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Books > History > American history > 1800 to 1900
Revered in his lifetime, Robert E. Lee achieved legendary status
after his death. This memoir by Lee's son gathers a wealth of
material written by the General, offering rare glimpses of the man
behind the uniform, with scenes from family life and touching
letters from a loving husband and father.
At the beginning of the Civil War, Georgia ranked third among the
Confederate states in manpower resources, behind only Virginia and
Tennessee. With an arms-bearing population somewhere between
120,000 and 130,000 white males between the ages of 16 and 60, this
resource became an object of a great struggle between Joseph Brown,
governor of Georgia, and Jefferson Davis, president of the
Confederacy. Brown advocated a strong state defense, but as the war
dragged on Davis applied more pressure for more soldiers from
Georgia. In December 1863, the state's general assembly reorganized
the state militia and it became known as Joe Brown's Pets. Civil
War historians William Scaife and William Bragg have written not
only the first history of the Georgia Militia during the Civil War,
but have produced the definitive history of this militia. Using
original documents found in the Georgia Department of Archives and
History that are too delicate for general public access, Scaife and
Bragg were granted special permission to research the material
under the guidance of an archivist and conducted under tightly
controlled conditions of security and preservation control.
In a series of columns published in the African American newspaper
The Christian Recorder, the young, charismatic preacher Henry
McNeal Turner described his experience of the Civil War, first from
the perspective of a civilian observer in Washington, D.C., and
later, as one of the Union army's first black chaplains. In the
halls of Congress, Turner witnessed the debates surrounding
emancipation and black enlistment. As army chaplain, Turner dodged
""grape"" and cannon, comforted the sick and wounded, and settled
disputes between white southerners and their former slaves. He was
dismayed by the destruction left by Sherman's army in the
Carolinas, but buoyed by the bravery displayed by black soldiers in
battle. After the war ended, he helped establish churches and
schools for the freedmen, who previously had been prohibited from
attending either. Throughout his columns, Turner evinces his firm
belief in the absolute equality of blacks with whites, and insists
on civil rights for all black citizens. In vivid, detailed prose,
laced with a combination of trenchant commentary and
self-deprecating humor, Turner established himself as more than an
observer: he became a distinctive and authoritative voice for the
black community, and a leader in the African Methodist Episcopal
church. After Reconstruction failed, Turner became disillusioned
with the American dream and became a vocal advocate of black
emigration to Africa, prefiguring black nationalists such as Marcus
Garvey and Malcolm X. Here, however, we see Turner's youthful
exuberance and optimism, and his open-eyed wonder at the momentous
changes taking place in American society. Well-known in his day,
Turner has been relegated to the fringes of African American
history, in large part because neither his views nor the forms in
which he expressed them were recognized by either the black or
white elite. With an introduction by Jean Lee Cole and a foreword
by Aaron Sheehan-Dean, Freedom's Witness: The Civil War
Correspondence of Henry McNeal Turner restores this important
figure to the historical and literary record.
This is one volume in a library of Confederate States history, in
twelve volumes, written by distinguished men of the South, and
edited by Gen. Clement A. Evans of Georgia. A generation after the
Civil War, the Southern protagonists wanted to tell their story,
and in 1899 these twelve volumes appeared under the imprint of the
Confederate Publishing Company. The first and last volumes comprise
such subjects as the justification of the Southern States in
seceding from the Union and the honorable conduct of the war by the
Confederate States government; the history of the actions and
concessions of the South in the formation of the Union and its
policy in securing the territorial dominion of the United States;
the civil history of the Confederate States; Confederate naval
history; the morale of the armies; the South since the war, and a
connected outline of events from the beginning of the struggle to
its close. The other ten volumes each treat a separate State with
details concerning its peculiar story, its own devotion, its
heroes, and its battlefields.
A French count's commentaries on America at the birth of the Civil
War. While he has obviously examined different parts of the U.S. at
length, his book is not really an account of his travels, and
speaks of the country not in specifics but in broad strokes: The
South, the West, the North. No list of places visited can be
provided.
