From Huntsville to Appomattox
Subtitle: R.T. Coles's history of 4th Regiment, Alabama Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A., Army of Northern Virginia
By: edited by Jeffrey D. Stocker.
Contributors: Stocker, Jeffrey D., 1958-
Edition: 1st ed.
Series: Voices of the Civil War series
Publisher: University of Tennessee Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Knoxville
Language: eng
Number of pages: 318
Subjects: Confederate States of America. Army. Alabama Infantry Regiment, 4th.; Alabama -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental histories.; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental histories.
Description: The 4th Alabama Volunteer Infantry was among the most famous and hardest fighting regiments in the Civil War - and one of the few military units to see action in both the western and eastern theaters of the conflict. As part of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, it fought in every major engagement in the East - Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg - before joining General James Longstreet's First Corps in the West for such battles as Chickamauga and Knoxville.

Returning to Lee's fold for the bloody campaign of 1864, the regiment saw the war through to its conclusion at Appomattox.

This book represents the first publication, in its entirety, of Robert T. Coles's stirring history of the 4th Alabama. As the regiment's adjutant, Coles had intimate access to its day-to-day functions and decision-making processes, including its relationships with other Confederate units. His account not only details battles and strategies but captures the human drama of soldiers engaged in front-line combat.

The swiftly paced narrative is marked by engaging turns of phrase - Antietam, Coles says, was "a perfect homespun waterloo" - and by an eye for the poignant detail: Coles describes how, upon learning of Lee's surrender, the men of the 4th Alabama tore apart their bullet-torn battle flag ("our precious old rag") and distributed the pieces among themselves.

In editing Coles's history, Jeffrey D. Stocker offers extensive notes that provide background details and alternative perspectives on the events and individuals Coles describes. In addition, Stocker has included unedited accounts of three key battles - First Manassas, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness - by other members of the 4th Alabama. These elements combine with Coles's narrative to create an informative and richly textured volume.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Company sketches; title: The First Manassas campaign, July 18 to July 23, 1861; title: From Manassas to the Peninsula campaign, July 23, 1861, to March 11, 1862; title: Peninsula campaign and Battle of Seven Pines, March 11 to June 12, 1862; title: Seven days battle, June 12 to July 8, 1862; title: The Second Battle of Manassas, July 8 to August 31, 1862; title: Maryland campaign, August 31 to September 18, 1862; title: From Sharpsburg to Fredericksburg, September 18 to November 22, 1862; title: Fredericksburg, November 22, 1862, to February 18, 1863; title: The siege of Suffolk, February 18 to May 5, 1863; title: Incidents on the Rappahannock and Rapidan, May 5 to June 15, 1863; title: Gettysburg Campaign, June 15 to July 14, 1863; title: From Falling Waters to Fredericksburg, July 14 to September 10, 1863; title: Chickamauga campaign, September 10 to October 8, 1863; title: Our campaign in Lookout Valley, October 8 to November 4, 1863; title: Knoxville campaign, November 4 to December 23, 1863; title: East Tennessee campaign, December 23 to April 18, 1864; title: Wilderness, April 18 to May 7, 1864; title: Spotsylvania Ridge to the James River, May 8 to June 16, 1864; title: Siege of Richmond and Petersburg, June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865; title: Petersburg to Appomattox, April 2 to 11, 1865; title: Our Return Home.