Columbian Arsenal Press
Author Dan Masters Specializing in preserving the lost stories of the Civil War
Current Titles
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About Columbian Arsenal Press
Background
Award winning author Dan Masters has been actively engaged in Civil War research for the past 20 years. With a focus on Ohio infantry regiments and documenting the thousands of letters contained in Ohio's newspapers during the Civil War, he founded Columbian Arsenal Press in 2017 with the mission of ensuring that these incredible accounts were made available to a wider audience.
Roots
My personal journey of discovering the Civil War began with the receipt of my great-great-great grandfather's discharge certificate more than 20 years ago. Private James Morrow of Co. H, 1st Ohio Volunteer Cavalry served three years with the Army of the Cumberland- the more I learned about his service, the more I became intrigued about how it was that the ordinary foot soldiers of the Civil War actually fought the war. Generals and admirals may direct battles, but it is upon the extrordinary endurance and courage of the men in the ranks that battles and wars are won.
Writing Style
I view my role as a writer as introducing the reader to the main characters of the scene, providing context to what occurred, and then letting the participants describe their experiences in their own words. General William Tecumseh Sherman may have said it best in 1865 when he told a rapturous crowd in Columbus, Ohio:
"I can tell you nothing new about the war, can describe no new scenes in our long campaigns for, from Columbus to Portsmouth, from the Ohio River to Lake Erie, you will find in every house and every hamlet a bluecoated boy who marched and has told the story better than I can do it, because he saw it inside and outside."
By giving voice to the common soldier, we ensure that their sacrifices are remembered, honored, and given their due place in our history. Our mission at Columbian Arsenal Press is to provide a platform to those long silent voices who saw the war "inside and outside."
NEWS
NEWS AND EVENTS
2024-2025 Speaking and Event Schedule:
Sunday, December 1, 2024 at 2 p.m.
Way Public Library, Perrysburg, Ohio
"Perrysburg Stories: Local Soldiers in the Battle of Stones River."
Wednesday, December 4, 2024 at 8:30 p.m.
Civil War Talk virtual event discussing "Hell by the Acre: A Narrative History of the Stones River Campaign."
Saturday, December 28, 2024 at 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
In person book signing at Stones River National Battlefield Park
3501 Old Nashville Hwy., Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37129
Monday, February 3, 2025 at 7 p.m.
Quincy Gillmore Civil War Roundtable, Lorain, Ohio
"Hell by the Acre: A Narrative History of the Battle of Stones River."
Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 7 p.m.
Chickamauga-Chattanooga Civil War Roundtable
Zoom Meeting
"Battle of Stones River and its Place in Civil War History"
Saturday, March 8, 2025 at 1 p.m.
Andrew Carnegie Free Library, Carnegie, Pennsylvania
"Pennsylvania at the Battle of Stones River."
Saturday June 7, 2025 at 10:30 a.m.
Brice's Crossroads Foundation Membership Weekend
Claude Gentry Theatre, 110 W. Main St., Baldwyn, Mississippi 38824
"The 72nd Ohio and Brice's Crossroads."
Monday, September 8, 2025 at 6:15 p.m.
Mahoning Valley Civil War Roundtable, Canfield, Ohio
TBD
News
CURRENT PROJECTS
Echoes of Battle: Annals of Ohio's Soldier's in the Civil War, 1861-1865 Volume 2: Fredericksburg to Fort Sanders is now available for purchase. The second in our Ohio in the War trilogy, the 490-page volume features 109 firsthand accounts from Buckeye soldiers covering the most critical year of the war. Loaded with previously unseen battle content and images of 56 of 107 of the correspondents, this volume will present lengthy sections on Stones River, Chancellorsville, the Vicksburg campaign, Gettysburg, and Chickamauga. Copies are available through our bookstore through the link at the top of the page.
We are nearly finished with our re-issue of Echoes of Battle Volume 1: Philippi to Perryville. This expanded and illustrated edition includes 100 photographs, many of them published for the first time. Plans are to release this new edition by the end of October 2024
Hell by the Acre: A Narrative History of the Stones River Campaign is at the printer with plans to be published through Savas Beatie on November 15, 2024.
Future projects include completing volume 3 of our Echoes of Battle series (tentatively called Dalton to Durham Station) for release in April 2025, a second volume of Stones River material featuring lost missing in action reports plus casualty lists for both armies (through Savas Beatie), a Maps of Stones River book through Savas Beatie, as well sifting through research for a future title about WWI entitled Torpedoed!
Keep the Soldiers' Letters
Hardin County Republican July 10, 1863
Mother, father, brother, sister, wife, sweetheart, keep that bundle sacredly! Each word will be historic, each line invaluable. When peace has restored the ravages of war, and our Nation's grandeur has made this struggle the most memorable of those conflicts by which ideas are rooted into society, these pen pictures of the humblest events, the merest details of the routine life led in winning national unity and freedom will be priceless. Not for the historian's sake alone, do I say, keep those letters, but for your sakes who receive them, and ours who write them. The next skirmish may stop our pulses forever, and our letters, full of love for you, will be our only legacy except that of having died in a noble cause. And should we survive the war, with health and limb uninjured or bowed with sickness or wounds, thos letters will be dear mementos of dangers past, of trials borne, or privations suffered, or of comrades beloved.