Howard Coffin – författare

From the defense of Washington and the siege of Richmond, from Big Bethel to Cedar Creek, we observe the bravery and exploits of Vermont's farm-bred troops who turned the tide in pivotal battles to preserve the Union.More than 10 percent of Vermont's entire population-34,238 Green Mountain men and boys-served in the war, sustaining one of the largest per capita losses incurred by a Northern state.

Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign from Brandy Station, VA, to Petersburg involved 100,000 men, 40-days, the battles of Second Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor, the Army of the Potomac, and a two-to-one casualty margin compared to the Confederates. Coffin weaves together stories of the participating military units, outlines the overall campaign, and gives voice to several hundred personalities on the battlefield and back home, primarily through diaries and letters. The family correspondence gives a glimpse into small-town Vermont life as well as life at the front.

Fort Ticonderoga, Saratoga, Fort William Henry, Crown Point, Plattsburgh, Bennington, and Valcour Island all lie along the ancient warpath that is the Champlain Corridor. In this lively and informative new travel guide to historic places and events, the authors lead you to each venue, describing the events and their long-lasting impact. The Champlain Valley is one of the most historically rich regions of the country. It saw decisive military actions in the French and Indian Wars (1754-1763), the American Revolution (1775-1783), and the War of 1812 (1812-1814). In 1864, a band of Confederate raiders attacked St. Albans, Vermont, in the northernmost battle of the Civil War. Trace the military maneuvers of the two battles of Saratoga that insured American independence. Follow the complex naval and land strategy of the decisive War of 1812 battle at Plattsburgh, New York. Visit an Underground Railroad stop in Vermont. Find the little bay where Benedict Arnold beached his battered fleet after fighting the British at Valcour Island. Walk a little-known peninsula where 10,000 American troops turned back a British invasion in 1776. All these adventures and more await you with Guns over the Champlain Valley. 50 black & white photographs, 1 map, index .

On the Fourth of July, 1863, reporting on the aftermath of the Civil War’s most crucial battle, the New York Times wrote: “A Vermont brigade held the key position at Gettysburg and did more than any other body of men to gain the triumph which decided the fate of the Union.” The citizen soldiers led by General George J. Stannard helped stabilize the line, and then shattered the right flank of Pickett’s famous charge just when the battle’s outcome hung in the balance.Over a decade since its original release, Nine Months to Gettysburg is now available in paperback. Coffin draws on scores of soldiers’ letters to relate how and why young recruits from isolated hill farms flocked to the Union colors in response to Lincoln’s call in 1862. And in the nine months leading up to Gettysburg, they recorded, in extraordinary detail, foraging for food, enduring homesickness, monotony, and often fatal diseases. This book movingly captures their myriad anxieties as they are thrust suddenly into the most important infantry maneuver directed against the Confederate assault.