Haunted Battlefields of the South

New Release

Co-Authors Historian Bryan Bush and Storyteller Thomas Freese bring exciting and chilling tales of the ghosts of the War Between the States!

The ghosts of Civil War soldiers still inhabit the battlefields of our Southern States.  Veteran re-enactor and historian Bryan Bush traveled to battlefields and researched both tactical history and on-the-ground life of soldiers on both sides of the War.  He and co-author Thomas L. Freese interviewed re-enactors and photographed the places and people who immersed themselves in recreating the soldiers' camp, social, travel and martial activities.

  See Upcoming Events >>  

Bryan is available for lectures and book signings.  Contact him for availability and rates.

Shots ring out, visitors hear soldiers on the march and see phantom figures, tents and cannon.  In first-hand accounts, spirits of Confederate and Union soldiers join re-enactors for breakfast, call them to the line and entreat us to "never again let this happen."  Over a dozen haunted battlefields carry chilling stories, such as Perryville, Sacramento, Stones River, Shiloh, Franklin and Andersonville Prison.  Read about the battle fog, lost Rebel drummer boy, bloody pond, invisible rifle volleys, disappearing cemetery and many other amazing tales.

Softcover; 160 pages; 69 images; 6 x 9 inches

Published by Schiffer Books^51, Copyright © 2010, ISBN 978-0764333859^7.

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Louisville and the Civil War

A History & Guide

Before the Civil War, Louisville became a vibrant city with steamboat traffic and the rise of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.  Factories arose in the city to build rails and build farm implements.  Louisville manufactured hemp for cotton bags and rope.  Louisville became the second largest city to pack pork, slaughtering three hundred thousand hogs a year.  Louisville had ties with the North and the South.  Louisville also had slave markets.

See Bryan's article on Louisville During the Civil War.

When the Civil War erupted upon the landscape, Louisville became a military target because of the Portland canal and the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.  During 1861, Confederate forces under Kentucky native Simon Buckner headed towards Louisville.  In 1862, Confederate General Braxton Bragg took his army into Kentucky, poised to take Louisville.  In 1863, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan led a daring raid into Kentucky and came very close to the city of Louisville, throwing the people of Louisville into a panic.  In 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood led his army towards Nashville, Tennessee and many feared he may try and take Louisville.  During the war, the city became a massive staging ground for thousands of Union troops heading South.  By the end of the war, Louisville grew tired of the harsh Union treatment of their citizens.  Louisville led the way into turning from a pro-Union town into a Confederate supporter.

The purpose of Louisville and the Civil War: A History & Guide is to trace the war in Louisville and give the reader a sense of how the city looked towards the Union and the Confederacy.  The book will discuss how Louisville turned from a very pro-Union city towards supporting the Confederacy, or at least the Lost Cause.

Softcover; 128 pages; 55 images; 5.5 x 8.5 inches

Published by The History Press^50, Charleston, South Carolina, Copyright © 2008, ISBN 978-1-59629-554-4^11.

“ This is a slim book, but it is loaded with fascinating information about our city's role in the Civil War.  Those who remember Robert Emmett McDowell's 1962 history, City of Conflict, will learn even more in Bush's well-illustrated volume.”
   —The Courier-Journal

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Lincoln and the Speeds

The Untold Story of a Devoted and Enduring Friendship

Bryan is making available the abstract for Lincoln and the Speeds.
►Get the Free Download  (Adobe PDF)

Check out Bryan's interview about Lincoln and the Speeds on KET's Louisville Life^12 (Streaming Video)

Bryan is happy to announce his new book about Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln and the Speeds: The Untold Story of a Devoted and Enduring Friendship.

On April 15, 1837, a tall angular young man with lean, wrinkled cheeks and sad gray eyes, walked into the general store in Springfield, Illinois and laid on the counter a pair of saddle bags which he carried in his long arm.  He asked the young owner of the store the price of a mattress, blankets, sheets, coverlid, and a pillow for a single bed.  The store owner calculated the items at seventeen dollars.  The young man replied: "It is perhaps cheap enough, but small as it is, I am unable to pay it.  If you will credit me until Christmas, I will pay you then, if I do well; but if I do not, I may never be able to pay you."  The store owner looked up into the face of his customer and said: "You seem to be so much pained at contracting so small a debt, I think I can suggest a plan by which you can avoid the debt and at the same time attain your end.  I have a large room with a double bed which you are welcome to share with me."  The customer replied: "Where is your room?"  The owner replied: "Upstairs," pointing to a pair of winding stairs which led from the store to the room.  The young man picked up his saddle bags, went upstairs, set them down on the floor, returned below and explained: "Well, Speed, I'm moved!"  The customer was Abraham Lincoln and the owner of the store was Joshua Speed.  The friendship that developed between Joshua Speed and Abraham Lincoln lasted until Lincoln's death in 1865.

