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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > War & defence operations > Civil war
In time for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War Battle of
Antietam (September 17, 1862), author Laurence H. Freiheit has
written the definitive study of cavalry actions, Union and
Confederate, before, during, and after the battle. This massive
study, the product of years of research and topographical analysis,
will surely be the authoritative scholarly resource on this aspect
of the Civil War for years to come. Boots and Saddles: Cavalry
During the Maryland Campaign of September 1862 is a 594-page, 8 1/2
x 11" hardcover, with over 200 maps, photographs, and
illustrations. Included is a driving tour written by Craig Swain,
with modern maps and GPS coordinates. The second edition corrects
some typographical errors and supplies updates based on new source
In early 1864, as the Confederate Army of Tennessee licked its
wounds after being routed at the Battle of Chattanooga,
Major-General Patrick Cleburne (the "Stonewall of the West")
proposed that "the most courageous of our slaves" be trained as
soldiers and that "every slave in the South who shall remain true
to the Confederacy in this war" be freed. In Confederate
Emancipation, Bruce Levine looks closely at such Confederate plans
to arm and free slaves. He shows that within a year of Cleburne's
proposal, which was initially rejected out of hand, Jefferson
Davis, Judah P. Benjamin, and Robert E. Lee had all reached the
same conclusions. At that point, the idea was debated widely in
newspapers and drawing rooms across the South, as more and more
slaves fled to Union lines and fought in the ranks of the Union
army. Eventually, the soldiers of Lee's army voted on the proposal,
and the Confederate government actually enacted a version of it in
March. The Army issued the necessary orders just two weeks before
Appomattox, too late to affect the course of the war. Throughout
the book, Levine captures the voices of blacks and whites, wealthy
planters and poor farmers, soldiers and officers, and newspaper
editors and politicians from all across the South. In the process,
he sheds light on such hot-button topics as what the Confederacy
was fighting for, whether black southerners were willing to fight
in large numbers in defense of the South, and what this episode
foretold about life and politics in the post-war South. Confederate
Emancipation offers an engaging and illuminating account of a
fascinating and politically charged idea, setting it firmly and
vividly in the context of the Civil War and the part played in it
by the issue of slavery and the actions of the slaves themselves.
An artillery man's experience of the war between the states
Carlton McCarthy, the author of this book, was a serving soldier in
the Army of the Confederacy during the great American Civil War. As
a humble private soldier of the second company of the Richmond
Howitzers, Cutshaw's Battalion of Artillery, he had an intimate
experience of life on campaign and upon the battlefield from within
the Second Corps of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
McCarthy has painted a fascinating portrait of his experience of
war and army life taking the reader to the very heart of the
everyday business of soldiering for the Southern states. Much
detail will be found in these pages concerning the minutiae of camp
and campaign in all its aspects. McCarthy gives a vivid account of
the closing stages of the war, the collapse of the Confederacy and
his return homeward immediately after the surrender and the
difficulties of subsisting in its aftermath.
The Puritan Revolution escaped the control of its creators. The
parliamentarians who went to war with Charles I in 1642 did not
want or expect the fundamental changes that would follow seven
years later: the trial and execution of the king, the abolition of
the House of Lords, and the creation of the only republic in
English history. There were startling and unexpected developments,
too, in religion and ideas: the spread of unorthodox doctrines; the
attainment of a wide measure of liberty of conscience; new thinking
about the moral and intellectual bases of politics and society.
God's Instruments centres on the principal instrument of radical
change, Oliver Cromwell, and on the unfamiliar landscape of the
decade he dominated, from the abolition of the monarchy in 1649 to
the return of the Stuart dynasty in 1660. Its theme is the
relationship between the beliefs or convictions of politicians and
their decisions and actions. Blair Worden explores the biblical
dimension of Puritan politics; the ways that a belief in the
workings of divine providence affected political conduct;
Cromwell's commitment to liberty of conscience and his search for
godly reformation through educational reform; the constitutional
premises of his rule and those of his opponents in the struggle for
supremacy between parliamentary and military rule; the relationship
between conceptions of civil and religious liberty. The conflicts
Worden reconstructs are placed in the perspective of long-term
developments, of which historians have lost sight, in ideas about
parliament and about freedom. The final chapters turn to the
guiding convictions of two writers at the heart of politics, John
Milton and the royalist Edward Hyde, the future Earl of Clarendon.
Material from previously published essays, much of it expanded and
extensively revised, comes together with freshly written chapters.
