For nearly a quarter of a century, Pulitzer Prize nominee William
C. Davis has been one of our best writers on the Civil War. His
books-including Breckinridge: Statesman, Soldier, Symbol; Jefferson
Davis: The Man and His Hour; and "A Government of Our Own": The
Making of the Confederacy-have garnered numerous awards and
enlightened and entertained an avid readership. The Cause Lost
extends that tradition of excellence with provocative new insights
into the myths and realities of an endlessly fascinating subject.
In these pages, Davis brings into sharp focus the facts and
fictions of the South's victories and defeats, its tenacious
struggle to legitimize its cause and defeat an overpowering enemy,
and its ultimate loss of will. He debunks long-standing legends,
offers irrefutable evidence explaining Confederate actions, and
contemplates the idealism, naivete, folly, and courage of the
military leadership and would-be founding fathers.
Among the most misunderstood, Davis contends, was Jefferson
Davis. Often branded as enigmatic and incompetent, the Confederate
president was simply a decent and committed leader whose mistakes
were magnified by the war's extraordinary demands. Davis
scrutinizes Jefferson Davis' relationship with his generals-most of
whom were unproved talents or cronies with proven deficiencies-and
reveals why only Robert E. Lee succeeded in winning Davis'
confidence through flattery, persuasion, and a sense of
responsibility. He also examines the myths and memories of the
nearly deified Stonewall Jackson and John C. Breckinridge, the only
effective Confederate secretary of war.
Davis also illustrates why the cause of the war-a subject of
long-standing controversy-boils down to the single issue of
slavery; why Southerners, ninety percent of whom didn't own slaves,
were willing to join in the battle to defend their homeland; how
the personalities, tactics, and styles of the armies in the
turbulent West differed greatly from those in the East; what real
or perceived turning points influenced Southern decision making;
and how mythology and misinterpretations have been perpetuated
through biography, history, literature, and film.
Revealing the Confederacy's myths for what they really are,
Davis nevertheless illustrates how much those myths inform our
understanding of the Civil War and its place in Southern and
American culture.
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