The Men Stood Like Iron; How the Iron Brigade Won Its Name

Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1997. First edition. First printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/very good. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. xiii, [1], 271, [3] p. Illustrations. Maps. Bibliography. Index. From an on-line posting: "Award-winning journalist Lance J. Herdegen is the former director of the Institute of Civil War Studies at Carroll University. He previously worked as a reporter and editor for the United Press International (UPI) news service covering national politics and civil rights. He is historical consultant for the Civil War Museum of the Upper Middle West. Herdegen is the author of many articles on 1861-65 topics and is an authority on the Iron Brigade and Civil War small arms. Among his book credits are Four Years With the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Journal of William R. Ray, Seventh Wisconsin Volunteers; The Men Stood Like Iron: How the Iron Brigade Won its Name, and In the Bloody Railroad Cut at Gettysburg. Herdegen recently presented a paper at Cambridge University. He has appeared on the History Channel's "Civil War Journal" and other network and local television and radio shows. Derived from a Kirkus review: A history of four regiments of young, independent, feisty frontiersmen from Wisconsin and Indiana, winning immortal fame as the Iron Brigade. Herdegen takes us into the ranks of those who signed up to defend the Union in the days after the attack on Fort Sumter. Drawing on the men's letters, diaries, and published memoirs, Herdegen follows them from their early days together through four bloody years of war. The men's poignant letters home are especially fascinating, offering vivid descriptions of camp life and battle. They speak of the nature of duty, and patriotism, and their words are made more moving by the realization that these soldiers were struggling to face the likelihood of death without breaking down. They were cited at Second Bull Run for holding a strategic position ``like iron'' while suffering heavy casualties; they were cited for bravery at South Mountain, Antietam, and Gettysburg. Proportionally, the Iron Brigade suffered more battlefield deaths than any other Union force. A colorful and skillful record of the lives of the men in the ranks of a famous brigade, who served and saved the Union at great sacrifice in a dark time.