A companion to Grant's Lieutenants: From Cairo to Vicksburg, this
new volume assesses Union generalship during the final two years of
the Civil War. Steven Woodworth, one of the war’s premier
historians, is joined by a team of distinguished scholars—Mark
Grimsley, John Marszalek, and Earl Hess, among others—who
critique Ulysses S. Grant’s commanders in terms of both their
working relationship with their general-in-chief and their actual
performances.The book covers well-known Union field generals like
William T. Sherman, George Thomas, George Meade, and Philip
Sheridan, as well as the less-prominent Franz Sigel, Horatio
Wright, Edward Ord, and Benjamin Butler. In addition, it includes
an iconoclastic look at Grant’s former superior and wartime chief
of staff Henry W. Halleck, focusing on his wise counsel concerning
Washington politics, the qualities of various subordinates, and the
strategic environment. Each of these probing essays emphasizes the
character and accomplishments of a particular general and shows how
his relationship with Grant either helped or hindered the Union
cause. The contributors highlight the ways Grant’s lieutenants
contributed to or challenged their commander’s own success and
development as a general. In addition to revisiting Grant’s key
collaboration with Sherman, the essays illuminate the hostile
relationship between Grant and Thomas, commander of the Army of the
Cumberland; Grant’s almost daily contact with “Old Snapping
Turtle” Meade, whose expertise relieved Grant of the close
tactical direction of the Army of the Potomac; and the development
of a highly successful command partnership between Grant and
Sheridan, his new commander of the Army of the Shenandoah. Readers
will also learn how Grant handled the relative incompetence of his
less sterling leaders—perhaps failing to give Butler adequate
direction and overlooking Ord’s suspect political views in light
of their long relationship. Like its companion volume, Grant’s
Lieutenants: From Chattanooga to Appomattox is an essential
touchstone for Civil War scholars and aficionados. It offers new
and profound insights into the command relationships that
fundamentally shaped both the conduct of the war and its final
outcome.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!