He applied the “Page 99 Test” to his new book, Late to the Fight: Union Soldier Combat Performance from the Wilderness to the Fall of Petersburg, and shared the following:
Page 99 marks the start of chapter four and features two quotes from members of the 17th Vermont and 31st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiments, the subjects of Late to the Fight. These epigraphs set the tone for the chapter, which then proceeds as follows:Learn more about Late to the Fight at the LSU Press website.On May 23, 1864, New York Herald reporter Sylvanus Cadwallader rosily depicted the progress of Union arms in the Civil War. Reflecting on the Overland Campaign, he praised the 'transcendant genius' of Grant and Meade. This journalist proclaimed that the two generals had 'triumphed over all obstacles' and 'other glorious victories await[ed] our grasp.' Cadwallader made it appear as though the Union effort to crush the Confederacy depended solely on effective leadership and thus overlooked the contributions of the rank and file at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House. Yet he anticipated 'hard fighting' should the opposing Army of Northern Virginia assume a defensive position along the North Anna River on the road to Richmond. Such a concession highlights an important question for this stage of the campaign: to what extent did the later arrivals overcome the stresses of their first two battles and continue to fight well as newly minted veterans? Contemporary historian John C. Ropes differed from Cadwallader by offering a bleaker assessment of Meade’s Army of the Potomac. Summing up the nature of this campaign, he noted that...The Page 99 Test works well because the page draws attention to several concepts running through Late to the Fight. Its presentation of quotes from Vermonters and Mainers reflects the book’s focus on the perspective of the officers and men in these two regiments. Also, the page highlights a common tendency to credit Union victory to the generals’ decision-making instead of the soldiers’ efforts that made those plans a reality. To counter this trend, it asks how the New Englanders developed into reliable veterans amid the unprecedented conditions of the Overland and Petersburg Campaigns.
What this test does not reveal, however, is that Late to the Fight is a story about human motivation, endurance, and combat performance in which the Vermonters’ and Mainers’ voices frequently emerge. It examines the experiences of these New Englanders because they epitomized a population of approximately 820,000 soldiers who joined the Union Army after Congress passed the Enrollment Act, or draft law, in March 1863. This research challenges the consensus that contemporaries and historians alike have embraced, according to which these later arrivals lacked the patriotism and fitness for soldiering. It considers what drove them to enlist despite the bloody realities of military service so apparent by this point in the war. The book addresses what these troops faced on campaign and whether they proved worthy comrades of their predecessors in uniform, who have enjoyed greater esteem. Centering on the humble private, Late to the Fight demonstrates that the Vermonters and Mainers did their part to help achieve Union victory."
--Marshal Zeringue
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