Errata Vol. I
p. 123 – fn. 12. A closer reading Hitchcock’s published diary establishes that the only offer of command made to him was in March of 1862. This applies to the same reference by Carman on p. 143, fn 57, and p. 145, fn. 61. (Thanks to Stephen Sears for pointing out this and several other errors.)
p. 128 – fn. 20. Addition – The offer of command was made to McCellan at his rented quarters, he then went to his office on Pennsylvania Ave. to talk with his staff.
p.143 — McClellan was given command on the field army on Sept. 5, not 6. This mistake also appears also p. 274.
p.145 – fn. 61. Clarification — Pope thought he was still in command, and said so, but no offer to command this field army was formally made.
p. 162 – fn. 88 – the last quote, beginning “he never said aught…” is found in Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of Alpheus S. Williams, A representative from Michigan, delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate. 45th Cong. 3d sess., 1878–1879 (Wshington DC: Government Printing Office, 1880) Mr. Willits of MI, p. 30.
p. 166 – near bottom of the page, George Chapman’s middle initial is H, not A. Also incorrect in index, p. 494.
p. 184 – fn. 44. The note mentioned was actually sent Sept. 10, not 11. See McClellan Papers and Halleck to McClellan OR 19, pt. 2, p. 280, “yours of the 10th…”
p. 244 – near bottom of the page, John Graham’s middle initial is H, not A. Also incorrect in index, p. 501.
p. 270 – fn. 119, Capt. Don Piatt, not Paitt. Also incorrect in index, p. 511.
p. 274 –p. 288 – fn 15 – Stephen Sears corrected me on this dispatch to Franklin, pointing out that it is intact in McClellan’s HQ letterbook and the separation is likely due to the Official Records editors following elipses in the version submitted for the ORs. So there likely was no ulterior motives for the separation.
pp. 279–82. Stephen Sears argues this interpretation of the timing of McClellan’s telegram to Lincoln. It is beyond the scope of this work to parse the details at length but after reading much on the topic I think enough evidence exists to believe the telegram was sent later than noon, but I cannot regard it as 100% certain.
p. 312 – the chart of casualties was incorrectly spaced as pertains to the 2nd & 12th VA Cavalry. The former had 1 killed and 2 wounded, and the 12 had 2 killed and 3 wounded. The total Missing is 603, not 602.
p. 374 – fn. 64. Addition — Wilcox’s tardiness was due to his division being initially marched toward Turner’s Gap and deployed before recalling the troops and marching to Fox’s Gap.
p. 411 – fn. 72. The note to McClellan’s wife was a telegram, not a letter, McClellan Papers.
p. 422 – fn. 93. Correction, Col. Thomas Key was the brother of Major john Key, who was dismissed for his treasonous talk. This incident is discussed at length in Vol. III and even more thoroughly in William Styple, McClellan’s Other Story (Kearney NJ: Belle Grove Publishing, 2012).
INDEX
p. 495 – Col. Melvin Clark the 36th OH was omitted. He is mentioned on p. 331, and Col. John Clark is not mentioned on that page.
– Maj. Cole’s first name was Henry A., not C.C.
p. 498 — James Cooper was not the same man as James H. Cooper. The former is mentioned on pp. 27–8, the latter on p. 451.
p. 499 – Jefferson Davis was incorrectly placed above Henry Davis and Hasbrouck Davis, out of alphabetical order.
p.501 – Capt. Cary Grimes was conflated with Col. Bryan Grimes. Cary is mentioned on pp. 297 & 300, Bryan on 332(n) and 467.
p.503 – Capt. William Hexamer’s name is misspelled, and thus out of alphabetical order.
p. 504 – Alfred Iverson Sr. & Jr. were conflated. The former is found on p. 68 & 68(n), the latter on p. 467.
p. 508 – Ambrose Dudley Mann was conflated with Capt. Daniel P. Mann. The former is found on p. 68 & 70, the latter on p. 447.
p. 511 – Lt. Col. David Morrison, 79th NY Inf. was omitted from the idex, he appears on pp. 334 & 454.
Lt. Col. Mounger is only mentioned on p. 461.
p. 513 – Capt. H.M Ross is only mentioned on p. 468, the p. 300 notation refers to Col. Tom Rosser.
p. 516 – Gen. Isaac R. Trimble was not in the MD Campaign, and the references to him are conflated with Col. William H. Trimble, 60th OH Inf. The references to Isaac are pp.19–19(n), 32–32(n), and 463, all others are to William.
p. 514 & 520 – Capt. J.C. von Sehlen is correctly listed on p. 514, except the reference on p. 248 is omitted. The listing for Van Sehlen on p. 520 is incorrect and should be deleted.

The first volume covered the campaign up to the battle and this volume addresses the battle itself.here, moreso than in Volume 1, Clemens’ discursive footnoting really comes into its own.

For example, I compared the same subsections of a chapter from Joseph Pierro’s one-volume edition (516 pages total) of Carman’s work with Tom’s Volume II. The chapter is “The Burnside Bridge” which Joe changed (for some reason) to “The Rohrbach (Burnside) Bridge.”

In this matched comparison of passages of the same length, the Pierro book shows four footnotes, all of the type

McClellan to Thomas, Oct. 15, 1861, 31

Pierro’s sparse notes are intended to correlate some of Carman’s material to outside sources such as the OR. A discursive note from Pierro’s book might spend a sentence or two on the implications of misspelling Duryee as Duryea.

Clemens also has four footnotes, two of them short and two longer. Here is his version of Pierro’s note (shown above):

McClellan’s October 15 report, ibid., p. 31. This language is notably absent from his August 1863 report.

You see the value, immediately, even in Clemens’ shortest notes.

In the matched passages, Carman describes the terrain around the bridge calling out a spot where four Union batteries were located. Clemens’ footnote says how Carman likely developed the distance data. He also records, with interesting citations, that Carman is the only source for putting Roemer’s battery at the bridge site on this day. Very nice points and not mirrored in Pierro’s book, where notes have been pressed into a different kind of service.

In the passage addressing McClellan’s order to attack over the bridge, Clemens gives an elegantly compact, masterfully edited note that embraces where Carman got his language for the narrative describing this incident; highlights of the controversy regarding the timing of the order; and he mentions a major contribution to the study of this controversy in 2007 by our friend Moe D’Aoust.

Pierro did us good service bringing a Carman edition public when there was none but the best is the enemy of the good. You have to buy Clemens’ Carman for the notes. They are superb.