Lee, but genteel Southern ladies & escaped slaves, cavalry officers & common foot soldiers who fought in Yankee blue & Rebel gray. The Civil War also includes essays by historians of the era: Don E. Fehrenbacher, on the war's origins; Barbara J. Fields, on the freeing of slaves; Shelby Foote, on the soldiers & commanders; James M. McPherson, on the political dimensions; & C. Vann Woodward, assessing the America that emerged from the war's ashes.Introduction: The crossroads of our being1861: A house divided Why the war came/ Don E. Fehrenbacher1862: Forever freeWho freeds the slaves?/ Barbara J. Fields1863: The universe of battleMen at war: an interview with Shelby Foote1864: Most hallowed groundWar & politics/ James M. McPherson1865: The better angels of our natureWhat the war made us/ C. Vann Woodward

    It was the world of Jefferson Davis, John C. Calhoun, Andrew Jackson, and Thomas Jefferson, and also of Gullah Jack, Nat Turner, and Frederick Douglass. Now, in the first volume of his long awaited, monumental study of the South's road to disunion, historian William Freehling offers a sweeping political and social history of the antebellum South from 1776 to 1854. All the dramatic events leading to secession are here: the Missouri Compromise, the Nullification Controversy, the Gag Rule ("the Pearl Harbor of the slavery controversy"), the Annexation of Texas, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Freehling vividly recounts each crisis, illuminating complex issues and sketching colorful portraits of major figures. Along the way, he reveals the surprising extent to which slavery influenced national politics before 1850, and he provides important reinterpretations of American republicanism, Jeffersonian states' rights, Jacksonian democracy, and the causes of the American Civil War. But for all Freehling's brilliant insight into American antebellum politics, Secessionists at Bay is at bottom the saga of the rich social tapestry of the pre-war South. He takes us to old Charleston, Natchez, and Nashville, to the big house of a typical plantation, and we feel anew the tensions between the slaveowner and his family, the poor whites and the planters, the established South and the newer South, and especially between the slave and his master, "Cuffee" and "Massa." Freehling brings the Old South back to life in all its color, cruelty, and diversity. It is a memorable portrait, certain to be a key analysis of this crucial era in American history.

    A fast-paced, compulsively readable one-volume narrative of the American Civil War, by the author of the acclaimed saga of World War II, "Delivered from Evil."

    Craven Prize, Los Angeles Times Book Award, Francis Parkman Prize, and Lionel Trilling Prize.

    Through the years historians have placed him at both ends of the spectrum: some have portrayed him as a hero, others have judged him incompetent.In Jefferson Davis and His Generals, Steven Woodworth shows that both extremes are accurate--Davis was both heroic and incompetent. Yet neither viewpoint reveals the whole truth about this complicated figure. Woodworth's portrait of Davis reveals an experienced, talented, and courageous leader who, nevertheless, undermined the Confederacy's cause in the trans-Appalachian west, where the South lost the war.At the war's outbreak, few Southerners seemed better qualified for the post of commander-in-chief. Davis had graduated from West Point, commanded a combat regiment in the Mexican War (which neither Lee nor Grant could boast), and performed admirably as U.S. Senator and Secretary of War. Despite his credentials, Woodworth argues, Davis proved too indecisive and inconsistent as commander-in-chief to lead his new nation to victory.As Woodworth shows, however, Davis does not bear the sole responsibility for the South's defeat. A substantial part of that burden rests with Davis's western generals. Bragg, Beauregard, Van Dorn, Pemberton, Polk, Buckner, Hood, Forrest, Morgan, and the Johnstons (Albert and Joseph) were a proud, contentious, and uneven lot. Few could be classed with the likes of a Lee or a Jackson in the east. Woodworth assesses their relations with Davis, as well as their leadership on and off the battlefields at Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, and Atlanta, to demonstrate their complicity in the Confederacy's demise.Extensive research in the marvelously rich holdings of the Jefferson Davis Association at Rice University enriches Woodworth's study. He provides superb analyses of western military operations, as well as some stranger-than-fiction tales: Van Dorn's shocking death, John Hood and Sally Preston's bizarre romance, Gideon Pillow's undignified antics, and Franklin Cheatham's drunken battlefield behavior. Most important, he has avoided the twin temptations to glorify or castigate Davis and thus restored balance to the evaluation of his leadership during the Civil War."A long-awaited work on an important topic--a counterpart for T. Harry Williams's celebrated Lincoln and His Generals. Experts in the field will have to take Woodworth into account. He writes well--in a good, clear style that should appeal to a wide audience. I found many passages to be pure pleasure to read. . . . The really exciting thing, though, is his insightful series of conclusions."--Herman Hattaway, author of How the North Won."Highly readable, stimulating, and at times even provocative. This fast-paced and compelling narrative provides a very effective overview of Confederate command problems in the West."--Albert Castel, author of General Sterling Price and the Civil War in the West.

    THis series was originally conceived in 1883 by the editors of Century Company, who set out to provide an accurate, unbiased account of the war. It was authored by the commanders and their subordinates from both the Confederate and Union forces who actually fought, planned or were eyewitnesses to the events they describe therein. Volume 1 begins with a view of Washington on the eve of the war, gives an account of the fall of Fort Sumter, the preperations for war in the North and South, and the formation of the Confederacy.

    THis series was originally conceived in 1883 by the editors of Century Company, who set out to provide an accurate, unbiased account of the war. It was authored by the commanders and their subordinates from both the Confederate and Union forces who actually fought, planned or were eyewitnesses to the events they describe therein. Volume 2 opens with the siege and capture of Fort Pulaski, the capture of New Orleans, and a summary of operations in the far southwest. It covers the Peninsular Campaign, the battles of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Manassas, and Seven Pines.