The 29th Mississippi Infantry Regiment 29th Infantry Regiment was
organized at Corinth, Mississippi, in April, 1862 with men from
Grenada, Lafayette, Panola, Yalobusha, Washington, and De Soto
counties. The unit served in Mississippi, then moved to Kentucky
where it saw action in Munfordville. Later it joined the Army of
Tennessee and was placed in General Walthall's and Brantly's
Brigade where it participated in many battles from Murfreesboro to
Bentonville. The 29th lost 5 killed and 36 wounded at Munfordville,
had 34 killed and 202 wounded at Murfreesboro, and suffered
fifty-three percent disabled of the 364 engaged at Chickamauga. It
reported 191 casualties at Chattanooga and in December, 1863 was
consolidated with the 30th and 34th Regiment and totalled 554 men
and 339 arms. This unit reported 5 killed and 22 wounded at Resaca,
and in the fight at Ezra Church the 29th/30th lost 8 killed and 20
wounded. Very few surrendered in North Carolina in April, 1865.
There have been thousands of books put out about the Civil War, but
none by a Civil War Buff, so I wrote one. This book was a produce
of five years' work and puts the war in a way that casual fans of
the war will be surprised at what took place.This book is in three
parts: Civil War Timeline: the events, battles, politics, and
personal observations of those who were a part of the war.Things
that any good soldier of the Civil War should know: the weapons,
uniforms, food, duties, marching, fighting, medical advice, and
slang (with a little tribute to the Navy and Marines).Amazing
Facts: starting with the issues, this part displays many facts that
usually do not make it into the history books.
A compelling narrative of one of the Civil War's most pivotal
campaigns in which Federal armies drove Robert E. Lee's army to the
brink of defeat in April 1865. The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign
lasted for ten months, the longest in any theater of the war, and
dwarfed all of the war's other campaigns for length of sustained
combat, distances covered by the opposing forces, number of troops
deployed, and number of battles and engagements. Yet this military
operation has traditionally received little attention from
scholars, considering its importance in bringing the war to an end.
This concise reference analyzes the grueling 1864-65 campaign,
particularly its strategic, operational, and tactical decisions,
which shaped the course and outcome of the war. The
Richmond-Petersburg Campaign affected every segment of American
society, bringing the impact of the war home to soldiers and
civilians alike. General Ulysses S. Grant's armies employed more
African Americans than in any other Civil War campaign, and their
contributions were critical to Union victory. In an indication of
the decisive importance of the campaign, the Confederacy took the
unimaginable step of attempting to arm slaves for military service.
A historian and lifelong resident of Virginia, Charles R. Bowery
Jr. combines a vivid narrative, in-depth character study, and
technical aspects of warfare to describe the human drama of one of
the Civil War's most complex, decisive, and fascinating conflicts.
This riveting account reveals how, in spite of the exceptional
commands of leaders Grant and Lee, both sides suffered from
personal rivalries, questions of honor, ineffective organization,
and poor communication. The book concludes with an assessment of
the mixed performances of both armies, the factors that influenced
the outcome, and the campaign's role in ending the Civil War.
Addresses the concerns of the New Military History, including the
impact of the battles on common soldiers, civilians of all races,
and the environment Provides driving directions to various campaign
sites, along with suggested itineraries to encourage historical
tourism Includes maps of the various engagements to encourage
further research into significant events
This highly original work explores a previously unknown
financial conspiracy at the start of the American Civil War. The
book explains the reasons for the puzzling intensity of Missouri's
guerrilla conflict, and for the state's anomalous experience in
Reconstruction. In the broader history of the war, the book reveals
for the first time the nature of military mobilization in the
antebellum United States.
With Union armies poised to launch the final campaigns against the
Confederacy in 1864, three of its five commanders were "political
generals"--appointed officers with little or no military training.
Army chief of staff Henry Halleck thought such generals jeopardized
the lives of men under their command and he and his peers held them
in utter contempt. Historians have largely followed suit. Thomas
Goss, however, offers a new and more positive assessment of the
leadership qualities of these Northern commanders. In the process,
he cuts through the stereotypes of political generals as
superfluous and largely inept tacticians, ambitious schemers, and
military failures. Goss examines the reasons why the selection
process yielded so many generals who lacked military backgrounds an
explores the tense and often bitter relationships among political
and professional officers to illuminate the dynamics of Union
generalship during the war. As this book reveals, professional
generals viewed the war as a military problem requiring
battle-field solutions, while appointees (and President Lincoln)
focused more emphatically on the broader political contours of the
struggle. The resulting friction often eroded Northern morale and
damaged the North's war effort. Goss challenges the traditional
idea that success was measured only on the battle-field by
demonstrating significant links between military success and the
achievement of the Union's political objectives. Examining
commanders like Benjamin Butler, Nathaniel Banks, John McClernand,
John Fremont, and Franz Sigel, Goss shows how many filled vital
functions by raising troops, boosting homefront morale, securing
national support for the war--andsometimes even achieving
significant success on the battlefield. Comparing these generals
with their professional counterparts reveals that all had vital
roles to play in helping Lincoln prosecute the war and that West
Pointers, despite their military training, were not necessarily
better prepared for waging war. Whether professional or appointed,
Goss reminds us, all generals could be considered political
inasmuch as war is a continuation of politics by other means. He
shows us that far more was asked of Union commanders than to simply
win battles and in so doing urges a new appreciation of those
appointed leaders who were thrust into the maelstrom of the Civil
War.
