To the Gates of Atlanta covers the period from the Confederate victory at Kennesaw Mountain, 27 June 1864, leading up to the Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 20 July 1864, and the first of four major battles for Atlanta that culminated in the Battle of Jonesboro, 31 August and 1 September 1864. To the Gates of Atlanta answers long-sought mysteries surrounding the actions, the reasoning, and the results of the events that culminated into the fall of Atlanta and the end of the Confederacy. Many historians point to the events that led to the fall of The Gate City as central to the War's outcome. Readers will learn why President Davis believed that he had to replace General Johnston on the eve of a battle that he hoped would save the city and turn the tide of the War for the South. Jenkins offers an understanding of why General Sherman had to take the city quickly without risking another disastrous Kennesaw Mountain. To the Gates of Atlanta also gives the important, but previously untold stories of the actions and engagements that befell the sleepy hamlet of Buckhead and the surrounding woods that today shelter many parts of Atlanta's vast community. From Smyrna to Ruff's Mill, Roswell to Vinings, Nancy Creek to Peach Tree Creek, and Moore's Mill to Howell's Mill, To the Gates of Atlanta tells the story of each as part of the larger story which led to the fall of The Gate City of the South.

Apples and Ashes offers the first literary history of the Civil War South. The product of extensive archival research, it tells an expansive story about a nation struggling to write itself into existence. Confederate literature was in intimate conversation with other contemporary literary cultures, especially those of the United States and Britain. Thus, Coleman Hutchison argues, it has profound implications for our understanding of American literary nationalism and the relationship between literature and nationalism more broadly. Apples and Ashes is organised by genre, with each chapter using a single text or a small set of texts to limn a broader aspect of Confederate literary culture. Hutchison discusses an understudied and diverse archive of literary texts including the literary criticism of Edgar Allan Poe; southern responses to Uncle Tom's Cabin; the novels of Augusta Jane Evans; Confederate popular poetry; the de facto Confederate national anthem, "Dixie"; and several postwar southern memoirs. In addition to emphasising the centrality of slavery to the Confederate literary imagination, the book also considers a series of novel topics: the reprinting of European novels in the Confederate South, including Charles Dickens's Great Expectations and Victor Hugo's Les Miserables; Confederate propaganda in Europe; and postwar Confederate emigration to Latin America. In discussing literary criticism, fiction, poetry, popular song, and memoir, Apples and Ashes reminds us of Confederate literature's once-great expectations. Before their defeat and abjection-before apples turned to ashes in their mouths-many Confederates thought they were in the process of creating a nation and a national literature that would endure.

This supplemental volume expands upon the seven-volume edition of Constitutional Documents of the United States of America 1776 1860, which was published from 2006 to 2009. It contains 14 constitutional documents from 8 different U.S. states which were recently made accessible for the first time in American libraries and archives. Among the documents in the collection are the constitution of the short-lived Republic of Indian Stream, which succeeded from New Hampshire from 1832 to 1835, as well as rare constitutional documents from New Mexico and Texas written in both Spanish and English. The texts have been edited, annotated, and indexed on the basis of the original manuscripts and (in certain cases rare) original prints produced by the official state or constitutional convention printing presses."

Commanders who serve on the losing side of a battle, campaign, or war are often harshly viewed by posterity. Labeled as mere "losers," they go unrecognized for their very real abilities and achievements in other engagements. The writers in this volume challenge such simplistic notions.

By looking more closely at Civil War generals who have borne the stigma of failure, these authors reject the reductionist view that significant defeats were due simply to poor generalship. Analyzing men who might be considered "capable failures"--officers of high pre-war reputation, some with distinguished records in the Civil War--they examine the various reasons these men suffered defeat, whether flaws of character, errors of judgment, lack of preparation, or circumstance beyond their control.

These seven case studies consider Confederate and Union generals evenhandedly. They show how Albert Sidney Johnston failed in the face of extreme conditions and inadequate support; how Joe Hooker and John C. Pemberton were outmatched in confrontations with Lee and Grant; how George B. McClellan in the Peninsula Campaign and Don Carlos Buell at Chattanooga faced political as well as military complications; and how Joseph E. Johnston failed to adapt to challenges in Virginia. An additional chapter looks at generals from both sides at the Battle of Gettysburg, showing how failure to adjust to circumstances can thwart even the most seasoned leader's expectations.

