Being there . . . alongside exhausted brilliant storyteller John L. Herberich, president of the San
Jose, California, South Bay Civil War Round Table who spent 12 YEARS!! painstakingly tracking,
researching, and writing the hitherto untold Civil War story of the heroic efforts conducted by
the renown 4 th U.S Cavalry. Believing unequivocally in his work, John meticulously narrated a
slew of riveting battle after battle accounts of how this brave military regiment of horsemen,
collectively, cut, sliced, and slashed its way east from the Western Theater into the very heart
and soul of the Confederacy, defeating the “Rebs” all along the way. John emerged from the
intense travel, research, study, and writing pleased and proud, a new Civil War power and
authority to reckon with interpreting, NAY, literalizing, according to the literal meanings of
sound, proven battle facts along with what was eye-witnessed for the historical accuracies of
those units in battles. Upon the publication of John’s effort by the nonpareil Schiffer Publishing
Company, two famed Civil War historians with immaculate literary reputations immediately
endorsed and recommended the book, “Masters of the Field”. Today, author Herberich, a 30-
year real estate expert in the housing markets of the northern California, now stands shoulder
to shoulder with Civil War historian-authors, Eric J. Wittenberg, and Donald Caughey, author of
the highly praised, “The 6 th United States Cavalry in the Civil War.” Writes Eric, “John’s book is
an excellent addition to Civil War literature as an Army unit, especially in the campaigns of the
Army of the Cumberland.” Equal praise is penned by Don Caughey on his popular blog, Regular
Cavalry in the Civil War, https://regularcavlryincivilwar.wordpress.com,. “Masters of the Field’
is a most important and necessary addition to any study of Civil War cavalry operations in the
West. Painfully researched, and all new facts verified for over a decade, John has left no stone
unturned in crafting this first history of the 4 th Cavalry regiment.”
FOR A STUNNING, RIVETING HISTORY OF THE 4 th U.S. CAVALRY IN THE CIVIL WAR, READ JOHN
HERBERICH’S ‘MASTERS OF THE FIELD’ ACKNOWLEDGED BY BOTH THE UNION AND
CONFEDERATE ARMIES FOR REACHING THE ZENITH OF PROFESSIONALISM AND SKILL IN
COMBAT. THE MEN IN THE CAVALRY REGIMENT SURPRISED THE “JOHNNEY REBS” BY FIGHTING
EQUALLY WELL MOUNTED OR DISMOUNTED. THEY USED THEIR PRIMARY WEAPON, THE SABER,
AS NO OTHER CAVALRY REGIMENT HAD BEFORE OR SINCE – – COMBINED WITH THE SPENCER
CARBINE, THEY BECAME AN ALMOST UNDEFEATABLE FORCE, AS JOHN HERBERICH DESCRIBES
SO COGENTLY AND CAPTIVATINLY . . .
Reviewed and recommended by Don DeNevi
“MASTERS OF THE FIELD – – The Fourth United States Cavalry in the Civil War”, by John L.
Herberich. Schiffer Publishing, LTD., Atglen, PA.: 2015, 342 pages, 7 ½” x 10 ¼”, hardcover,
$29.99. For additional information on Schiffer’s enormous number of military titles: E-mail – –
Info@schifferbooks.com, or phone (610) 593-1777; Fax (610) 593-2002.
From the earliest battles in Missouri at Dug Springs and Wilson’s Creek to Fort Donelson and
Shiloh, Tennessee, and on to the great Battle of Chickamauga Creek, Georgia, where they
delayed the advance of the Confederate Army for ten hours at Reed’s Bridge, the regiment not
only fought on Southern soil, but also faced the best cavalry officers the Confederacy had to
offer, including Nathan Bedford Forrest. From the siege of Atlanta and Kilpatrick’s Raid around
the city to the final great cavalry charge at Selma, Alabama, the 4 th U.S. Cavalry earned a
reputation second to none as they were indeed the Masters of the Field!
It should be noted that many of the most important “strands in the fabric” John weaves are
hardly started when the book ends. We can be sure, though, that one of the greatest chapters
in the Civil War will be pursued by emerging Civil War historian-authors as John began and
understood it – – with a proper sense of both historical importance and its proper sense of
greatness.
