A Melancholy Affair at the Weldon Railroad: The Vermont Brigade, June 23, 1864
by: Cross, David Faris

Hardcover. Shippensburg PA, White Mane, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 267 pages, b&w illustrations, front endpapers map. A Melancholy Affair at the Weldon Railroad examines what occurred on a single afternoon to a brigade of Vermonters during the last year of the Civil War, and why it happened. Vermont, though a small, rural state, contributed far beyond its size and wealth to preserve the Union in the struggle of the Civil War. The worst moment and greatest sacrifice for Vermont was the disaster that befell the proud Vermont Brigade of the Army of the Potomac on June 23, 1864--forever "Black Thursday" in the Green Mountain State. Cowardliness, negligence and inept behavior by multiple officers resulted in the needless capture of more than four hundred Vermonters. The enlisted men were sent to Andersonville and later to other Confederate prisons where 60 percent of them perished. Many of the survivors came home mere wrecks of men. Exactly what occurred at the Weldon Railroad--what went wrong and who was to blame--is thoroughly examined for the first time. Previous owner's inscription on title page, small notation on rear flap of dj, otherwise clean.