Ebook coming soon!
Click HERE to read the Front Matter and Chapter 1!
About the Book
The Johnson-Gilmor Raid represents one of three attempts to free prisoners of war during the American Civil War. Like the other two, it was destined to fail for a variety of reasons, mostly because the timetable for the operation was a schedule impossible to meet. The mounted raid was a fascinating act of increasing desperation by the Confederate high command in the summer of 1864, and award-winning cavalry historian Eric J. Wittenberg presents the gripping story in detail for the first time in The Johnson-Gilmor Cavalry Raid around Baltimore, July 10-13, 1864.
The thundering high-stakes operation was intended to ease the suffering of 15,000 Confederate prisoners held at Point Lookout, Maryland, a peninsula at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. The story includes a motley cast of characters on both sides and fast-paced drama in a deeply researched study that draws upon published and unpublished primary sources, including contemporary newspapers.
Part of Wittenberg’s cogent analysis compares and contrasts this raid to a pair of other unsuccessful attempts to free Union prisoners of war—the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid of February-March 1864, and the Stoneman Raid on Macon, Georgia of July 1864—as well as Gen. George S. Patton’s attempt to free his son-in-law and other American prisoners in March of 1945. This book will be welcomed by anyone with an interest in the Civil War, high-stakes cavalry operations, or the politics of Civil War high command.
Advance Praise
“Coming a year after the summer 1863 Confederate incursion into Maryland and Pennsylvania that culminated at Gettysburg, the Johnson-Gilmor Raid brought fresh concerns for many citizens along the Mason-Dixon Line. Eric Wittenberg has brilliantly captured the consternation and terror of these residents, as well as the exploits of the saddle soldiers and their charismatic leaders in this masterful recounting of one of the Civil War’s most daring (and largely forgotten) expeditions to free Southern prisoners at Point Lookout, Maryland.” — Scott L. Mingus, Sr., co-author of “If We Are Striking for Pennsylvania” (2 vols.)
“Point Lookout, in secessionist southern Maryland, was the target of a daring 1864 raid by horsemen Bradley Johnson and Harry Gilmor to rescue thousands of Confederate prisoners. The high drama and even higher stakes convinced the Lincoln Administration to substantially reenforce its backdoor defenses of the nation’s capital. Eric Wittenberg’s The Johnson-Gilmor Raid Around Baltimore will deserve the lofty place it will assume among the volumes written about Jubal Early’s invasion of Maryland.” — Robert E. Crickenberger, president of the Friends of Point Lookout
Eric J. Wittenberg is an accomplished historian and author. The Ohio attorney has written nearly two dozen books on various Civil War subjects, with a particular focus on cavalry operations. He is the recipient of multiple awards, including the prestigious 1998 Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award. Eric lives in Columbus with his wife Susan and their beloved dogs.