Sam Postlethwaite was a Confederate soldier buried in an unmarked
grave in Rhode Island. Beginning with nothing more than a handful
of dirt, author Les Rolston's innocent curiosity about this
mysterious soldier's grave became a journey of thousands of miles
that eventually led him to the soldier's family. The result is this
factual account of Postlethwaite's odyssey and the author's
determined efforts to learn his story. Other important facets of
this affecting historical account are the experiences of
Postlethwaite's fourteen-year-old brother, who found glory with
Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley; and a boy from a
prominent Rhode Island family who was emotionally ruined by the
Civil War. Both their families, embittered by war, were destined to
merge through a Civil War romance and marriage. This book is a
tribute to all of the people, Northerners and Southerners, who
joined together to choose forgiveness and understanding over
bitterness and hatred.
A major Civil War battle-and Lee's triumph
The Battle of Chancellorsville was one of the principal engagements
of the American Civil War. It was fought between Hooker's Army of
the Potomac and Lee's Army of Northern Virginia which was half the
size of the enemy. Battle was joined in Spotsylvania County,
Virginia on April 30th 1863 and it raged until May 6th.
Irrespective of the eventual outcome of the war, Chancellorsville
has remained a text book battle for military historians. Lee,
always renowned for command capability, here showed military nerve
and audacity by dividing his army in the face of a vastly
numerically superior enemy. Further, he demonstrated the maxim of
'know your opponent' for he clearly had the measure of the timid
prevaricating Hooker. The outcome was an overwhelming Confederate
victory and won the accolade, 'Lee's Perfect Battle'. The edge was
taken off the success by the death of 'Stonewall' Jackson-a
military genius both Lee and the Confederate cause could ill afford
to lose. Dodge's history, written from a Union perspective,
provides interesting mitigating circumstances concerning Federal
actions and personalities-usually absent from later histories-for
the student of the period to evaluate.
Considered one of the best treatments of the presidency of Abraham
Lincoln of its time, this portrait of the man and his
administration of the United States at the moment of its greatest
upheaval is both intimate and scholarly. Written by two private
secretaries to the president and first published in 1890, this
astonishingly in-depth work is still praised today for its clear,
easy-to-read style and vitality. This new replica edition features
all the original illustrations. Volume One covers: the Lincoln
lineage from the late 18th century Lincoln's boyhood in Kentucky
and Indiana his experience in the legislature and his early law
practice Lincoln's early opposition to slavery "The Shields Duel"
the campaign for Congress "civil war" in Kansas and much more.
American journalist and statesman JOHN MILTON HAY (1838-1905) was
only 22 when he became a private secretary to Lincoln. A former
member of the Providence literary circle when he attended Brown
University in the late 1850s, he may have been the real author of
Lincoln's famous "Letter to Mrs. Bixby." After Lincoln's death, Hay
later served as editor of the *New York Tribune* and as U.S.
ambassador to the United Kingdom under President William McKinley.
American author JOHN GEORGE NICOLAY (1832-1901) was born in Germany
and emigrated to the U.S. as a child. Before serving as Lincoln's
private secretary, he worked as a newspaper editor and later as
assistant to the secretary of state of Illinois. He also wrote
*Campaigns of the Civil War* (1881).
This extensive two-way exchange of letters between Rufus Robbins
and members of his family provides a highly personalized view of
the life of a Union soldier, as well as life on the home front in
South Abington, Massachusetts, an important source of war materiel.
Enlisting in the Seventh Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment
at the seasoned age of 31, Rufus carefully crafts letters that are
articulate, graphic, and often witty and that contribute much to
our understanding of the daily course of the war. Notes from home
reflect the Robbins family's ever-present worry and concern for
Rufus' well-being. His brothers detail their involvement in the
sewing of army boots, an activity for which South Abington held a
large contract.
