Blooding the Regiment: An Account of the 22d Wisconsin's Long and Difficult Apprenticeship

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Scarecrow Press, 2005 - History - 384 pages
Blooding the Regiment is the meticulously-researched narrative of a Union regiment that was hampered by in-fighting and politicking that led to its capture in the early stages of its service in the western theatre of the American Civil War. Conflicts in the officer's corps of the regiment were ultimately overcome when it was purged of its dissenters and unity of command was achieved. The troubled group fully overcame its divisions near the end of the war at the battle of Resaca, where it was crystallized into a steadfast, reliable fighting unit. The narrative brings together diverse sources including official military records, the private letters of many of the regiment's soldiers, newspaper articles of the time, and existing historical research to give a complete, vibrant picture of what life may have actually been like for the 22d Wisconsin regiment at each stage of its long and difficult development. Drawing upon his own extensive experience as an officer in the U.S. army, Groves sheds a uniquely intimate light on the events in the narrative, bringing a wealth of historical facts into a vivid and accurate picture. The work is equally valuable as a historical study, a critique of military strategy, and simply as an entertaining read for lovers of good storytelling.

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Contents

Positive Defiance
1
Called to Arms
7
Camp Utley
21
Cincinnati
33
Contrabands
37
The Abolition Regiment
51
A Bully Regiment
60
To the Front
73
Moving to Contact
284
Redeemed by Fire at Resaca
297
The Yoke Is Lifted
317
Epilogue
326
The Booth Case
333
Wisconsins Governors 18531866
336
Kentucky Kentuckians and Kentucky Generals
337
National Policy and the 22d Wisconsin
340

Thompsons Station
88
Forrest Returns
110
Brentwood
122
Prisoners of War
136
Redemption and Release
152
Back to Duty
160
The Petition
176
Watchful Waiting
194
The Trial
213
In Limbo
228
The Purge
251
Opportunity Knocks Again
269
Copperheads as Viewed by Wisconsin Soldiers
345
Exchanges of Officer Prisoners
347
Where Did the Arrested Officers Go?
351
Griffith and Burgess
353
Analysis of a Few of Resacas Imponderables
355
How Owen Griffith Was Brevetted Major
360
Cast of Characters
362
Resources
370
Index
373
About the Author
Copyright

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About the author (2005)

Richard H. Groves served in the U.S. Army for forty years and is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Engineering and George Washington University. He has served as advisor to the Secretary of Defense for NATO Affairs and as U.S. Chief of Staff in Europe from 1976 to 1979. In the past twenty years, Groves has served as a consultant to government and industry on issues such as European stationing initiatives and Panama Canal upgrades.

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