"There is far more to be learned in trying to understand how and why a general fell short," observes Steven Woodworth, "than there is in multiplying denunciations of his alleged stupidity." Civil War Generals in Defeat successfully addresses that need. It is a provocative book that seeks not to rehabilitate reputations but to enlarge our understanding of the nature and limitations of military command.

This timely addition to Civil War history shares the stories of 25 unique military organizations, showing how past and future collided in the first modern war. The Civil War, of course, pitted North against South. It also pitted ancient ways of war against new, technology-inspired weaponry and tactics. In surveying the war's elite fighting units, this work covers both. The book showcases novel weapons and unorthodox strategies, including machine gunners, rocket battalions, chemical corps, the Union balloon corps, and the Confederate submarine service, all of which harnessed new technologies and were forerunners of the modern military. Chapters also cover archaic special forces, such as lancers and pikers, that had their last hurrah during this transformational conflict. Readers will also meet the fighting youth of the North Carolina Junior Reserves, the "Graybeards" of North Carolina, and the female combatants of the Nancy Harts Militia of Georgia. Going where few other studies have gone, the book fills a gap in existing Civil War literature and brings to life the stories of many of the most extraordinary units that ever served in an American army. The tales it tells will prove fascinating to Civil War and weapons buffs and to general readers alike. Covers all of the varied and unique units that emerged during the Civil War, including machine gunners, submariners, and others made possible by advances related to the Industrial Revolution Examines what happened when archaic military units met new and innovative units that saw their first service in this game-changing conflict Shares the histories of African American and Native American units and of women and children who fought Connects past and future and provides insights into how the application of new technologies during the Civil War impacted warfare for future generations

During the American Civil War, Washington, D.C. was the most heavily fortified city in North America. As President Abraham Lincoln's Capital, the city became the symbol of Union determination, as well as a target for Robert E. Lee's Confederates. As a Union army and navy logistical base, it contained a complex of hospitals, storehouses, equipment repair facilities, and animal corrals. These were in addition to other public buildings, small urban areas, and vast open space that constituted the capital on the Potomac. To protect Washington with all it contained and symbolized, the Army constructed a shield of fortifications: 68 enclosed earthen forts, 93 supplemental batteries, miles of military roads, and support structures for commissary, quartermaster, engineer, and civilian labor force, some of which still exist today. Thousands of troops were held back from active operations to garrison this complex. And the Commanders of the Army of the Potomac from Irvin McDowell to George Meade, and informally U.S. Grant himself, always had to keep in mind their responsibility of protecting this city, at the same time that they were moving against the Confederate forces arrayed against them. Revised in style, format, and content, the new edition of Mr. Lincoln's Forts is the premier historical reference and tour guide to the Civil War defenses of Washington, D.C.

On a November afternoon in 1864, the weary Gen. John Bell Hood surveyed the army waiting to attack the Federals at Franklin, Tennessee. He gave the signal almost at dusk, and the Confederates rushed forward to utter devastation. This book describes the events and causes of the five-hour battle in gripping detail, particularly focusing on the reasons for such slaughter at a time when the outcome of the war had already been decided.
The genesis of the senseless tragedy, according to McDonough and Connelly, lay in the appointment of Hood to command the Army of Tennessee. It was his decision to throw a total force of some 20,000 men into an ill-advised frontal assault against the Union troops. The Confederates made their approach, without substantial artillery support, on a level of some two miles. Why did Hood select such a catastrophic strategy? The authors analyze his reasoning in full. Their vivid and moving narrative, with statements from eyewitnesses to the battle, make compelling reading for all Civil War buffs and historians.
James Lee McDonough is Justin Potter Professor of History at David-Lipscomb College and is the author of Shiloh and Stones River.
Thomas L. Connelly, professor of history at the university of South Carolina, is the author of Army of the Heartland, The Marble Man, and Autumn of Glory, a two-volume history of the Army of Tennessee.

