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

From the perspective of the North, the Civil War began as a war to restore the Union and ended as a war to make a more perfect Union. The Civil War not only changed the moral meaning of the Union, it changed what the Union stood for in political, economic, and transnational terms. This volume examines the transformations the Civil War brought to the American Union as a politico-constitutional, social, and economic system. It explores how the war changed the meaning of the Union with regard to the supremacy of the federal government over the states, the right of secession, the rights of citizenship, and the political balance between the union's various sections. It further considers the effect of the war on international and transnational perceptions of the United States. Finally, it considers how historical memory has shaped the legacy of the Civil War in the last 150 years.

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 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.

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

Top scholars and practitioners from a variety of ideological perspectives consider liberal democracy and the Jeffersonian legacy, both in relation to key issues in the practice and theory of rights (human rights, individual rights) and in relation to key themes in political thought such as citizenship and participation that remain at the forefront of our debates about public life today. perspectives on Jefferson's ideals and thought. The second section explores the key themes of sovereignty, citizenship, participation, and accountability. A concluding section analyzes the relevance and place of Jefferson's legacy and the fate of liberal democracy in today's world. Contributors offer varying perspectives on questions such as: Is what is good for America good for the rest of the world? What are the constraints that exist on the global spread of democracy, liberal or otherwise?

Samuel Crawford, a medical officer working with Major Robert Anderson, unfolds the story of the first shots fired at Fort Sumter--and the events that led to the national struggle between the North and the South in the war for the union of the States. His account was originally published in 1887.

The 3rd Maryland Infantry, Potomac Home Brigade was organized at Cumberland, Hagerstown, and Baltimore, Maryland, beginning October 31, 1861, and mustered in on May 20, 1862, for three years under the command of Colonel Henry C. Rizer. Companies I and K were organized at Ellicott's Mills and Monrovia, Maryland, in April and May 1864. Although the 3rd served throughout the war in the Virginia Theater, they did not get involved in most of the major battles. Their major battles were at Harper's Ferry and Monocacy. The regiment mustered out of the service at Baltimore on May 29, 1865.

Drawing from narratives of former slaves to provide accurate and poignant insights, this book presents descriptions in the former slaves' own words about their lives before, during, and following the Civil War. Examining narratives allows us to better understand what life was truly like for slaves: "hearing" history in their own words brings the human aspects of slavery and their interpersonal relationships to life, providing insights and understanding not typically available via traditional history books. How the Slaves Saw the Civil War: Recollections of the War through the WPA Slave Narratives draws upon interviews collected largely during the 1930s-1940s as part of the Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Because most slaves could not read or write, their perspective on the unfolding history of the war has been relatively unknown until these narratives were collected in the 1930s and 1940s. This book extracts the most cogent and compelling tales from the documentation of former slaves' seldom-heard voices on the events leading up to, during, and following the war. The work's two introductory chapters focus on the WPA's narratives and living conditions under slavery. The remaining chapters address key topics such as slave loyalties to either or both sides of the conflict, key battles, participation in the Union and/or Confederate armies, the day Union forces came, slave contact with key historical figures, and emancipation-and what came after. Supplies the actual words of former slaves used in the narratives, giving readers not only a better sense of the individuals' experiences but also of the oral tradition of African Americans during the Civil War period Includes carefully selected images of the time to underscore key concepts in the narratives and historical events and to engage the reader Provides an extensive bibliography of other reliable sources appropriate for further research by general readers, academics specializing in African American history, and Civil War buffs alike