As a confirmed Universalist, Rufus struggled to live a life of
faith in the midst of war. His letters demonstrate the depth of his
character, showing both maturity and confidence. However, as the
war continued, one sees his belief in the righteousness of the
Union cause, his confidence in God, and his sometimes naive
simplicity replaced with a more realistic form of idealism. In this
collection, those interested in military affairs can learn about
the economic workings of the camps, the recreational outlets for
the soldiers, and the grim realities of the Peninsula Campaign,
while scholars focussing on civilian life will gain a greater
understanding of the impact of the war on the families and friends
left behind.
In 1859, a thirteen-year-old-girl began a diary, detailing the
emotions and events of everyday life. Daily life in her small
hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee was not destined to remain quiet
and routine, however. When the Civil War began, the diary entries
provide a firsthand account of the sorrows inflicted when the Civil
War tore families apart in the border South. Myra, a staunch
Confederate, gave a vivid account of the war, how it divided her
community and left misery in its wake. Her diary became a bosom
friend to whom she could confide her pain and grief. While she
never knew the historical importance of her diary, her descendants
did, and preserved this precious legacy.
Like the famous diary of Anne Frank, Myra Inman's diary begins
with ordinary events and proceeds to tell the story of a child's
view of the horrors of war. This book offers a unique perspective
on the Civil War -- that of a child in the borderlands, where
families were torn apart by differing loyalties.
This true and exciting story collection concerns a little known
area of south Georgia, in Telfair County. The town of Milan
(locally pronounced My-lan) and the countryside present a series of
family dramas dating back to the early 1800's. Addie Garrison
Briggs, the author, introduces her family saga in her own words:
"Contrary to what one often reads in local histories and
genealogies, our ancestors were not all saints. Neither were they
all war heroes and most of them were far more likely to struggle
along on a small farm than to own a large plantation. In short, one
might say that our forebears failed to live up to our expectations.
The trouble with these ancestors was that they were real people.
Sometimes they were good, sometimes bad; sometimes they were wise,
and sometimes foolish. Perhaps they were a bit like us, with one
major difference. There seems to have been more of a spirited
quality to their lives. Whatever a man's actions, whether funny,
tragic, or decidedly wicked, he did it with a definite dash.
Therefore, while their lives may embarrass us, they will at the
same time unquestionably intrigue us."
This is one volume in a library of Confederate States history, in
twelve volumes, written by distinguished men of the South, and
edited by Gen. Clement A. Evans of Georgia. A generation after the
Civil War, the Southern protagonists wanted to tell their story,
and in 1899 these twelve volumes appeared under the imprint of the
Confederate Publishing Company. The first and last volumes comprise
such subjects as the justification of the Southern States in
seceding from the Union and the honorable conduct of the war by the
Confederate States government; the history of the actions and
concessions of the South in the formation of the Union and its
policy in securing the territorial dominion of the United States;
the civil history of the Confederate States; Confederate naval
history; the morale of the armies; the South since the war, and a
connected outline of events from the beginning of the struggle to
its close. The other ten volumes each treat a separate State with
details concerning its peculiar story, its own devotion, its
heroes, and its battlefields. Volume 9 is Kentucky and Missouri.
Who were the greatest commanders of the American Civil War, and
what made them so? In The Great Commanders of the American Civil
War, the best military leaders of both sides are pitted against
each other and their strengths and weaknesses examined - Robert E.
Lee versus George Meade at Gettysburg, Ulysses S. Grant versus
Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh, William Tecumseh Sherman versus
John Bell Hood in the March to the Sea, along with eight other
pairs. The book also explores a decisive battle between each pair
of adversaries, highlighting the decisions made and why the battle
was won. Each featured battle includes a contextual introduction, a
description of the action, and an analysis of the aftermath. A
specially commissioned colour map illustrating the dispositions and
movement of forces brings the subject to life and helps the reader
grasp the course of each battle. Featuring full-colour
illustrations, paintings and photographs alongside the battle maps,
The Great Commanders of the American Civil War is a fascinating
comparison of the greatest Confederate and Union military leaders.
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