Sacred Ties: From West Point Brothers to Battlefield Rivals: A True Story of the Civil War
Military historian, West Point alum, and Vietnam veteran Carhart tells the moving story of six cadets of the Point class of 1861 and the bonds among them, which grew out of the shared experience of being cadets as well as attending illegal dinner parties at the tavern run by Benny Haven, former food supplier to the college (“former” because he had also run forbidden liquor to cadets). Then came the Civil War, dividing them equally. Henry DuPont, top man in the class, served mostly in Union staff and artillery positions, guaranteeing obscurity. The other five are household words among Civil War buffs. Confederates Stephen Ramseur and John Pegram didn’t survive the war, while Thomas Rosser lived long if not always prosperously. We all know what happened to George Custer, while Wesley Merritt, an equally distinguished cavalryman, eventually commanded in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. The tone of the book is sometimes a trifle romantic, but the bond among West Point classmates it documents is considered very typical, then or now. --Roland Green