{"product_id":"those-damned-black-hats-the-iron-brigade-in-the-gettysburg-campaign","title":"Those Damned Black Hats! The Iron Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign","description":"\u003cp\u003eWINNER FOR OPERATIONAL \/ BATTLE HISTORY  2008  ARMY HISTORICAL FOUNDATION DISTINGUISHED BOOK AWARD  The Iron Brigade--an all-Western outfit famously branded as The Iron Brigade of the West--served out their enlistments entirely in the Eastern Theater. Hardy men were these soldiers from Indiana  Wisconsin  and Michigan  who waged war beneath their unique black Hardee Hats on many fields  from Brawners Farm during the Second Bull Run Campaign all the way to Appomattox. In between were memorable combats at South Mountain  Antietam  Chancellorsville  Mine Run  the Overland Campaign  and the grueling fighting around Petersburg. None of these battles compared with the four long hours of July 1  1863  at Gettysburg  where the Iron Brigade was all but wrecked.  Lance Herdegens Those Damned Black Hats! The Iron Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign is the first book-length account of their remarkable experiences in Pennsylvania during that fateful summer of 1863. Drawing upon a wealth of sources  including dozens of previously unpublished or unused accounts  Herdegen details for the first time the exploits of the 2nd  6th  7th Wisconsin  19th Indiana  and 24th Michigan regiments during the entire campaign. On July 1  the Western troops stood line-to-line and often face-to-face with their Confederate adversaries  who later referred to them as those damned Black Hats. With the help of other stalwart comrades  the Hoosiers  Badgers  and Wolverines shed copious amounts of blood to save the Army of the Potomacs defensive position west of town. Their heroics above Willoughby Run  along the Chambersburg Pike  and at the Railroad Cut helped define the opposing lines for the rest of the battle and  perhaps  won the battle that helped preserve the Union.  Herdegens account is much more than a battle study. The story of the fighting at the Bloody Railroad Cut is well known  but the attack and defense of McPhersons Ridge  the final stand at Seminary Ridge  the occupation of Culps Hill  and the final pursuit of the Confederate Army has never been explored in sufficient depth or with such story telling ability. Herdegen completes the journey of the Black Hats with an account of the reconciliation at the 50th Anniversary Reunion and the Iron Brigades place in Civil War history.  Where has the firmness of the Iron Brigade at Gettysburg been surpassed in history? asked Rufus Dawes of the 6th Wisconsin. Indeed  it was a fair question. The brigade marched to Gettysburg with 1 883 men in ranks and by nightfall on July 1  only 671 men were still to be counted. It would fight on to the end of the Civil War  and do so without its all-Western makeup  but never again was it a major force in battle.  Some 150 years after the last member of the Iron Brigade laid down his life for his country  the complete story of what the Black Hats did at Gettysburg and how they remembered it is finally available.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44928706773045,"sku":"ByrdShop_1932714480","price":105.89,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781932714487_945359f1-3c7f-4857-8097-c7bccd410cf0.jpg?v=1771863363","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/those-damned-black-hats-the-iron-brigade-in-the-gettysburg-campaign","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}