Until Antietam: The Life and Letters of Major General Israel B. Richardson, U.S. Army [Hardcover]

Until now, scholarship on the Maryland Campaign has not included a biography of Major General Israel B. Richardson, commander of the First Division of the Union Second Corps. Richardson played the key role on the Union side in the Sunken Road at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. He was mortally wounded there.

Jack C. Mason has filled that void with this work. Richardson was a rising star in the Army of the Potomac. His aggressive fighting style, outspokenness, gruff demeanor, and close connections to Michigan Senator Zachariah Chandler endeared him to the Radical Republicans. They increasingly saw Richardson, as a compelling alternative to the politically conservative and militarily cautious and orthodox George B. McClellan. Indeed, Mason submits that Lincoln's visit to Richardson's hospital bed after the battle amounts to almost a job interview for the Army of the Potomac top job. While we usually link McClellan's relief to the November 4 midterm elections, it may actually be connected to Richardson's death. It is an intriguing timeline. Richardson died on November 3, 1862. With hopes dashed that Richardson would recover so that he could name him as McClellan's replacement, Lincoln, two days later on November 5, 1862, relieved McClellan and named Ambrose Burnside to command the army. Mason offers this hypothesis for our consideration.

The work is a very complete depiction of Richardson's military career. While based largely on his personal letters and an unpublished manuscript that he authored about his antebellum army career, it contains other very interesting sources and is well footnoted. It clearly paints the picture of Richardson as one of the most experienced small unit infantry commanders in the old army. Mason emphasizes the importance of young Richardson's mentors in the 3rd Infantry Regiment before and during the Mexican War. Richardson's role in training his first Civil War command, the 2nd Michigan Infantry Regiment, participation in the Battle of First Manassas and his tense relationship with Colonel Dixon Miles are very well covered as is the key role he played in the Peninsula Campaign.

The book contains good maps of all of Richardson's campaigns from both the Mexican War and Civil War and a number of rarely seen photographs of Richardson in the casual attire that he usually preferred. However, few details of his personal life, or the period between his resignation from the Army in 1857 and his return in 1861 are detailed. One exception is the whirlwind two-week courtship and marriage of Richardson to Fannie Travor on May 29, 1861, shortly before he and his bride departed with their regiment for Washington on June 8.

For me, the best part of the book is the story of Richardson's last day on earth leading his division into the Sunken Road on September 17, 1862. It is well told and epitomizes Richardson at his best.

As unpretentious as Zachary Taylor and as determined and tenacious as U.S. Grant, it is very likely that Richardson would have gone on to bigger and better things had he not been mortally wounded at Antietam. Jack Mason fills in a lot of gaps about this very important Union officer. I strongly recommend this book to everyone interested in military biography and the Civil War.

Finding a treasure trove of historical materials is the dream of every archivist, librarian and most authors (and it still happens from time to time). Jack Mason uncovered more than one hundred unpublished, letters from Union General Israel Richardson to his family. The previously unknown cache covers his career from his cadet days at West Point, service in Florida, Texas, Mexico, New Mexico and the Civil War up to the day before his fatal wounding at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862.
Richardson was one of a number of career army officers who were graduates of the Military Academy at West Point, New York, during the 1830's and 1840's who remained in uniform and learned their craft in active campaigns large and small. This cadre of officers provided the leadership for the North and South during the Civil War. The level of leadership would certainly be cause for concern in some cases but Richardson was of the group that provided excellent leadership of combat troops, in his particular case, the infantry. His untimely death in 1862 leaves his potential role as commander in chief, Army of the Potomac, a matter of speculation.
Richardson, a Vermont native, settled in Michigan after resigning from the army in the 1850's after a decade of active service. Returning from skirmishing with the Apaches throughout the Southwest, he settled down to do some farming near Pontiac, Michigan but the onset of the Civil War demanded his return to the colors. As Colonel of the Second Michigan Infantry, Richardson saw combat in nearly every engagement in the eastern theater of war and his experience and training led him to higher and more important commands, culminating in his promotion to Major General on July 4, 1862. At Antietam, he was organizing a second attack beyond the "Bloody Lane" when he was struck by a shell fragment and carried from the field. His wound was not considered life threatening but infection set in, followed by pneumonia and he succumbed on November 3, 1862.
It was during hist stay in hospital that President Abraham Lincoln paid him a visit; was it because of Richardson's ties to the Radical Republicans, or was it to ultimately offer him command of the army? Lincoln relieved General George McClellan from his command but only after Richardson's death. Known affectionately as "Fighting Dick" Richardson was a tough disciplinarian who took care of his troops; he was one of the most experienced small unit commanders in the army and was the complete opposite of McClellan in character and demeanor.
Mason has done an excellent job in bringing Richardson back to life through the discovery of these letters. Richardson was truly a forgotten hero until now, this his first biography.

Isreal Richardson didn't live long enoough to become a major factor in the Civil War, but he could have been. Under his leadership the Union Army was about to break through the center of the Confederate line at Antietam. After his wounding momentum was lost and the opportunity missed. Jack C. Mason has written an excellent book about Major General Isreal B. Richardson, "Fighting Dick". We learn about the man and his accomplishments in a way that leaves you glad you got to know him better. The book is a very good bit of history and an interesting story. I would recommend this book to all who have an interest in the Civil War...