interesting and little known aspects of the civil war
A Civil War buff will know most of what’s in here. Fun to read, though.
Interested but not a lot new.
Good book about little known episodes in the Civil War.
It tells a story about the ups and downs of the Civil War and some unusual and unexpected incidents that took place.
Lots of interesting little side-views into the Civil War.
Interesting, but “strange and obscure” is a stretch.
I think the most interesting history is not written about in traditional books but in books like this. Strange and Obscure Stories of the Civil War is an excellent overview of the history rarely known.
It provides a different perspective on the war.
to disjointed
Very interesting stories told by an author with a good sense of humor.
These kind of stories are frequently fuel for the History Channel for a reason.
In an effort to get “behind the scenes” reports on history, I occasionally select a less-serious book, often by an author I don’t know. Sometimes this gambit works well, and I find information on “regular” people (as opposed to the rulers and warriors that usually populate histories) to round out my understanding of the time period.
This was …