No, the hazy looking picture of Louisiana's 156-year old  State Capitol building gracing the cover is not out of focus. The author,  a professional photographer, worked hard to capture this mood reflecting the exact climatic condition  as it appeared that fateful foggy morning of August 5, 1862, when Confederate forces attacked Baton Rouge.  The book opens  with an overview of Louisiana's role in the Civil War, then traces the  progression of events leading up to the Battle of Baton Rouge. Beginning with the Union invasion up the mouth of the Mississippi River when the Yankee  naval armada fought its way past the two ancient strongholds, Forts Jackson  and St. Philip, the book chronicles the subsequent bloodless captures of New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The book then concentrates on the Confederate's heroic but  futile attempt to retake the town . Brief, concise, easy to read, and lavishly illustrated with period photographs as well as then-and-now arrangements of pictures ;    battlefield artifacts, maps and sketches.

ISBN 0-935545-00-x
Hard cover. 64 pages. $12.95 (plus $3.00 S&H)
Make checks payable to William A. Spedale
420 Wylie Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70808
(225) 766-0860