The Lincoln Funeral Train Came Through Shiloh Ohio

Private Hiram Terman came home to Shiloh, Ohio at the end of 1864 and was recuperating from 17 months at Belle Island and Andersonville.  He saw Abraham Lincoln when the President reviewed the troops of General Joseph Hooker in 1862 around the time of the battle of Chancellorsville.  I wonder if he found the strength to get up and see the Funeral Train come through the Shiloh train station?  What thoughts may have gone through his mind as he endured the nausea, muscle pain, diarrhea, and heart problems of his broken down body?   

A Red Badge of Courage Experience

What must it have been like?

Reading Hiram's Honor let's you relive the Civil War as if you were there according to the latest review and earlier ones as well.  My hope for Hiram's Honor was that I could transmit the experience I felt when reading The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, one of my favorite Civil War novels.

Camp Lawton (Millen) Mentioned in Hiram's Pension Files

In the 125 pages of Private Hiram Terman's pension files, I located an 1897 letter to a comrade that described Hiram buying a calf's head from a Confederate guard at Camp Lawton in Georgia, making rice soup with his mess, and then getting sick and vomiting.  He was rheumatic, had scurvy, heart, and intestinal problems from his prison stays that affected his whole life.   Hiram also describes having to leave when the camp commandant told him to "break for the gate".  This he did and left alone without a chance to say goodbye to his comrades. 

NEW BOOK REVIEW OF HIRAM'S HONOR ON EMERGING CIVIL WAR BLOG

Monument of three comrades at Andersonville National Historic Site. Meg Thompson's well-done book review of Hiram's Honor  for the Emerging Civil War website adeptly highlights the spirit and value of friendship in this incredible story of survival. 

  

Civil War Pension Files from the National Archives

I ordered my Civil War ancestor's pension files from the National Archives and received 125 pages of information like the above documents.  Private Terman was a walking skeleton when he came back from 17 months of prison life at Belle Island, Andersonville, Savannah, and Millen.  Incredibly, he waited until 1897 to apply for a pension that he received until his death in 1926.  His Civil War service gave him heart problems, rheumatism, stomach, and bowel problems his entire life and he also suffered from what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.  I am researching these files in hopes of writing a sequel to Hiram's Honor about his and his comrades post Civil War lives.

NEW BOOK REVIEW OF HIRAM'S HONOR EBOOK ON SALIENT POINTS CIVIL WAR BLOG

Allen's review says Hiram's Honor gives you the view of a common soldier.

A new review of Hiram's Honor, (Ebook version)  by Allen Mesch appears here.  Allen Mesch is a author, educator, and historian. He is a Civil War historian and has visited more than 81 battlefields and museums and taken over 3,700 photographs. Allen teaches classes on the American Civil War at Collin College. He is a 40 year veteran of the oil and gas industry and provides consulting and training services. Allen is a fan of political thrillers and author of The Analyst.  

Thanks Allen for your professional review (from a pdf file) that hits the "Salient Points" of my book--well done. 

Civil War Pension file Youtube

Civil War pension files contain very useful information.  For an example of how a file looks see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFRlBEjKG7Y

The Civil War Veteran by Larry Logue and Michael Barton

I am reading The Civil War Veteran: A Historical Reader edited by Larry M. Logue and Michael Barton which gives an insightful overview of what it was like for Civil War veterans after the shooting stopped and regular living began.  Difficult enough for regular soldiers, what must it have been like for prisoners of war from Andersonville?

Hiram's Honor Sample Chapters on Cleveland CWRTweb site

Sample chapters on Andersonville and Gettysburg from Hiram's Honor are on the Cleveland Civil War Round Table website (click here).

Sing Not War

I am now reading Sing Not War by James Marten which describes the post-war experiences of Civil War veterans.  It was interesting to discover the controversies surrounding pensions and soldier's homes in the period 1865-1910.  Many Civil War veterans (both Union and Confederate) experienced difficult times socially and economically after the war, especially the disabled.   Others  adapted to the "men--help yourself up" attitudes and industrialization of the Gilded Age.  Most Civil War memoirs and other writings did not come out or become popular until the 1880's.  It was as if thoughts on the Civil War were not popular early on and then became interesting after a decade or two. 

Hiram's Honor now available in Newton, Ks at the Faith and Life Bookstore

Faith and Life Bookstore in Newton, Ks

Civil War soldiers had their faith tested many times and Private Hiram Terman was no exception.  The long marches, camp life, horrific battles, and the grinding misery of prison life were challenges in the extreme and much of Hiram's Honor depicts this struggle to make sense of God, faith, and the realities of war.

Hiram's Honor now available in McPherson, Ks at the Bookshelf and the McPherson Museum

The Bookshelf bookstore on Main Street in McPherson, Ks.  We will be at a book signing there on Saturday, November 5, 2011.

The McPherson Museum on Euclid Ave. in McPherson, Ks

Statue of Civil War General James Birdseye McPherson.  McPherson, Ks is named in honor of this highly respected officer who was killed at the Battle of Atlanta. Like Private Hiram Terman, General McPherson was an Ohioan, born in Clyde, Ohio.  For more on General McPherson, click here.

Follow Hiram's Honor news on Twitter

Follow my tweets on Hiram's Honor on Twitter. 

Hiram's Honor now available for Kindle

Hiram's Honor is now available for Kindle--visit the Amazon site to order.  Click here for print version.

1861 project posts Hiram's Honor

The 1861 Project is a collection of new, original songs inspired by the people who fought and lived through the U.S. Civil War – a contemporary take on Civil War music.  The post on Hiram's Honor is at http://1861project.com/hirams-honor.

Town Crier Bookstore Emporia, Kansas Author Extravaganza

Max Terman and other Kansas Civil War authors at the Town Crier Bookstore in Emporia, Kansas.