Full of true stories more dramatic than any fiction, The
Underground Railroad: A Reference Guide offers a fresh, revealing
look at the efforts of hundreds of dedicated persons-white and
black, men and women, from all walks of life-to help slave
fugitives find freedom in the decades leading up to the Civil War.
The Underground Railroad provides the richest portrayal yet of the
first large scale act of interracial collaboration in the United
States, mapping out the complex network of routes and safe stations
that made escape from slavery in the American South possible. Kerry
Walters' stirring account ranges from the earliest acts of slave
resistance and the rise of the Abolitionist movement, to the
establishment of clandestine "liberty lines" through the eastern
and then-western regions of the Union and ultimately to Canada.
Separating fact from legend, Walters draws extensively on
first-person accounts of those who made the Railroad work, those
who tried to stop it, and those who made the treacherous journey to
freedom-including Eliza Harris and Josiah Henson, the real-life
"Eliza" and "Uncle Tom" from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's
Cabin. Original documents, from key legislation like The Fugitive
Slave Act of 1850 to first-person narratives of escaping slaves
Biographical sketches of key figures involved in the Underground
Railroad, including Levi Coffin, William Lloyd Garrison, Robert
Purvis, and Mary Ann Shadd
Known most prominently as a daring anti-lynching crusader, Ida B.
Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) worked tirelessly throughout her life as
a political advocate for the rights of women, minorities, and
members of the working class. Despite her significance, until the
1970s Wells-Barnett's life, career, and legacy were relegated to
the footnotes of history. Beginning with the posthumously published
autobiography edited and released by her daughter Alfreda in 1970,
a handful of biographers and historians-most notably, Patricia
Schechter, Paula Giddings, Mia Bay, Gail Bederman, and Jinx
Broussard-have begun to place the life of Wells-Barnett within the
context of the social, cultural, and political milieu of the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This edited volume seeks to
extend the discussions that they have cultivated over the last five
decades and to provide insight into the communication strategies
that the political advocate turned to throughout the course of her
life as a social justice crusader. In particular, scholars such as
Schechter, Broussard, and many more will weigh in on the full range
of communication techniques-from lecture circuits and public
relations campaigns to investigative and advocacy journalism-that
Wells-Barnett employed to combat racism and sexism and to promote
social equity; her dual career as a journalist and political
agitator; her advocacy efforts on an international, national, and
local level; her own failed political ambitions; her role as a
bridge and interloper in key social movements of the nineteenth and
twentieth century; her legacy in American culture; and her
potential to serve as a prism through which to educate others on
how to address lingering forms of oppression in the twenty-first
century.
One of the Confederacy's most loyal adherents and articulate
advocates was Lieutenant General James Longstreet's aide-de-camp,
Thomas Jewett Goree. Present at Longstreet's headquarters and party
to the counsels of Robert E. Lee and his lieutenants, Goree wrote
incisively on matters of strategy and politics and drew revealing
portraits of Longstreet, Jefferson Davis, P. G. T. Beauregard, John
Bell Hood, J. E. B. Stuart, and others of Lee's inner circle. His
letters are some of the richest and most perceptive from the Civil
War period. In addition to their inside view of the campaigns of
the Confederacy, Goree's Civil War letters shed light on their
remarkable author, a onetime lawyer whose growing interest in
politics and desire for "immediate secession", as he wrote to his
mother in 1860, led him in July 1861 to Virginia and a new career
as Longstreet's associate. He stayed with Longstreet through the
war, ultimately becoming a major and participating in nearly all
the battles of the Army of Northern Virginia. His letters include
vivid descriptions of many battles, including Blackburn's Ford,
Seven Pines, Yorktown, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg,
Chickamauga, the siege of Petersburg, and the surrender at
Appomattox. Fortunate in war, he was exposed to constant fire for
seven hours in the battle of Williamsburg. Although his saddle and
accoutrements were struck seventeen times, he never received a
wound. Thomas Cutrer has collected all of Goree's wartime
correspondence to his family, as well as his travel diary from June
- August 1865, in which he recorded his trip with Longstreet from
Appomattox to Talledaga, Alabama. As a special feature Cutrer
includes Goree's postwar letters to andfrom Longstreet and others
that discuss the war and touch on questions regarding military
operations. With its wide scope and rich detail, Longstreet's Aide
represents an invaluable addition to the Civil War letter
collections published in recent years. While Goree's letters will
fascinate Civil War buffs, they also provide a unique opportunity
for scholars of social and military history to witness from inside
the workings of both an extended Southern family and the forces of
the Confederacy.
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