Sixty years ago today the guns that thundered round Fort Sumter began the third and greatest modern civil war fought by English-speaking people. This war was quite as full of politics as were the other two-the War of the American Revolution and that of Puritan and Cavalier. But, though the present Chronicle never ignores the vital correlations between statesmen and commanders, it is a book of warriors, through and through. I gratefully acknowledge the indispensable assistance of Colonel G. J. Fiebeger, a West Point expert, and of Dr. Allen Johnson, chief editor of the series and Professor of American History at Yale. WILLIAM WOOD, Late Colonel commanding 8th Royal Rifles, and Officer-in-charge, Canadian Special Mission Overseas. QUEBEC, April 18, 1921

The battle of Shiloh, fought in April 1862 in the wilderness of south central Tennessee, marked a savage turning point in the Civil War. In this masterful book, Larry Daniel re-creates the drama and the horror of the battle and discusses in authoritative detail the political and military policies that led to Shiloh, the personalities of those who formulated and executed the battle plans, the fateful misjudgments made on both sides, and the heroism of the small-unit leaders and ordinary soldiers who manned the battlefield.

This groundbreaking analysis of Confederate demobilization examines the state of mind of Confederate soldiers in the immediate aftermath of war. Having survived severe psychological as well as physical trauma, they now faced the unknown as they headed back home in defeat. Lost Causes analyzes the interlude between soldier and veteran, suggesting that defeat and demobilization actually reinforced Confederate identity as well as public memory of the war and southern resistance to African American civil rights. Intense material shortages and images of the war's devastation confronted the defeated soldiers-turned-veterans as they returned home to a revolutionized society. Their thoughts upon homecoming turned to immediate economic survival, a radically altered relationship with freed people, and life under Yankee rule-all against the backdrop of fearful uncertainty. Bradley R. Clampitt argues that the experiences of returning soldiers helped establish the ideological underpinnings of the Lost Cause and create an identity based upon shared suffering and sacrifice, a pervasive commitment to white supremacy, and an aversion to Federal rule and all things northern. As Lost Causes reveals, most Confederate veterans remained diehard Rebels despite demobilization and the demise of the Confederate States of America.

This work is the first monograph which closely examines the role of the German minority in the American South during the Civil War. In a comparative analysis of German civic leaders, businessmen, militia officers and blockade runners in Charleston, New Orleans and Richmond, it reveals a German immigrant population which not only largely supported slavery, but was also heavily involved in fighting the war. A detailed appendix includes an extensive survey of primary and secondary sources, including tables listing the members of the all-German units in Virginia, South Carolina and Louisiana, with names, place of origin, rank, occupation, income, and number of slaves owned. This book is a highly useful reference work for historians, military scholars and genealogists conducting research on Germans in the American Civil War and the American South.

Here is the detailed story of -The first serious attempt to capture Richmond -The struggle that marked the emergence of Robert E. Lee -The rise and fall of the North's great hope, General George B. McClellan In this first book on the subject in 50 years, historian Cullen presents incisive evaluations of the men and movements of the Confederate and Union Armies and disputes the long-held theory that interference form President Lincoln caused McClellan's failure. Reporting the campaign from both viewpoints, and then judging from the fascinating omniscience of history, he brings fresh research to an old subject that may be new-in this depth-to many. From the first skirmish to the concluding, bloody battle at Malvern Hill, Cullen dissects the strategies of both sides, reports the battles and skirmished, examines the character and abilities of the men who made the decisions in this early campaign that tested two newly formed armies, started Lee on his long war and brought ignominious retirement to McClel

From the outset, the 1st Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters had problems. Much of the trouble lay in the organization of Civil War regiments and companies. Most companies in the early years of the war were made up of men from the same town or county. The concept of the sharpshooters was alien to this home-town tradition. Men were asked to leave the comfortable companionship of their neighbors and friends and go into a unit with people they had never met before. Despite its uncertain beginning, the battalion was molded into a fine unit by the skill and energy of its officers and non-commissioned officers. The sharpshooters early won the praise of higher-level commanders and inspecting officers. However, as the war dragged on, the battalion was reduced in numbers, morale, and efficiency. Notwithstanding its poor performance in the last months of its life, the unit has a high reputation that was well deserved. A Civil War veteran and historian called the sharpshooters "one of the best-drilled and most-efficient battalions in the service." This book objectively examines the organization, leadership, and performance of the sharpshooters, follows their wartime experiences, and devotes considerable attention to the individual soldiers. If the story of the 1st Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters has not been a well known story, it is now.

