Ezra Papers

Ezra Ayres Carman, Lt Colonel of the 7th New Jersey and Colonel of the 13th New Jersey and later to Brigadier General for meritorious service during the Civil War. The two most noted battles he was involved with was the Battles of Antietam and Chattanooga. After the war he served on the Antietam Battlefield Commission from 1894 to 1898 and in 1905 was appointed Chairman of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Parks Commission.

General Carman seemed to have had a more than average emotional connection with the Battle of Antietam, as he interviewed many of the soldiers, both Union and Confederate, of their memories and experiences during that battle. His notes and papers have been preserved in the un-inventoried collection in the National Archives and are considered "the" authority on the battle's history.

Finally, after all these years, General Carman's papers are going to be published in book form in the near future. Over 900 pages in hard cover.

Advance orders can be placed on Amazon.com. The title of the book will be "The Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Ezra A. Carmans Definitive Study of the Union and Confederate Armies at Antietam". The editor is Joseph Pierro. Click here if you wish to visit or place an order for the book at Amazon.com. (no, I am not being paid or even getting a free copy of the book - I'm buying mine like everyone else).

However, if you order direct from the publisher you can order the book with a 15% to 20% discount less than the Amazon.com price by clicking here and downloading the PDF order form (requires adobe reader on your computer, a free program).

The Ezra Carman manuscript is the definitive study of that bloody September day in 1862. By editing it Joseph Pierro has done a tremendous service to the field of Civil War studies. Indeed, this work is one of the most important Civil War publications to come out in decades.

Ted Alexander, Chief Historian, Antietam National Battlefield

Joseph Pierro brings into the open one of the great and largely unknown masterworks of Civil War history. Ezra Carman's work on Antietam is a fountainhead for study of that pivotal battle, written by a man who was in the fight and who spent most of his life studying and marking the battlefield. No student can afford to ignore this stunningly thorough and brilliantly edited classic.

William C. Davis, author of Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of America

At last, after a century, Ezra A. Carman's The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 has received the attention it deserves. A Union veteran, Carman authored a remarkable primary study of the critical operations that ended along Antietam Creek. Editor Joseph Pierro has given students of the Civil War and American history a most welcome and long overdue book.

Jeffry D. Wert, author of The Sword Of Lincoln: The Army of the Potomac

My introduction to the Ezra A. Carman Papers at the Library of Congress and National Archives came in the spring of 1961. I was astounded and amazed by their depth and scope. The correspondence, troop movement maps, etc, along with Carmans unpublished manuscript on the Antietam Campaign constitutes then as now an invaluable legacy to the American people by Carman and the veterans of Antietam. But for too long that resource has only been available to the general public as microfilm or by traveling to Washington. Now thanks to the publishers, and skilled, knowledgeable, sympathetic, but light-handed editor Joseph Pierro, an annotated copy of Carmans masterpiece The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 will be available to the public.

Edwin C. Bearss, author of Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War

Many accounts of Civil War battles were written in the decades after the war by soldiers who had participated in them. None rivals in accuracy and thoroughness Ezra Carmen's study of the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, in which he fought as colonel of the 13th New Jersey. Students of the 1862 Maryland campaign have long relied on this manuscript as a vital source; Joseph Pierro's scrupulous editorial work has now made this detailed narrative accessible to everyone. A splendid achievement.

James M. McPherson, author of Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam