In the Thickest of the Fray

"Joseph L. Owen and J. Douglas Ashton have thoroughly researched and stitched together from letters, journals and official records, first-hand accounts of Mississippians who participated in one of the most bloody, hard-fought and decisive battles of the war, Gettysburg." -H. Grady Howell. Author, Publisher, and Historian Emeritus, Mississippi Department of Archives & History

The Magnolia State sent eleven infantry regiments and one artillery battery to Gettysburg. The individual memories were published in newspaper articles, written in diaries, and recorded in interviews throughout the lives of the veterans. This is the first book collecting the recollections of the common Mississippi soldiers who fought at Gettysburg and in the Pennsylvania Campaign. Tracking from the march to Pennsylvania, on each of the three days, and through the retreat back into Virginia, this work describes what the soldiers related about their participation in the great battle. Included is a brief history of Mississippi in the Confederacy and the Mississippi brigades within the Army of Northern Virginia that participated in the fight. This book brings the action to life with photographs and maps.