Covering both the great military leaders and the critical civilian leaders, this book provides an overview of their careers and a professional assessment of their accomplishments. Entries consider the leaders' character and prewar experiences, their contributions to the war effort, and the war's impact on the rest of their lives. The entries then look at how history has assessed these leaders, thus putting their longtime reputations on the line. The result is a thorough revision of some leaders' careers, a call for further study of others, and a reaffirmation of the accomplishments of the greatest leaders. Analyzing the leaders historiographically, the work shows how the leaders wanted to be remembered, how postwar memorists and biographers saw them, the verdict of early historians, and how the best modern historians have assessed their contributions. By including a variety of leaders from both civilian and military roles, the book provides a better understanding of the total war, and by relating their lives to their times, it provides a better understanding of historical revisionism and of why history has been so interested in Civil War lives.

The ambitious self-made man who reached the pinnacle of American politics--only to be felled by an assassin's bullet and to die at the hands of his doctors
James A. Garfield was one of the Republican Party's leading lights in the years following the Civil War. Born in a log cabin, he rose to become a college president, Union Army general, and congressman--all by the age of thirty-two. Embodying the strive-and-succeed spirit that captured the imagination of Americans in his time, he was elected president in 1880. It is no surprise that one of his biographers was Horatio Alger.
Garfield's term in office, however, was cut tragically short. Just four months into his presidency, a would-be assassin approached Garfield at the Washington, D.C., railroad station and fired a single shot into his back. Garfield's bad luck was to have his fate placed in the care of arrogant physicians who did not accept the new theory of antisepsis. Probing the wound with unwashed and occasionally manure-laden hands, Garfield's doctors introduced terrible infections and brought about his death two months later.
Ira Rutkow, a surgeon and historian, offers an insightful portrait of Garfield and an unsparing narrative of the medical crisis that defined and destroyed his presidency. For all his youthful ambition, the only mark Garfield would make on the office would be one of wasted promise.

Letting ordinary people speak for themselves, this book uses primary documents to highlight daily life among Americans-Union and Confederate, black and white, soldier and civilian-during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Focusing on routines as basic as going to school and cooking and cleaning, Voices of Civil War America: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life explores the lives of ordinary Americans during one of the nation's most tumultuous eras. The book emphasizes the ordinary rather than the momentous to help students achieve a true understanding of mid-19th-century American culture and society. Recognizing that there is no better way to learn history than to allow those who lived it to speak for themselves, the authors utilize primary documents to depict various aspects of daily life, including politics, the military, economics, domestic life, material culture, religion, intellectual life, and leisure. Each of the documents is augmented by an introduction and aftermath, as well as lists of topics to consider and questions to ask. Original materials from a wide range of sources, including letters, diaries, newspaper editorials, journal articles, and book chapters Detailed background for each of the 48 featured documents, placing the experiences and opinions of the authors into historical context

My interest in my grandfather's war history of the Gee-Johnson's 15th AR Infantry Regiment started with a conversation between myself and Dr. Robert Walz; a History professor at Southern Arkansas University, who had a friend, Dr. John Ferguson, an AR State Historian who found an article written by Benjamin F. Cooling, a park historian at Fort Donelson National Military Park. The only information I had of my grandfather's service was that he was in Johnson's AR 15th Company. So this began lots of studying and research. I have compiled some history for my decendants living in South Arkansas from 1861-1865, through four years of war and then the reconstruction the next twelve years. My goal is to leave my family with history of Colonel's Gee and Johnson and the 15th AR. This book contains the results of that research.

Between 1861 and 1865 seven men commanded the North's Army of the Potomac. All found themselves, one by one, pitted against a soldier of consummate ability, Robert E. Lee. How did they react to this supreme test? What were their patterns of conduct in battle and at the conference table? This book takes the measure of each soldier at the crucial moment of his life and the life of the nation.