About the Author

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Joseph G. Bilby was born in Newark, New Jersey, received his BA and MA degrees in history from Seton Hall University and served as a lieutenant in the First Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1966-1967 and in the Army Reserve as assistant economics officer in the 303rd Civil Affairs Company from 1968-1970. He is retired from his position as Supervising Investigator for the New Jersey Department of Labor, has taught military history on the community college level and lectured widely on Civil War and New Jersey history. He is currently part time Assistant Curator of the New Jersey National Guard and Militia Museum in Sea Girt, New Jersey and a free lance writer and historical consultant. He is the author, editor or co-author of fifteen books and over 400 articles on New Jersey history and folklore, military history and Outdoor subjects in both Internet and print venues and also a columnist for The Civil War News and New Jersey Sportsmen News.
Mr. Bilby has appeared on the History Channel's Civil War Journal, the Discovery Channel's Discovery Magazine, and RTE, the Irish National television network, as an expert on the Civil War and 19th century firearms, and wrote the historical liner notes for David Kincaid's CD albums The Irish Volunteer and The Irish American's Song. He was a panelist for the NJ Historical Commission's 1996 seminar on Civil War Studies and is a Trustee of the NJ Civil War Heritage Association, a member and publications editor of New Jersey's official Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee and content editor of the Committee's website. He has lectured widely in New Jersey, at libraries, bookstores, historical societies and historical events, from Cape May to Sussex Counties.
Since the publication of the first edition of Three Rousing Cheers: A History of the 15th New Jersey Infantry from Flemington to Appomattox, in 1992, Mr. Bilby has written Forgotten Warriors: New Jersey's African-American Civil War Soldiers, Remember Fontenoy: The 69th New York and the Irish Brigade in the Civil War, co-edited My Sons Were Faithful and They Fought: The Irish Brigade At Antietam, and co-authored Remember You Are Jerseymen: A Military History of New Jersey's Troops in the Civil War with William C. Goble. All were published by Longstreet House, Hightstown, NJ. He received a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission to assist in the research for Three Rousing Cheers, and Forgotten Warriors received a publication grant from the same institution. Remember Fontenoy was awarded the 1997 William Donovan Award for Excellence in Military Literature and, in a softbound edition as The Irish Brigade in the Civil War, published by Da Capo Press, was a Military Book Club selection and is currently available as a Kindle title. Mr. Bilby's Civil War Firearms, initially published by Combined Publications and now by Da Capo, is in its third printing, was

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