    At Cedar Mountain on August 9, 1862, Stonewall Jackson exercised independent command of a campaign for the last time. Robert Krick untangles the myriad original accounts by participants on both sides of the battle to offer an illuminating portrait of the Confederate general commanding his troops under the extraordinary pressures of combat. From diaries, reminiscences, letters, and newspaper articles, Krick reconstructs a vivid and detailed account of the confrontation at Cedar Mountain and Jackson's victory there.

    F, 6th South Carolina Cavalry) in the Civil War.

    Certainly it included a fascinating cast of characters and more than its share of enduring poignancy. Especially moving were the deaths of two of the best and the brightest on both sides, Stephen Dodsen Ramseur of North Carolina, a Major General at 27, and the brilliant and revered 29-year-old Charles Russell Lowell of Massachusetts.Among others who met on that field were the two rival commanders, tiny Phil Sheridan and blasphemous Jubal Early; George Armstrong Custer; John Gordon; George Crook; Tom Rosser; two future presidents, Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley; and many more. In thoroughly exploring their lives and prior experiences in the war the narrative includes descriptions of 1st and 2nd Manassas, Seven Pines, Gaines's Mill, Antietam (Sharpsburg), Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, and Gettysburg.No more dramatic battle could be imagined than what occurred that October day at Cedar Creek. It began with a pre-dawn assault by the Confederates that drove the Federal left wing back, followed by Sheridan's famous 14-mile ride on his legendary horse, Rienzi, to rally his retreating army, and ended in growing darkness as the victorious Federals drove the Confederates from the field.The book closes with an account of the subsequent fates of the main figures of Cedar Creek, which included for some participation in the surrender of Appomattox barely six months later, and ranged from fighting Indians in the West to politics and building railroads. none of them, the author points out, ever forgot Cedar Creek or ceased to write or talk about it, whether with generosity or bitterness toward former comrades and foes.

    New Hardcover with dust jacket

    The regiment, the 57th Massachusettes Veteran Volunteers, was destined for hell in that final glamorless year. There is considerable evidence that the 57th suffered the highest percentage of killed and mortally wounded of any Union regiment in the war. 85 photographs; 11 maps.

    While the first edition covered 60 major battlefields, from Fort Sumter to Appomattox, the second covers all of the 384 designated as the "principal battlefields" in the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report. As in the first edition, the essays are authoritative and concise, written by such leading historians as James M. McPherson, Stephen W. Sears, Edwin C. Bearss, James I. Robinson, Jr., and Gary W. Gallager. The second edition also features 83 new four-color maps covering the most important battles. The Civil War Battlefield Guide is an essential reference for anyone interested in the Civil War.

    But their perilous passion had just begun . . . Hauntingly beautiful Perry McLain was desperate to escape the powerful Union Army captain who pursued her, seeking vengeance for her rebellion. Yet, her vow to save the handsome Hunter Kirkland plunged her deep into enemy territory . . . and into the tortuous flames of desire. To Hunter, weak with fever, she was nothing but an alluring dream visiting him in the darkness . . . a sultry vision he could embrace only in the heat of his own imagination. Yet the memory of her warm caresses, the urgent ecstasy of her closeness refused to fade in the morning light. He did not realize that underneath the dirt-caked, boyish clothes of his daytime companion was the body of the woman whose nighttime passion he craved . . . .

    Neither ponderous nor hagiographic, the work presents characters and events that have been previously neglected and offers candid assessments of officers, men, and material. Originally published in 1990, when it was a Military History Book Club selection, the work is considered a must for Civil War buffs. It is an authoritative and gripping story of the battles waged.The author provides a rare look at the war fought by primitive northern gunboats drifting through Louisiana's muddy bayous, Yankee merchantmen captured by rebel privateers at sea, and Union ironclads subduing hotly defended Southern forts. Nor does William Fowler neglect the subtler sparrings behind the scenes: War Secretary Stanton and Navy Secretary Welles competing for Lincoln's favor and Welles's fierce duel of strategies with his Confederate counterpart, Stephen Mallory. Finally, the author describes the astonishing transformation of the Navy itself from a ragtag fleet of aging steamers and paddleboats to one of the most powerful waterborne forces in the world.

    Selected by leading historians, the writings include such standards as the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address, but also such little-seen writings as a letter assuring a general that the President felt safe-drafted just three days before Lincoln's assassination. In this richly annotated anthology, the writings are grouped thematically into seven sections that cover politics, slavery, the union, democracy, liberty, the nation divided, and the American Dream. The introductions are by well-known historians: Gabor Borritt, William E. Gienapp, Charles B. Strozier, Richard Nelson Current, James M. McPherson, Mark E. Neely, Jr., and Hans L. Trefousse. In addition, each section's title page displays a photograph of Lincoln from the time period covered in that section, with a paragraph describing the source and the occasion for which the photograph was made.

    A fascinating tour of seventeen important sites of the Civil War journeys to the battlefields of Antietam, Bull Run, Gettysburg, Shiloh, and others, presenting re-enactments of the battles and a photographic record of monuments, artifacts, and terrain.

    

    Thomas, who was born to wealth and privilege and reared in the tradition of the southern belle, tells of the hard days of war and the poverty brought on by emancipation and Reconstruction. Her entries illuminate experiences shared with thousands of other southern women.

    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

    The rise and fall of riverboat traffic in the world's cotton capital, the Mississippi Delta

    Also includes photos of the ammunition.

    

    This book provides an account of an era that saw the introduction of steam power and the first iron warships.