See Bryan's article on Joshua and James Speed.  Also, check out Joshua and James Speed on MySpace^17.

Joshua Speed became Abraham Lincoln's closest and intimate friend.  The friendship spread to his brother James Speed, who later became Lincoln's Attorney General in 1864.  Joshua and James Speed became Lincoln's informal informants on the military and civilian activities during the Civil War in Kentucky.  With Lincoln's help, Joshua and James Speed helped save Kentucky for Unionists early in 1861.  The purpose of this book is a dual biography of Joshua and James Speed that will reveal how closely the friendship between Joshua Speed and Abraham Lincoln continued to affect not only Joshua Speed's life, but also his brother James Speed.  Both Joshua and James Speed were dedicated to the Union, even though each brother followed different paths.  James Speed was a Unionist, emancipationist, abolitionist, and Radical Republican.  James Speed entered politics, becoming a state representative and later Attorney General under Abraham Lincoln and later Andrew Johnson.  Joshua Speed lived his life as a businessman.  Joshua Speed differed from his brother and Lincoln and did not agree with emancipation, but felt that the issue of emancipation should not hinder his support of the Union.  In April of 1861 after the attack on Fort Sumter, Kentucky debated the issue of whether to join the Union or Confederacy.  With Joshua and James Speed's loyalty to the Union, Lincoln depended on Joshua and James Speed to help secure Kentucky for the Union.  With Joshua and James Speed's help, Lincoln managed to transport thousands of weapons into Kentucky for distribution among the loyal Union Home Guard.

During the war, Lincoln needed trustworthy friends to help him deal with the delicate situation in Kentucky.  Both James and Joshua Speed kept Lincoln informed on not only the political affairs in Kentucky, but also the civilian affairs.  After Lincoln's death James and Joshua Speed helped to preserve Lincoln's legacy in their own way.  James Speed became a Radical Republican and fought to gain equality under the law for blacks, even though most of Kentucky did not want to follow the Radical Republican stance on reconstruction.  Joshua Speed helped to maintain Lincoln's legacy by contributing to Lincoln's memorial and speaking and writing about Lincoln.

Hardcover; 192 pages; 24 images; 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches

Published by Acclaim Press^48, Morley, Missouri, Copyright © 2008, ISBN 0979880262^19.

Attention—Retailers and Vendors:
To inquire about selling the Lincoln and the Speeds book, please contact Acclaim Press^48,
P.O. Box 238, Morley, MO 63767, phone: (573) 472-9800, fax: (573) 262-3994.

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Butcher Burbridge

Union General Stephen Burbridge and His Reign of Terror Over Kentucky

Bryan is making available the abstract for the book Butcher Burbridge.
►Get the Free Download  (Adobe PDF)

Bryan is happy to announce his newest detailed biography, Butcher Burbridge: Union General Stephen Burbridge and His Reign of Terror Over Kentucky.

One of the most vilified and hated men during the Civil War in Kentucky had to be Kentucky born Union (brevet) Major General Stephen Gano Burbridge, but why have Kentuckian historians continued to cast him negatively?  Burbridge had a meteoric rise as a military commander, starting out as a colonel of the 26th Kentucky Union infantry and becoming a Major General by 1863.  He had fought well at Arkansas Post and Champion's Hill during the Vicksburg Campaign and received the praise of Union General William T. Sherman.  Burbridge also received the thanks of President Abraham Lincoln for his victory over Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's forces at Cynthiana, Kentucky.

See Bryan's article on Stephen Gano Burbridge.  Also, check out Butcher Burbridge on MySpace^24.

Burbridge's problems arose when he became military commander of Kentucky in January of 1864.  With encouragement of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Burbridge helped to raise and arm slaves for the United States Colored Troops, which offended Kentucky Union slaveholders and Kentucky Governor Thomas Bramlette.  He also issued Order 59 in which for every Union soldier killed by a guerilla, four Confederate prisoners would be taken to the spot and shot.  His brutal tactics to stop guerilla warfare in Kentucky ended up alienating Unionists in the state and moved Kentucky away from the Republican Party and towards the Democratic Party.  Burbridge has also been accused of fixing the 1864 state and presidential elections as well as being involved in the Great Hog Swindle of 1864.

Hardcover; 208 pages; 28 images; 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches

Published by Acclaim Press^48, Morley, Missouri, Copyright © 2008, ISBN 0979880254^25.

