Product Description
by Martin N. Bertera (Author)
This intriguing narrative weaves the story of not only a remarkable crestfallen officer Samuel De Golyer ascended upward from the face of despair, recently cashiered as Major of the Fourth Michigan Infantry, to command of an artillery battery who itself had just lost its captain to dishonored. Though a hasty last minute intervention from Michigan Governor Blair, he went from a man who had no future opportunities to becoming a highly respected and well known commander of the Eighth Michigan Artillery Battery. This is not just a story of Captain De Golyer but also three other who commanded it, and also of its steadfast memorable red legs under their administration. The Eighth Michigan Battery adventures and triumphs emerge from the personal accounts from multiple soldiers who served the guns. The soldiers were to reach the highest heights of professional achievements. In the book you will read about a battery sent to the battle-front with no cannons, horses or leather equipment. These astonishing detailed accounts are not only apiece of our history, but are the first-hand recollections of combat and tactics from on and off of the battlefield. The Eighth Battery would be in the hottest part of the action on battlefields such as New Madrid, Raymond, Champion Hill, Atlanta, and Nashville just to name a few. This book is dedicated to exposing one of the civil wars forgotten artillery battery. Ed Bearss a Preeminent National Park Service historian praised Captain De Golyer in his classic three volume set on the Vicksburg Campaign. Bearss deemed Captain De Golyer who without his battery would have just been another officer in the army to be the "greatest artillery officer in Grant's army."