Sons of Union Veterans Mansfield, Ohio

We look forward to attending the Sons of Union Veterans MCLaughlin Camp Mansfield, Ohio May 18,2011 meeting at 7 pm at the Soldiers and Sailors Museum, 34 Park Ave W Mansfield, Ohio.

 At the museum in a central display case second level, I found a Soldier Record for the 82nd Ohio, Company F and Private Hiram Terman was listed as a prisoner at Richmond. 

Hardin County Ohio Civil War 150 Event, Kenton, Ohio

 Max Terman speaking to group at Kenton, Ohio.

Hardin County Historical Museums will be holding the local Ohio Civil War 150 event, Hardin County Civil War 150, on May 14 at the Farm Museum on Fairgrounds Road in Kenton.  This free event will be from Noon to 5, with educational talks at the bottom of each hour.  Hardin County has a rich Civil War history with its citizens' participating in many of the war's major battles, earning two Medals of Honor, and serving as officers at every level.  Come to this Civil War 150 kick-off event and learn more about the Civil War.  Our speakers will cover a variety of topics, share their expert knowledge and be available for questions.  One of our speakers and guests will be Max Terman, author of Hiram’s Honor: Reliving Private Terman’s Civil War. 

Ohio Civil War Show Mansfield, Ohio April 30- May 1, 2011

 

Hiram's Honor will be for sale at the 64th OVI table at the Ohio Civil War Show in Mansfield, Ohio.

In 1861 Hiram Terman joins the 82nd Ohio Infantry not sensing in the slightest what is coming.  At twenty, he has just immersed himself in the boiling cauldron of the American Civil War. As the 82nd moves from battle to battle, he is tormented by the carnage around him and leans on his two friends, the religious Isaiah and the secular Seth for comfort. When the unthinkable happens and they are captured at Gettysburg and eventually sent to the whirlpool of death at Andersonville, their faith and beliefs are tested to the extreme in this true story hammered from the fiery battlefields and grinding prison camps of America's Armageddon.

Ken Burns The Civil War on PBS

 On Picket Duty

I have seen Burn's The Civil War (now showing on PBS) at least 5 times and each exposure  brings forth new thoughts and feelings of the kind that no doubt provided much of the emotional power behind Hiram's Honor.

Good Source for Civil War events and information

http://www.reenactmenthq.com/

Civil War Ancestor Records National Archives

Medical record, muster sheet, and Prisoner of War records for Private Hiram Terman, 82nd Ohio from the National Archives.  Finding records like these for my ancestor added reality to the writing of Hiram's Honor.

Hiram's Honor in Troy, Ohio

I am pleased to announce that Hiram's Honor is now available in Troy, Ohio at Around About Books.  Stop in and have a look around!

Hiram's Honor now available as ebook

NOW IN EBOOK FORMAT

 
I have created and submitted to ebook distributors an ebook version of Hiram's Honor.  The following links offer the download and more will be added.

Sample or purchase Hiram's Honor: Reliving Private Terman's Civil War:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/50674
http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=viewbook&BOOK=1011426&v=widget

http://www.powells.com/s?kw=Hiram%27s+Honor&class=ebooks

http://www.ebookpie.com/books/262219-hiram-s-honor-reliving-private-terman-s-civil-war-ebook

Vicksburg Murals Sultana Story

 Max Terman pointing to one of the Andersonville Sultana prisoners of war, Old Courthouse Museum in Vicksburg, Ms.

As astute readers of Hiram's Honor will note, one of the 82nd Ohio Andersonville prisoners is left behind only to face the horrors of the Sultana which exploded on the Mississippi River killing most of the people on the overcrowded steamer!  This story of an Andersonville-Sultana survivor is the subject of my next book and we were thrilled to see a mural of prisoners of war boarding the Sultana at Vicksburg.  The mural is part of a wall of paintings along the river front in Vicksburg.  We also visited with historians at Vicksburg Military Park and at the Old Courthouse Museum in downtown Vicksburg where we learned much about this tragic but surprisingly little known story of the Sultana.

Civil War Savannah

 Map at Fort Pulaski showing Venus Point on Savannah River, Venus Point area today, street to dock in Savannah

In Savannah we visited the Georgia Historical Society and found the likely location of the old prison camp for Union POW's (Forsythe Park), found the likely dock area in Savannah, and the prisoner exchange area on the Savannah River (Venus Point).  I was pleased that my accounts in Hiram's Honor matched up well with what we saw of the historical record in Savannah.

Augusta Georgia Civil War Roundtable

 Augusta Civil War Roundtable discussion, Descendant of Confederate soldier at the Round Table

We had the pleasure of telling the Augusta Georgia Civil War Roundtable about Hiram's Honor.  In the audience were descendants of both Union and Confederate soldiers and the discussion was enhanced by the perspectives of both.  Historic Augusta is now selling Hiram's Honor at the Woodrow Wilson Boyhood Home Gift Shop (http://www.wilsonboyhoodhome.org/)

Camp Lawton Georgia

 Magnolia Springs State Park where Camp Lawton site is located, Archeologists at Georgia Southern University, Camp Lawton sketch at Georgia Southern Museum.

A major part of our trip to Georgia was a visit to Camp Lawton, a Confederate prison camp near Millen, Georgia where my ancestor was held after Andersonville.  The prison camp is being studied by the archeology department at Georgia Southern University and we met the team doing this valuable study of a relatively pristine Civil War site. 

SEVENSCORE AND TEN YEARS AGO LINK

SevenScoreandTenYearsAgo (http://www.7score10years.com) offers an innovative approach to history by giving users the historical Civil War era news each day with all of the benefits of new technology. Registered users receive daily updates of history as though it were happening today - reliving the day to day drama that was the Civil War.