The Battered Stars: One State's Civil War Ordeal During Grant's Overland Campaign

I did not quite know what to expect from this book considering it was published by a non-academic press and written by a political bureaucrat, but I was pleasantly surprised by its quality. Battered Stars is well written and informative, adding a new fresh perspective to an over-studied portion of the Civil War. I have read over a hundred Civil War books and I have seen many second rate efforts by non-professionals, but Battered Stars is highly recommended. My only wish is that Coffin had used professional footnotes to show exactly where his quotes were coming from, but most sources are nonetheless clear.

In the Preface, the author, Howard Coffin, states "I doubt that any northern states suffered more sever losses during a limited period of time than did Vermont during the Overland Campaign." Page 20 notes "In the great eastern battles of the last spring and early summer of 1864, no northern state, certainly on a per capita basis, would pay a higher price than little Vermont." The Vermont Brigade was unique it that it had been formed entirely of the regiments from a single state. Coffin provides an excellent narrative of the brigade's combat experiences in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, North Anna River and Cold Harbor in the Army of the Potomac's 40 day Overland Campaign. Here, the Vermonters suffered distortional high casualties. For example, in defending the Wilderness crossroads "The killed and wounded of the Vermont Brigade numbered 1200" as they "suffered one-tenth the entire loss of Grant's army in killed and wounded in the Wilderness." Extensive use of soldier's letters and diaries greatly adds to the narratives with family correspondence giving insight into wartime life in small-town Vermont. Most interesting is Chapter Eight's account of the treatment of the wounded in hastily organized field hospitals and later treatment at Fredericksburg and in Vermont. The narrative of fighting in the trenches at Cold Harbor is most fascinating. The author states "The Confederate victory (Cold Harbor) had been the most one-sided of the war." There were no big attacks but rather "day by day the killing went on while night by night, the works were dug deeper and became more complex." WWI Trench warfare was reminiscent of this campaign and with only a change in army names and location, Cold Harbor would describe a 1917 battle on the Western Front. The text contains a brief but interesting account of Grant's evacuation from Cold Harbor, the crossing of the James River and the initiation of the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. Finally, the text deals with Vermont's substantial combat losses and the post war Vermont public reaction to the Civil War. The total loss of the state of Vermont in the Overland Campaign approached 3000 men. "Among the fallen were some of the bravest and best." As prominent Civil War historian James McPherson states on the book's dust jacket, "This is Civil War history at its best."

Howard Coffin has established himself as the premier authority on Vermont and the Civil War. He has exhaustively researched Vermont's historical records including countless letters and diaries from the actual participants. He allows them to directly share their personal, heroic, sorrowful and inspiring stories and insights. It is difficult today to appreciate the pain and suffering which was brought home to every Vermont family during this Campaign. Mr. Coffin does honor to their memories and has provided a valuable research source for those interested in this period.

A powerful historical account of Vermont's role in the Civil War, The Battered Stars: One State's Civil War Ordeal During Grant's Overland Campaign by American Civil War historian and expert Howard Coffin (himself a sixth generation Vermonter with four ancestors who served with the Vermont regiments in the Overland Campaign) is founded on a wealth of primary sources and archival materials, including wartime letters, diaries, and newspaper accounts. The state of Vermont paid a toll in blood from the strife of the war, and the brutal battles are explored in detail as well as the resolve of those who stayed at home and did their best to keep the wheels turning. A welcome and much appreciated contribution to the growing field of Civil War Studies, The Battered Stars is a powerful, fascinating account highly recommended for civil war buffs, as well as anyone native to Vermont who wants to immerse themselves in the gripping saga of a watershed time of civil war.