J. Keith Jones

For those with deep North Carolina roots, there is now another good resource. Those with Confederate ancestors in N.C. who have studied their genealogy are doubtlessly familiar with the original 17 volume roster set. Well, now there is a an addendum to this set. I was talking recently with Chuck Purser, the author of this valuable work. Countless hours of deep research went into adding to this body of work. If you have NC Confederate blood in your line, this research is not to be overlooked. The October 2010 North Carolina Historical Review
North Carolina Office of Archives and History had this to say about Purser’s book:

BOOK REVIEWS 463
VOLUME LXXXVII _ NUMBER 4 _ OCTOBER 2010

Anyone who has sought information on a North Carolina Civil War unit or soldier is familiar with the series North Carolina Troops, 1861–1865: A Roster, which presents a history of each unit and a service record for each soldier. It has been a massive effort of compilation and analysis over nearly fifty years; seventeen volumes have been published, and another four are expected. Researcher Charles E. Purser Jr. has for many years provided valuable and highly reliable information to the editors of this series. But Mr. Purser found so much previously published data that he decided to release his own book of addenda to the series, Additional Information and Amendments to the North Carolina Troops, 1861–1865, Seventeen Volume Roster (2010).
As Mr. Purser points out in his foreword, the Internet has greatly expanded the availability to researchers of original materials regarding these soldiers. Until just a short time ago, research in census records and National Archives prisoner-of-war records required time-consuming examination of microfilm reels, some of which were not readily available, and some of which were barely legible. Now they are readily accessible through Web sites such as Ancestry.com, which proved to be Mr. Purser’s most valuable tool. But properly applying these resources to a work of the dimensions of North Carolina Troops requires great dedication, knowledge, and analytical ability. Mr. Purser clearly possesses these qualities. He has also examined numerous other sources, and his new book presents hundreds of additions and amendments to soldiers’
service records. The most substantial of Mr. Purser’s amendments are lists of causes of death for soldiers who died in various prisons. Thousands of descendants can now satisfy their curiosity; hopefully, they will not be disappointed if their ancestors died of chronic diarrhea rather than a gunshot wound. Mr. Purser further states, “Another advantage to the current researcher is the ease of using computers in sorting and manipulating the data to see it at different angles”
(p. iii).Mr. Purser has used these methods to identify soldiers who have been placed in incorrect units, or erroneously listed twice because of discrepancies in the spelling of their names: Pvt. J. W. Armstead, for example, was the same man as Pvt. James W. Olmstead, and the latter spelling is the correct one.
Mr. Purser does not claim to offer the last word on these soldiers, any more than the editors of the North Carolina Troops series make that claim. In fact, the editors have long been collecting supplemental information and expect to publish two thick volumes of addenda after the series is finished, but that is years in the future.
Mr. Purser, after years as an analyst in the U.S. Air Force, served as lead researcher for the Confederate Cemetery in Raleigh, where he researched the names, units, and death dates of 1,400 soldiers for placement on their tombstones. In this task, he made much use of the North Carolina Troops series. With his new book, Mr. Purser gives back to the Troops series in a big way. Order Additional Information and Amendments (165 pages; paper; $30.00, plus $5.00 shipping and handling) from Scuppernong Press by visiting www.scuppernongpress.com or calling (919) 779-5888.—MATTHEW M. BROWN, Historical Publications Section, North Carolina Office of Archives and History.

Young Junius

By Seth Harwood
Tyrus Books
Reviewed by Keith Jones

Those who have read or listened to Seth Harwood’s other books, such as “Jack Wakes Up” are familiar with hardnosed gang leader Junius Ponds. The reading public wanted to know more about Junius and where he came from and Harwood has obliged. “Young Junius” takes you into a gritty world of drugs, gangs and violence on the rough side of Boston; the world of a very young Junius Posey, before he was Junius Ponds.

Junius – along with his childhood friend Elf – embarks on a mission to avenge the murder of his brother Temple. Junius soon realizes that this journey is one that will change him forever… if he survives. Junius and Elf determine that the answers lie with a woman named Marlene who is known as the “Oracle.” The Oracle controls the drug activities in one of three low income high rise apartment buildings collectively known as the Towers. Elf’s Sancho Panza to Junius’s Don Quixote blunder into a major power struggle between the Oracle and rival drug leaders from which they are unlikely to walk away.

Seth Harwood’s story brings a whole new world into stark focus. This gritty story will have you taking sides and keeping your head down, especially during one of the longest and best done gun battles in American literature.

“Young Junius” is a different kind of story and while not for the faint of heart, is one not to be missed.