“ In Butcher Burbridge…Civil War re-enactor [Bryan] Bush asks the question, "How could a man with such a meteoric rise to Major General—praised by William Tecumseh Sherman after the battles of Arkansas Post and Vicksburg, and Abraham Lincoln himself for his defeat of Gen. John Hunt Morgan—be the recipient of such intense hatred as military commander in Kentucky?"  Bush attempts to answer the question and other tough ones in his new 208-page hardback chronicle published by Acclaim Press.  The author includes a sizeable resource and index section.”
   —Kentucky Monthly

Attention—Retailers and Vendors:
To inquire about selling the Butcher Burbridge book, please contact Acclaim Press^48,
P.O. Box 238, Morley, MO 63767, phone: (573) 472-9800, fax: (573) 262-3994.

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Lloyd Tilghman

Confederate General in the Western Theatre

Since the release of Lloyd Tilghman was delayed due to various production issues, Bryan is giving away the book's Introduction chapter.
►Get the Free Download  (Adobe PDF)

Lloyd Tilghman: Confederate General in the Western Theatre is the first detailed biography devoted entirely to capturing the story of one of the South's forgotten but distinguished sons.  The book relays the life of Lloyd Tilghman: West Point graduate, soldier, engineer, family man.  Coming to build a railroad, the talented engineer settled in Paducah, Kentucky in 1852 with his wife Augusta and their eight children.

See Bryan's article on General Tilghman.

With the advent of the Civil War, the Mexican War veteran followed his convictions South, becoming a Colonel of the 3^rd Kentucky Infantry.  Many of the members of the Kentucky State Guard followed him.  Promoted to Brigadier General, Tilghman assumed responsibility for the strategically important rivers in Western Kentucky and Tennessee.  Guarding the Gateway into the South by holding Ft. Henry on the Tennessee River, Tilghman fought overwhelming odds against Commodore Andrew Foote and General U. S. Grant.  Succumbing to naval fire power, Tilghman surrendered Ft. Henry.  Taken prisoner, he was later exchanged, becoming an infantry brigade commander.  During the Battle of Champion's Hill on May 16, 1864, while directing artillery fire, Tilghman was struck by a shell fragment and killed, ending a promising military and civilian career.

Hardcover; 224 pages; 60 images; 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches

Published by Acclaim Press^48, Morley, Missouri, Copyright © 2006, ISBN 0977319849^30.

Design by: Steward & Wise Graphic Design.

“ As fascinating as fiction, more than anything else it is a good story and one that will hold the reader's interest for an evening.”
   —John L. Weaver, Board of Directors, Lloyd Tilghman House

“ Bush, a Civil War re-enactor who often portrays an artillerist, has collected many never-before-told facts about Tilghman (Paducah Tilghman High School's namesake).”
   —Kentucky Monthly

Attention—Retailers and Vendors:
To inquire about selling the Lloyd Tilghman book, please contact Acclaim Press^48,
P.O. Box 238, Morley, MO 63767, phone: (573) 472-9800, fax: (573) 262-3994.

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Kentucky's Civil War 1861-1865

(compilation of articles by many contributing authors, including Bryan S. Bush)

Back Home In Kentucky, Inc. is pleased to announce the publication of its new book, Kentucky's Civil War 1861-1865.  This compilation of articles depicts Kentucky's role in this tragic conflict, as interpreted by Kentucky's finest Civil War scholars.

  See Upcoming Events >>  

Bryan is available for lectures and book signings.  Contact him for availability and rates.

Among the book's distinguished authors are State Historian Dr. James Klotter, professors of history Dr. Lowell Harrison, Dr. James Ramage, Dr. Charles Roland, and former Poet Laureate of Kentucky Richard Taylor.  Other noted Civil War scholars are Bryan S. Bush, Tom Fugate, Bardstown Mayor Dixie Hibbs, Lisa Matthews, Robert C. Moody, Dr. Marshall Myers, Stuart Sanders and Dr. Stephen McBride.

Kentucky's Civil War 1861-1865 includes accounts of the 11 major Civil War battles in Kentucky, stories of long forgotten skirmishes, and sketches of many leaders and personalities.  Read how two future Presidents, Ulysses S. Grant and James A. Garfield, first found fame in Kentucky and how two native born sons, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, took such divergent paths in reaching the pinnacles of power.  Three different cities (Frankfort, Bowling Green, and Russellville) enjoyed the spotlight as the capital of the Confederacy in Kentucky.  The importance of railroads and the Cumberland Gap are explained, as well as the importance of women to the war effort on both sides of the conflict.

