Thomas J. Reed – författare

Alan Nolan's 1961 Iron Brigade, the classic study of Brigadier General John Gibbon's Black Hat Brigade composed of the 19th Indiana, the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin and the 24th Michigan, drew public attention to the superior unit during the Civil War Centennial. Since then, much has been written about Gibbon's Iron Brigade but nothing has published on the original Iron Brigade from which Gibbon's brigade inherited it name.In The Original Iron Brigade, author Thomas Reed discusses the history of the 1st Brigade,1st Division, 1st Corps, Army of the Potomac, composed of three New York two year regiments, the 22nd, 34th, and 30th New York Infantry, the 14th Brooklyn Militia (84th New York Infantry) and the 2nd United States Sharpshooters. The brigade's story begins with the 14th Brooklyn's role during the First Battle of Manassas in 1861 and ends with the disbanding of the brigade in June 1863. Based on original unpublished diaries and letters of the men of the brigade, this book describes how the Original Iron Brigade earned its name by its hard marching during the spring of 1862. The brigade attacked Stonewall Jackson's troops along the unfinished railroad line during the Second Battle of Manassas, stormed Turner's Gap during the Battle of South Mountain, and attacked Stonewall Jackson's men again at the Dunker Church in the Battle of Antietam.

Avenging Lincoln’s Death: The Trial of John Wilkes Booth’s Accomplices is an examination of the 1865 military commission trial of eight alleged accomplices of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin who murdered President Abraham Lincoln. The book analyzes the trial transcript and other relevant evidence relating to the guilt of Booth’s alleged accomplices, as well as a careful application of basic constitutional law principles to the jurisdiction of the military commission and the fundamental fairness of the trial. The author found that the military commission trial was unconstitutional and unfair because Congress never authorized trial by military commission for these eight civilians. President Johnson exceeded the scope of his authority as commander in chief by ordering the accomplices to be tried by military commission. He failed to follow the Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 that required him to turn over the alleged accomplices to civilian authorities for prosecution. The accomplices were convicted on perjured testimony and the Government was allowed to drag in unrelated evidence of Confederate atrocities to poison the minds of the panel of officers.

Avenging Lincoln’s Death: The Trial of John Wilkes Booth’s Accomplices is an examination of the 1865 military commission trial of eight alleged accomplices of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin who murdered President Abraham Lincoln. The book analyzes the trial transcript and other relevant evidence relating to the guilt of Booth’s alleged accomplices, as well as a careful application of basic constitutional law principles to the jurisdiction of the military commission and the fundamental fairness of the trial. The author found that the military commission trial was unconstitutional and unfair because Congress never authorized trial by military commission for these eight civilians. President Johnson exceeded the scope of his authority as commander in chief by ordering the accomplices to be tried by military commission. He failed to follow the Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 that required him to turn over the alleged accomplices to civilian authorities for prosecution. The accomplices were convicted on perjured testimony and the Government was allowed to drag in unrelated evidence of Confederate atrocities to poison the minds of the panel of officers.

America’s Two Constitutions explores the history of the treatment of dissenters in time of war, beginning with the treatment of Tories during the Revolution, followed by description and analysis of the Lincoln administration’s treatment of disloyal persons during the Civil War, President Wilson’s organized plan to curb anti-war, anti-draft groups including the Socialist party during World War I, President Roosevelt’s handling of the Japanese internment program and trial of U.S. citizens by military commission during World War II, the cold war campaign against Communists in government and in the entertainment field, the FBI spying program COINTELL and other means to curb draft resisters and anti-war groups during the Viet Nam war followed by a chapter on the post 9-11 treatment of suspected terrorists including surreptitious interception of electronic traffic and trial of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals by military commission. The final chapter concludes that the United States has two constitutions: the written constitution in peacetime and a special unwritten constitution in time of war or national emergency.