Edward T Cotham's Books

Battle on the Bay

The Civil War Struggle for Galveston

By: Edward T. Cotham

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Battle on the Bay

The Civil War Struggle for Galveston

By: Edward T. Cotham

The Civil War history of Galveston is one of the last untold stories from America's bloodiest war, despite the fact that Galveston was a focal point of hostilities throughout the conflict. As other Southern ports fell to the Union, Galveston emerged as one of the Confederacy's only lifelines to the outside world. When the war ended in 1865, Galveston was the only major port still in Confederate hands. In this beautifully written narrative history, Ed Cotham draws upon years of archival and on-site research, as well as rare historical photographs, drawings, and maps, to chronicle the Civil War years in Galveston. His story encompasses all the military engagements that took place in the city and on Galveston Bay, including the dramatic Battle of Galveston, in which Confederate forces retook the city on New Year's Day, 1863. Cotham sets the events in Galveston within the overall conduct of the war, revealing how the city's loss was a great strategic impediment to the North. Through his pages pass major figures of the era, as well as ordinary soldiers, sailors, and citizens of Galveston, whose courage in the face of privation and danger adds an inspiring dimension to the story.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

254

Publisher

University of Texas Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0292782470

ISBN 13

9780292782471

Sabine Pass

The Confederacy's Thermopylae

By: Edward T. Cotham

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Sabine Pass

The Confederacy's Thermopylae

By: Edward T. Cotham

This “beautifully written . . . and meticulously researched” Civil War history vividly recounts one of the most decisive battles fought in Texas (Civil War News). Jefferson Davis once said the Battle of Sabine Pass was “more remarkable than the battle at Thermopylae.” But unlike the Spartans, who succumbed to overwhelming Persian forces at Thermopylae more than two thousand years before, the Confederate underdogs triumphed in a battle that over time has become steeped in hyperbole. Providing a meticulously researched, scholarly account of this remarkable victory, Sabine Pass at last separates the legends from the evidence. In arresting prose, Edward T. Cotham, Jr., recounts the momentous hours of September 8, 1863, during which a handful of Texans—almost all of Irish descent—under the leadership of Houston saloonkeeper Richard W. Dowling, prevented a Union military force of more than 5,000 men, twenty-two transport vessels, and four gunboats from occupying Sabine Pass, the starting place for a large invasion that would soon have given the Union control of Texas. Sabine Pass sheds new light on previously overlooked details, such as the design and construction of the fort that Dowling and his men defended, and includes the battle report prepared by Dowling himself. The result is a portrait of a mythic event that is even more provocative when stripped of embellishment.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

458

Publisher

University of Texas Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0292782462

ISBN 13

9780292782464

Juneteenth

The Story Behind the Celebration

By: Edward T. Cotham

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Juneteenth

The Story Behind the Celebration

By: Edward T. Cotham

Juneteenth has been touted as a national day celebrating the end of slavery. Observances from coast to coast have turned this event into part of the national conversation about race, slavery, and how Americans understand, acknowledge, and explain what has been called the national “original sin.” But, why Juneteenth? Where did this celebration—which promises to become a national holiday—come from? What is the origin story? What are the facts, and legends, around this important day in the nation’s history? This is the first scholarly book to delve into the history behind Juneteenth. Using decades of research in archives around the nation, this book helps separate myth from reality and tells the story behind the celebration in a way that provides new understanding and appreciation for the event. This book will captivate people interested in the history of emancipation and African American history but also those interested in Civil War and Texas history. As the United States continues to wrestle with race relations and the meaning of full equality, Juneteenth promises to become an important expression of that equality—an Independence Day celebration in its own right, a couple of weeks in advance of the traditional July 4th Holiday. This book will be a welcome addition to classrooms, book clubs and general readers interested in this once obscure regional event now destined for the national spotlight.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

426

Publisher

Texas A&M University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1649670028

ISBN 13

9781649670021

A Busy Week in Texas

Ulysses S. Grant's 1880 Visit to the Lone Star State

By: Edward T. Cotham

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

A Busy Week in Texas

Ulysses S. Grant's 1880 Visit to the Lone Star State

By: Edward T. Cotham

In the spring of 1880, Ulysses S. Grant, former general-in-chief and two-term president of the United States, stepped ashore at Galveston and began what turned out to be a seven-day whirlwind visit to Texas. Because of his past accomplishments and the chance that he might be nominated to serve an unprecedented third presidential term, Grant was the most famous and eagerly awaited celebrity ever to visit the Lone Star State. The general visited Galveston, San Antonio, and Houston, where he was greeted by thousands of cheering Texans. Grant’s visit to Texas was the subject of extensive coverage in newspapers across the nation, providing a unique time capsule for modern readers. The detailed reports of parades, banquets, receptions, and social activities not only document what Grant did at these functions, but also provide a record of what the thousands who came to see him said and did. The elaborate banquet menus and the word-by-word transcriptions of after-dinner toasts and speeches provide a fascinating window into social activities that are no longer an active part of modern life. This book tells the story of Grant’s busy week in Texas, allowing the reader to see Texas the way Grant experienced it. The book also includes a tour guide that will allow readers to literally retrace the general’s footsteps to the sites of many historic buildings that still exist today.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

156

Publisher

Texas A&M University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1625110650

ISBN 13

9781625110657

Decisions of the Galveston Campaigns

The Twenty-One Critical Decisions That Defined the Operations

By: Edward T Cotham

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Decisions of the Galveston Campaigns