The war's newsmakers were plentiful, including the Breckinridges of Kentucky, Confederate Governors George Johnson and Richard Hawes, Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin, Union General William "Bull" Nelson, Union Colonel Frank Lane Wolford, and Confederate Generals Lloyd Tilghman and John Bell Hood.  Read about Patrick "Stonewall of the West" Cleburne, Confederate Guerilla William Clarke Quantrill and the hanging of "Sue" Mundy.

The book also has a 4-color Civil War map which provides detailed information on battles and historic sites.

Kentucky's Civil War features:

Articles by Kentucky's foremost Civil War scholars  Details of 11 major battles  Rare photographs and etchings

The role of African-Americans  John Hunt Morgan raids  Kentucky generals and leaders

Kentucky — Before and After the Civil War  Map details battles & historic sites.

Hardcover only available; 160 pages; 145 images; 11.3 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches

Published by Back Home in Kentucky, Inc.^49, Clay City, Kentucky, Copyright © 2005, ISBN 0976923122^34, 0976923106^35, 0976923114^36.

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My Dear Mollie

The Letters of Brig. Gen. Daniel Griffin, Commander of the 38^th Indiana Volunteer Infantry

Almost Out of Print

The Daniel Griffin collection is one of the most outstanding collections of letters chronicling the major events of the Civil War.  The letters were written between September 1861 to February 1865, and addressed to his wife Mary "Mollie" Compton.  In vivid detail Daniel gives his description of camp life and major battles including battles of Perryville, Atlanta and others.  The letters accurately describe people, events, and emotions of the period.  The horror of battle, the pain of being separated from loved ones, the humor of camp life, valor, courage and patriotism.

Softcover; 494 pages; 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches

Published by JoNa Books, Bedford, Indiana, Copyright © 2003, ISBN 0970672578^39.

Terry's Texas Rangers

History of the Eighth Texas Cavalry

Almost Out of Print

The 8^th Texas Cavalry is an amazing unit. They participated in more than three hundred engagements during their career, fighting in more battles than any other cavalry regiment, both North or South. Bryan S. Bush takes you on a journey throughout the South from 1861 to 1865.  Much of the story is taken from these cavalrymen's own words and eyewitness accounts never before available to readers.

Richly illustrated with photographs, maps, charts, and drawings to embellish each detailed account.  You'll see never before published period photos as well as extraordinary features of some of the most outstanding artifacts of the 8^th Texas Cavalry.

Hardcover; 184 pages; 75 images; 9.6 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches

Published by Turner Publishing Company, Paducah, Kentucky, Copyright © 2002, ISBN 1563117908^42.

“ Bryan Bush gives a detailed account of the Texas Rangers.  It will prove a must for any serious student of the Civil War.”
   —William Brockman, Adjunct Instructor, Indiana University Southeast

The Civil War Battles of the Western Theatre Almost Out of Print Where Sold ►Bryan S. Bush Books - The Official Store43 ►Amazon^44 ►Brick-and-mortar stores: Destinations (New Albany) A Civil War First!  Turner Publishing Company is pleased to present Civil War Battles of the Western Theatre by author Bryan S. Bush.  Never has anything comparable to this massive volume has been published on the Western Theater in America's War Between the States.  Bush takes the reader through every major battle in the West complete with an order of battle listing all units involved for each confrontation. Richly illustrated with nearly 700 photographs, maps, charts and drawings to embellish each detailed account.  You'll see never-before-published period photos as well as extraordinary full color features of some of the most outstanding artifact collections in the world, all of Western Theatre battles and the men who fought them.  Battle of Wilson's Creek  Siege of Lexington  Battle of Columbus/Belmont  Battle of Middle Creek  Battle of Mill Springs  Ft. Henry & Ft. Donelson  Shiloh  Corinth  Perryville  Stone's River  Vicksburg  Chickamauga  Chattanooga  Missionary Ridge  Georgia Campaign  Battles for Atlanta  Campaign for Franklin & Nashville  Sherman's March to the Sea  Sherman's last Battle: The Battle of Bentonville

Technical advisors: John C. Harrison III and D. Steve Munson

Hardcover; 204 pages; hundreds of images; 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.7 inches

Published by Turner Publishing Company, Paducah, Kentucky, Copyright © 1998, 2000, ISBN 1563114348^45.

“ A major undertaking…an absolute must for every Civil War collector, historian, or reenactor.”
   —Lt. Col John Mikula, USA (Ret.), Former Professor, U.S. Military Academy, West Point

“ Wonderfully illustrated details featuring outstanding collections of premier western theatre artifacts.  Most never shown in print before now.”
   —Tom Fugate, Curator, Kentucky Military History Museum

“ Great battle narratives…the order of battle listing every unit involved is a monumental reference.  Every library in the country should have a copy.”
   —Ken Hamilton, Director, Hunt-Morgan House, Lexington, Kentucky