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“Journey to Honor” by James G. Buck
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ISBN: 978-1-60264-209-6 , softcover, $15.95; 978-1-60264-210-2 , hardcover. $23.95. 320 pages “Journey to Honor” follows the 23rd New Jersey Infantry Regiment from disaster to redemption in the American Civil War. The story is based on the unpublished diary of Josiah Crispin, a young Quaker who believes he must fight to save the Union. In August 1862, he joins the 23rd New Jersey. The war is going badly. Confederate victories threaten to entice Maryland and other states to secede. The North needs a victory and the Army needs reinforcements, so Crispin and his friends are rushed to Fredericksburg without basic training. The 23rd arrives so ill disciplined and untrained that they are written off as a bunch of “Yahoos.” The Yahoos are honor-bound to serve nine months. They start an intense on-the-job transition from citizens to soldiers and learn the Rebels are not their only enemy. Incompetent officers, deadly new weapons, sickness and savage weather are just as lethal. Crispin keeps a day by day account of these events in his diary. But, when Josiah is wounded and captured, he finds he has only minutes to choose between losing the record forever and trusting an enemy soldier to send the diary home. “Journey to Honor” is the true story of the Yahoos epic struggle as seen through the eyes of the soldiers who lived and died in it. ABOUT THE AUTHOR James G. Buck grew up in Mount Holly, New Jersey and graduated from West Point in 1971. His 5 years in the Army took him to the Pacific Northwest where he lives today. He worked in heavy construction and served twelve years in the Washington Legislature. He is a lifelong military history fan. The Josiah Crispin diary inspired him to write “Journey to Honor.” It covers Crispin's and the 23rd New Jersey Volunteers' activities from August 1862 to June 1863. The official records of the 23rd NJ were stolen in 1863 when the Army failed to guard them so there is not much known about the regiment. The Crispin diary provides the framework for Buck to recreate this true story. He has the Crispin Diary, original letters, service records, and after action reports that provide many of the details.
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10/29/2008 Jim Buck has given us a rare and accurate account of the” lost" 23rd NJ Volunteers couched within the tale of Private Josiah Crispin and his comrades. The story unfolds as thought you are sitting alongside Crispin and the rest of the regiment. Buck deftly weaves humor, sadness, frustration and joy as encountered by the boys during their nine months of service. Through trial and fire, the unit moves from being bumbling neophytes - the recipients of brigade mockery – to earning Division-wide respect and officially adopting the regimental nickname – Yahoos. Good reading.