A revealing compilation of essays documenting the effects of the Civil War and its aftermath on Americans-young and old, black and white, northern and southern. Civil War America: Voices from the Homefront describes the myriad ways in which the Civil War affected both Northern and Southern civilians. A unique collection of essays that include diary entries, memoirs, letters, and magazine articles chronicle the personal experiences of soldiers and slaves, parents and children, nurses, veterans, and writers. Exploring such wide-ranging topics as sanitary fairs in the North, illustrated weeklies, children playing soldier, and the care of postwar orphans, most stories communicate some element of change, such as the destruction of old racial relationships, the challenge to Southern whites' complacency, and the expansion of government power. Although some of the subjects are well known-Edmund Ruffin, Louisa May Alcott, Henry Cabot Lodge, Booker T. Washington-most of the witnesses presented in these essays are relatively unknown men, women, and children who help to broaden our understanding of the war and its effects far beyond the front lines. 26 essays on varied topics such as the impact of the war on children, as seen in Oliver Optic's Civil War: Northern Children and the Literary War for the Union, and the aftermath of the war, chronicled in The Devil's War: The Stories of Ambrose Bierce A wide range of primary source documents including book excerpts, diaries, personal letters, newspaper articles, and magazine articles Drawings, etchings, and photographs depicting battles, soldiers, and the families left behind A selected bibliography and general works offering information and analysis about the Confederate and Union home fronts during the Civil War

This groundbreaking book offers a solution to one of the most enduring mysteries in American history: What made Abraham Lincoln so tall, thin, and less than attractive? What gave him his long limbs, large feet, high voice, odd lips, sluggish bowels, and astonishing joint flexibility? Why, in his last months, was he so haggard that editorials in major newspapers implored him to take a vacation? The never-before-proposed solution points to Lincoln's DNA and the rare genetic disorder called MEN2B. In addition to producing Lincoln's remarkable body shape, MEN2B gave him a sad-looking face that, for more than 150 years, has been consistently misinterpreted as depression. It tragically took his mother and three of his sons at early ages (Eddie, Willie, and Tad), and it was killing Lincoln in his last years. "The Physical Lincoln" upends the myth of a physically vibrant President, showing that, had he not been shot, Lincoln would have died from advanced cancer in less than a year, the result of MEN2B. Written in clear, non-technical language for the general reader, and using more than 180 illustrations, "The Physical Lincoln" offers fundamental new insights into Lincoln, and is the perfect book to stimulate a young person's interest in science and medicine. See www.physical-lincoln.com for more information.

William J. Bolton's Civil War journal is especially valuable since he served throughout most of the Civil War, steadily rising through the ranks from captain to colonel with the 51st Pennsylvania. Bolton's commander throughout most of the war was John F. Hartranft, an influential figure who later became governor of Pennsylvania. William J. Bolton was lucky to have his brother John serving in the same unit, so he could draw on his recollections for the two periods when he himself was out of action due to wounds.The 51st Pennsylvania was largely drawn from Norristown, Pennsylvania, a prosperous county seat. The 51st served throughout the war in the IX Corps under Ambrose Burnside, and thus was involved in a wide variety of actions in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee and Mississippi.Bolton was wounded twice during the war, at Antietam and Petersburg, and experienced all levels of command and virtually every type of combat and campaign situation. Bolton reworked his Civil War journal some time after the war, drawing on the "Official Records" and other sources to supplement his own experiences. Dr. Richard Sauer is extremely knowledgeable about Civil War sources, and clearly indicates where Bolton drew on other sources or where his recollections or information were in error in this carefully edited work.

This book examines newspapers, magazines, photographs, illustrations, and editorial cartoons to tell the important story of journalism, documenting its role during the Civil War as well as the impact of the war on the press. Civil War Journalism presents a unique synthesis of the journalism of both the North and South during the war. It features a compelling cast of characters, including editors Horace Greeley and John M. Daniel, correspondents George Smalley and Peter W. Alexander, photographers Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner, and illustrators Alfred Waud and Thomas Nast. Written to appeal to those interested in the Civil War in general and in journalism specifically, as well as general readers, the work provides an introductory overview of journalism in the North and South on the eve of the Civil War. The following chapters examine reporting during the war, editorializing about the war, photographing and illustrating the war, censorship and government relations, and the impact of the war on the press.