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.

"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
"More than 790,000 people lived in Mississippi at the start of the Civil War. More than half were enslaved. Most of the 354,000 whites who lived in the state supported secession in 1860-61. Mississippi was the second state to leave the Union, formally seceding on January 9. Over the course of the war, more than 80,000 men served in the Confederate military. Eleven infantry regiments or battalions, a cavalry legion, and a single artillery battery fought at Gettysburg. Doug Ashton and Joe Owen aptly detail their actions in the tumultuous engagement through the words of the soldiers in their book, bringing to life the stories the old veterans told their neighbors, friends, and descendants."--Scott L. Mingus, co-author of If "We Are Striking for Pennsylvania: The Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac March to Gettysburg", Recipient of the 2023 Bachelder-Coddington Award from the Gettysburg CWRT.
"The story of the battle of Gettysburg is best understood through written words of the survivors from both armies. Though small in number compared to other southern states represented in the Army of Northern Virgina, Mississippi troops under Joseph Davis and William Barksdale were in the center of fighting on all three days of the battle. Joe Owen and Doug Ashton have meticulously compiled memorable accounts by Mississippi veterans to tell the story of what they saw, heard and experienced at the pivotal battle of the American Civil War."--John S. Heiser, National Park Service, retired.

Joe Owen is a National Park Ranger at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Johnson City, Texas. He served 15 years in the U.S. Navy, attended college at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, and received a Bachelor's Degree in History and a Masters Degree in Secondary Education. Joe taught Social Studies for eight years in Oklahoma, Texas and Oregon before working for the NPS. He is a co-author of two books about Hood's Texas Brigade, Texans At Gettysburg: Blood and Glory with Hood's Texas Brigade, (2016), and Texans at Antietam: A Terrible Clash of Arms, September 16-17, 1862, (2017), and is the author of Lone Star Valor: Texans of the Blue and Gray at Gettysburg (2019). Joe received the 2019 Jefferson Davis Gold Medal from the Daughters of Confederacy for outstanding research and writing. He lives with his wife Cathy in Blanco, Texas. J. Douglas Ashton is a former materials testing executive and distinguished metallurgical engineer. His lifelong fascination with the Civil War began in 1961 at the age of ten with a visit to Gettysburg, and has continued unabated. Doug was a founding member and later Chairman of the Southern Ontario Civil War Roundtable, and served as a guest lecturer at Sheridan College. Doug is the Author of WILLIAM BARKSDALE, CSA: A Biography of the United States Congressman & Confederate Brigadier General (2021). His deep interest in William Barksdale dates to the 1980s while re-enacting as a member of Co. B Benton Rifles, 18th Mississippi, part of Barksdale's famed Mississippi Brigade. Now retired, Doug resides with his wife Sue in Port Rowan, Ontario.

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