Download or read book Stanton written by Walter Stahr and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-08-08 with total page 768 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Of the crucial men close to President Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814-1869) was the most powerful and controversial. Stanton raised, armed, and supervised the army of a million men who won the Civil War. He organized the war effort. He directed military movements from his telegraph office, where Lincoln literally hung out with him ... Now with this worthy complement to the enduring library of biographical accounts of those who helped Lincoln preserve the Union, Stanton honors the indispensable partner of the sixteenth president"--

Download or read book Lincoln s Autocrat written by William Marvel and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2015-04-15 with total page 632 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Edwin M. Stanton (1814-1869), one of the nineteenth century's most impressive legal and political minds, wielded enormous influence and power as Lincoln's secretary of war during most of the Civil War and under Johnson during the early years of Reconstruction. In the first full biography of Stanton in more than fifty years, William Marvel offers a detailed reexamination of Stanton's life, career, and legacy. Marvel argues that while Stanton was a formidable advocate and politician, his character was hardly benign. Climbing from a difficult youth to the pinnacle of power, Stanton used his authority--and the public coffers--to pursue political vendettas, and he exercised sweeping wartime powers with a cavalier disregard for civil liberties. Though Lincoln's ability to harness a cabinet with sharp divisions and strong personalities is widely celebrated, Marvel suggests that Stanton's tenure raises important questions about Lincoln's actual control over the executive branch. This insightful biography also reveals why men like Ulysses S. Grant considered Stanton a coward and a bully, who was unashamed to use political power for partisan enforcement and personal preservation.

Download or read book The Guns of the South written by Harry Turtledove and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2011-04-20 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "It is absolutely unique--without question the most fascinating Civil War novel I have ever read." Professor James M. McPherson Pultizer Prize-winning BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM January 1864--General Robert E. Lee faces defeat. The Army of Northern Virginia is ragged and ill-equpped. Gettysburg has broken the back of the Confederacy and decimated its manpower. Then, Andries Rhoodie, a strange man with an unplaceable accent, approaches Lee with an extraordinary offer. Rhoodie demonstrates an amazing rifle: Its rate of fire is incredible, its lethal efficiency breathtaking--and Rhoodie guarantees unlimited quantitites to the Confederates. The name of the weapon is the AK-47.... Selected by the Science Fiction Book Club A Main Selection of the Military Book Club

Download or read book The Lincoln Assassination Conspirators written by Edward Steers, Jr. and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2009-03-15 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On May 1, 1865, two weeks after Abraham Lincoln's assassination, recently inaugurated president Andrew Johnson appointed John Frederick Hartranft to command the military prison at the Washington Arsenal, where the U.S. government had just incarcerated the seven men and one woman accused of complicity in the shooting. From that day through the execution of four of the accomplices, the Pennsylvania-born general held responsibility for the most notorious prisoners in American history. A strict adherent to protocol, Hartranft kept a meticulously detailed account of his experiences in the form of a letterbook. In The Lincoln Assassination Conspirators, noted Lincoln scholars Edward Steers, Jr., and Harold Holzer, in partnership with the National Archives, present this fascinating historical record for the first time with contextual materials and expert annotations, providing a remarkable glimpse behind the scenes of the assassination's aftermath. Hartranft oversaw every aspect of the prisoners' daily lives, from making sure they were fed and kept clean to ensuring that no one communicated with them except on the written orders of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. In his Letterbook, Hartranft scrupulously recounts the arrival of each prisoner and describes the prison routine -- which included three simple meals a day, a twice-daily cell inspection by Hartranft himself, and frequent physical examinations by an army physician. The prisoners wore wrist and leg shackles and, controversially, most of them wore special hoods designed to isolate them from their surroundings. When the conspirators' trial began, the nation waited eagerly for news, and many sought retribution against those they held responsible for the nation's grief. Hartranft resisted calls for both vengeance and mercy and continued to treat his notorious charges as humanely as possible, facilitating meetings with clergy and sending letters to and from family members. Yet, as his detached, detailed description of the execution of four of the conspirators shows, he did not allow emotion to impede the performance of his duty. The legal and moral issues surrounding the conspirators' trial -- the extraordinary use of military rather than civil justice, the treatment of the accused while incarcerated, the fine line between swift and precipitous justice -- remain volatile, unsettled issues today. Hartranft's keen observations, ably analyzed by historians Steers and Holzer, will add a riveting new chapter to the story of Lincoln's assassination.

Download or read book The Military Memoirs of General John Pope written by Peter Cozzens and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2000-11-09 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Union general John Pope was among the most controversial and misunderstood figures to hold major command during the Civil War. Before being called east in June 1862 to lead the Army of Virginia against General Robert E. Lee, he compiled an enviable record in Missouri and as commander of the Army of the Mississippi. After his ignominious defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run, he was sent to the frontier. Over the next twenty-four years Pope held important department commands on the western plains and was recognized as one of the army's leading authorities on Indian affairs, but he never again commanded troops in battle. In 1886, Pope was engaged by the National Tribune, a weekly newspaper published in Washington, D.C., to write a series of articles on his wartime experiences. Over the next five years, in twenty-nine installments, he wrote about the war as he had lived it. Collected here for the first time, Pope's "war reminiscences" join a select roster of memoirs written by Civil War army commanders. Pope presents a detailed review of the campaigns in which he participated and offers vivid character sketches of such illustrious figures as Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Clearly written and balanced in tone, his memoirs are a dramatic and important addition to the literature on the Civil War. Originally published in 1998. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Download or read book The Presidency of Andrew Johnson written by Albert E. Castel and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 1979 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A critical study of his administration assessing his Reconstruction program, and economic, foreign relations, and Indian policies.

