David W. Mellott

Having always been intrigued by what seemed like a rather enigmatic unit, I had been really looking forward to getting my hands on this study. However, when the authors announce in their introduction that this really isn't a classic unit monograph, and that they're as interested in documenting the population of the unit as a statistical whole as anything else, I was wondering what they were really about. Upon finishing the book, what this really reads like is a narrative adjunct to an exercise in creating a database for genealogists, so that while I was informed, I also wasn't that entertained. As for what the "Bloody Seventh" was really about, this was only supposed to be a home guard unit, mostly raised to protect the B&O Railroad (and including a significant element of Ohioans and Pennsylvanians), that was ultimately assigned to the "Gibraltar" Brigade of the elite U.S. 2nd Corps, coming to earn its nickname fair and square.… (altro)