Manse: One Man’s War
By Wilton Earle
Adept Publishers, Atlanta, GA

Reviewed by Keith Jones

At the opening of this fact based historical fiction, we find Sgt. Manson Sherrill Jolly and his best friend, Tom Largent severely wounded and left for dead on the battle field in the waning weeks of the war. The two cavalry scouts manage to find nearby farmers who take them in and help nurse them back to health. Upon recovery, they discover that the war has ended and they head home to Anderson County in the upstate of South Carolina.

When they return, Manse discovers that only one of his six brothers, Larry, has survived the war. Manse, Larry and Tom dedicate themselves to working the neighboring Jolly and Largent farms together to survive and recover the best they can. There is only one problem with this plan; it’s called Reconstruction. Reconstruction, of course, was not designed to reconstruct anything. Rather it was intent on destroying what dignity and hope remained in the South. It also was planned to rob Southerners of what little economic resources they had left; leading to the regional and racial differences that plague us to this day in much the same way that the intentional humiliation of Germany in the aftermath of World War I planted the seeds of despair that brought about World War II. But I digress.

In any event, Manse Jolly returned to a land dominated by Carpetbaggers and Scalawags determined to take what little they had left in the name of taxes and war reparations. They did the best they could, but the murder of his last brother, Larry, was more than Manse could stand. People throughout the South had been forced to endure such atrocities with little or no investigation conducted into the death of just another “damned rebel.” Manse, not about to sit still for this, decides to take matters into his own hands and soon finds himself the intended target of the hangman. So was born Manse Jolly, avenging angel of the South; a hero to some, a murdering marauder to others.

A colorful cast of characters and sub-plots, which Mr. Earle skillfully brings to life, peoples this book. Lt. Martin McCollum, an intelligence officer in the U.S. army, whose search for Confederate gold in Anderson puts him on a collision course with Manse Jolly. Robespierre, a black freedman who grew up with Manse and Tom, who finds himself a witness and unwilling participant in many of the goings on about Anderson. The local Klan leader, a man who calls himself Texas Brown, attempts to manipulate Manse’s crusade against the Union occupiers for his own purposes. These are but a few.

Author Wilton Earle mined these resources for all their worth and then he said that the trail went cold on the day that Manse left Anderson and made his escape to Texas to start over. So, Earle decided that the only thing for him to do was go to Texas. In Texas Earle discovered the rest of the saga and tells it in beautiful detail. He found Manse’s grave, the old home place of Manse’s widow and the Mason’s hall that Manse belonged to. In the process he managed to authenticate which of five suspected daguerreotypes was the actual image of Manse Jolly and that picture appears on the cover. Then he really struck gold. Earle met two of the great nieces of Manse’s widow who allowed him access to a trunk of her worldly goods. At the bottom of this trunk, Earle found a diary. It dated from shortly before she met Manse to the day he died.

Wilton Earle manages to bring Manse Jolly back to life from his rise as outlaw hero to his eventual mental decline, suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; known then as the “nostalgia.” Hang on tight as Earle takes you along on this emotional journey of the war claiming one more victim.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about Reconstruction and its horrible affects on this country. Manse is a historical thriller of the highest caliber.

The Fifty-Eighth North Carolina Troops: Tar Heels in the Army of Tennessee
By Michael C. Hardy
McFarland Publishers, Jefferson, NC

Reviewed by Keith Jones

The Fifty-Eighth North Carolina Troops works hard to fill the gaps in the records of this reluctant regiment. Michael C. Hardy does yeoman’s work in assembling the scattered information into a cohesive regimental history. Unlike some unit histories, Hardy’s book provides more than dry encyclopedic facts. Instead he ties the detailed look at this intriguing infantry regiment into an entertaining narrative that takes you from the beginning of the war to the end, then on through the remainder of the lives of its soldiers eventually providing a study of their legacy and impact on Western North Carolina.

Filled with pictures and maps, this book provides more than just troop movements and battle reports. It makes a personal connection with the men who served from the top officers down to the individual privates. Gathered from newspapers, letters, diaries and other assorted personal reflections, Hardy adds flesh to the vast gaps in the official Confederate records of the Fifty-Eighth’s service in the Army of Tennessee.

While being one of the largest regiments from North Carolina, the Fifty-Eighth was largely constructed from conscripts. These were men whose decision to serve was forced on them. Sometimes at the point of a bayonet. Despite reluctance and a higher than normal desertion rate, the Fifty-Eighth was an important regiment that played a pivotal role in many of the campaigns in which they participated.

The Fifty-Eighth North Carolina Troops: Tar Heels in the Army of Tennessee is a well written and thoroughly researched book. It deserves a place amongst the collection of anybody wishing to learn more about North Carolina or the Army of Tennessee during the War for Southern Independence. Michael C. Hardy illustrates starkly the qualities which have won him multiple awards for his work.