The Twenty-One Critical Decisions That Defined the Operations

By: Edward T Cotham

The Galveston Campaign was a series of naval and overland battles that pitted Confederate general John B. Magruder and Texas Marine commander Leon Smith against the armies of Isaac S. Burrell and naval forces under the command of William B. Renshaw. A Federal fleet of six ships assaulted the city on October 4, 1862, and the city surrendered after a four-day truce was agreed upon. However, by New Year's Day of 1863, Confederate artillery reinforcements had arrived, and Magruder coordinated a bold new attack and naval ruse with two Confederate gunboats to retake Galveston. The city would remain in the South's hands until the end of the war and was one of the few open Confederate ports"--

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

185

Publisher

Univ. of Tennessee Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1621909131

ISBN 13

9781621909132

The 10 Biggest Civil War Blunders

By: Edward H. Bonekemper

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The 10 Biggest Civil War Blunders

By: Edward H. Bonekemper

What makes the Civil War so fascinating is that it presents an endless number of "what if" scenarios—moments when the outcome of the war (and therefore world history) hinged on a single small mistake or omission. In this book, Civil War historian Edward Bonekemper highlights the ten biggest Civil War blunders, focusing in on intimate moments of military indecision and inaction involving great generals like Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and William T. Sherman as well as less effective generals such as George B. McClellan, Benjamin Butler, and Henry W. Halleck. Bonekemper shows how these ten blunders significantly affected the outcome of the war, and explores how history might easily have been very different if these blunders were avoided.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

238

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1621577600

ISBN 13

9781621577607

Decisions of the Galveston Campaigns

The Twenty-One Critical Decisions That Defined the Operations

By: Edward T. Cotham

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Decisions of the Galveston Campaigns

The Twenty-One Critical Decisions That Defined the Operations

By: Edward T. Cotham

The Galveston Campaigns were a series of naval and overland battles that pitted Confederate General John B. Magruder and his often-improvised Confederate forces against General Nathaniel P. Banks and a variety of Union army and naval forces. A Federal fleet entered Galveston Bay on October 4, 1862, and the city surrendered after the expiration of a four-day truce. However, on New Year’s Day of 1863, Magruder coordinated a bold new attack to retake Galveston using a land bombardment and two cottonclad Confederate gunboats. Aided by victories at the Battle of Sabine Pass and two purely naval engagements in Texas waters, the city would remain in Southern hands and end the war as the last major Confederate port. Decisions of the Galveston Campaigns explores the critical decisions made by Confederate and Federal commanders during the campaigns and examines how these decisions shaped their outcome. Rather than offering a history of the operations, Edward Cotham concentrates on a sequence of decisions made by commanders on both sides of the contest to provide a blueprint of each campaign at its tactical core. Identifying and exploring the critical decisions in this way allows students of the battles to progress from a knowledge of what happened to a mature grasp of why events happened. Complete with maps and a driving tour, Decisions of the Galveston Campaigns is an indispensable primer, and readers looking for a concise introduction to the battles can tour this sacred ground—or read about it at their leisure—with key insights into the campaigns and a deeper understanding of the Civil War itself. Decisions of the Galveston Campaigns is the twenty-first in a series of books that explores the critical decisions of major campaigns and battles of the Civil War.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

185

Publisher

Univ. of Tennessee Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1621909158

ISBN 13

9781621909156

A Busy Week in Texas, 27

Ulysses S. Grant's 1880 Visit to the Lone Star State

By: Edward Terrel Cotham

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

A Busy Week in Texas, 27

Ulysses S. Grant's 1880 Visit to the Lone Star State

By: Edward Terrel Cotham

In the spring of 1880, Ulysses S. Grant, former general-in-chief and two-term president of the United States, stepped ashore at Galveston and began what turned out to be a seven-day whirlwind visit to Texas. Because of his past accomplishments and the chance that he might be nominated to serve an unprecedented third presidential term, Grant was the most famous and eagerly awaited celebrity ever to visit the Lone Star State. The general visited Galveston, San Antonio, and Houston, where he was greeted by thousands of cheering Texans. Grant's visit to Texas was the subject of extensive coverage in newspapers across the nation, providing a unique time capsule for modern readers. The detailed reports of parades, banquets, receptions, and social activities not only document what Grant did at these functions, but also provide a record of what the thousands who came to see him said and did. The elaborate banquet menus and the word-by-word transcriptions of after-dinner toasts and speeches provide a fascinating window into social activities that are no longer an active part of modern life. This book tells the story of Grant's busy week in Texas, allowing the reader to see Texas the way Grant experienced it. The book also includes a tour guide that will allow readers to literally retrace the general's footsteps to the sites of many historic buildings that still exist today.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

115

Publisher

Texas State Historical Assn

Published Date

ISBN 10

1625110642

ISBN 13

9781625110640

Battle on the Bay

The Civil War Struggle for Galveston

By: Edward T. Cotham

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Battle on the Bay

The Civil War Struggle for Galveston

By: Edward T. Cotham

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

254

Publisher

University of Texas Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0292782470

ISBN 13

9780292782471

Sabine Pass

The Confederacy's Thermopylae

By: Edward T. Cotham

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Sabine Pass

The Confederacy's Thermopylae

By: Edward T. Cotham

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

458

Publisher

University of Texas Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0292782462

ISBN 13

9780292782464

Book's by Edward T Cotham

Battle on the Bay

Battle on the Bay

Sabine Pass

Sabine Pass

Juneteenth

Juneteenth

A Busy Week in Texas

A Busy Week in Texas

Decisions of the Galveston Campaigns

Decisions of the Galveston Campaigns

The 10 Biggest Civil War Blunders

The 10 Biggest Civil War Blunders

Decisions of the Galveston Campaigns

Decisions of the Galveston Campaigns

A Busy Week in Texas, 27

A Busy Week in Texas, 27

Battle on the Bay

Battle on the Bay

Sabine Pass

Sabine Pass

Username

Password

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email