Download or read book Seward written by Walter Stahr and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012 with total page 720 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From one of our most acclaimed new biographers--the first full life of the leader of Lincoln's "Team of Rivals"--William Henry Seward, one of the most important Americans of the nineteenth century.

Download or read book Stanton written by Benjamin P. Thomas and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2013-07-31 with total page 971 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the time of his death, renowned Lincoln biographer Benjamin Thomas was at work on a life of one of the most controversial figures in American history: Edwin McMasters Stanton, the man who marshaled the military forces of the Union in the Civil War and played a crucial role in the only presidential impeachment trial in our history. Harold Hyman, himself a prize-winning historian, undertook to carry on from the advanced point in research and writing that Thomas had reached. The result of their collaborative efforts is a monumental work worthy to stand beside Thomas’s own Lincoln as a truly outstanding American biography. Continuously absorbing and written with clarity and grace, Stanton gives an objective, full-scale portrait of this complex and enigmatic figure. Stanton could be explosive and domineering or gentle or considerate; he was at once single-minded and self-doubting. That Stanton should be “controversial” is curious, for he served with distinction under three Presidents; Lincoln offered him unquestioning trust and warm personal friendship. Yet Stanton’s name is commonly associated with duplicity rather than with selfless patriotism, including charges that he connived in Lincoln’s murder, betrayed each of the Presidents he served, antagonized such generals as McClellan and Sherman, and thwarted opportunities for the peaceful reconciliation of North and South. This biography puts legend and prejudice in clear perspective by going directly to documentary evidence, by probing into Stanton’s motives and methods, and by evaluating his accomplishments and failures. It is a judicious and honest portrait of a stubborn, dedicated man; but it also brings to light many important details about the times in which he lived.

Download or read book Confederate Cabinet Departments and Secretaries written by Dennis L. Peterson and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-05-09 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thousands of books have been written covering every aspect of the Civil War. Yet scant attention has been given to the civilian government of the Confederacy. The most recent book on the subject was published in 1944, and what little has been written since is scattered among various journals and magazines. Drawing on scholarship old and new, this book provides a detailed overview of each of the Confederacy's six executive departments, along with biographical sketches of each man who held a position in Jefferson Davis's cabinet, from Secretary of State to Postmaster General.

Download or read book Freedom Volume 1 Series 1 The Destruction of Slavery written by Ira Berlin and published by CUP Archive. This book was released on 1985 with total page 906 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains primary source material.

Download or read book The Lincoln Assassination written by William C. Edwards and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 1490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On April 22, 1865, Brevet Colonel H. L. Burnett was assigned to head the investigation into the murder of President Abraham Lincoln and the attempted murder of Secretary of State William H. Seward. Burnett orchestrated the collection of thousands of documents for the Military Commission’s trial of the conspirators. This deep archive of documentary evidence--consisting of letters, depositions, eyewitness accounts, investigative reports, and other documents--provides invaluable insight into the historical, cultural, and judicial context of the investigation. Only a fraction of the information presented in these documents ever made its way into the trial, and most of it has never been readily accessible. By presenting an annotated and indexed transcription of these documents, this volume offers significant new access to information on the events surrounding the assassination and a vast new store of social and political history of the Civil War era. “With tears in my eyes I think it your duty to hang every rebel caught. I feel as bad as if was my own mother or father & will be one to volunteer to try & shoot every Southern man. May God have mercy on the man’s soul that done such a deed. With much Respect for our Country, I remain Weeping” --Anonymous letter, New York, April 15, 1865 “I know Booth. He was in the habit of coming to my place to shoot. . . . He shot well, and practiced to shoot with accuracy in every possible position. . . . He was a quick shot; always silent, reticent.” --Deposition of Benjamin Barker, Pistol Gallery proprietor

Download or read book Kill Jeff Davis written by Bruce M. Venter and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2016-01-22 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ostensible goal of the controversial Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid on Richmond (February 28–March 3, 1864) was to free some 13,000 Union prisoners of war held in the Confederate capital. But orders found on the dead body of the raid’s subordinate commander, Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, point instead to a plot to capture or kill Confederate president Jefferson Davis and set Richmond ablaze. What really happened, and how and why, are debated to this day. Kill Jeff Davis offers a fresh look at the failed raid and mines newly discovered documents and little-known sources to provide definitive answers. In this detailed and deeply researched account of the most famous cavalry raid of the Civil War, author Bruce M. Venter describes an expedition that was carefully planned but poorly executed. A host of factors foiled the raid: bad weather, poor logistics, inadequate command and control, ignorance of the terrain, the failures of supporting forces, and the leaders’ personal and professional shortcomings. Venter delves into the background and consequences of the debacle, beginning with the political maneuvering orchestrated by commanding brigadier general Judson Kilpatrick to persuade President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to approve the raid. Venter’s examination of the relationship between Kilpatrick and Brigadier General George A. Custer illuminates the reasons why the flamboyant Custer was excluded from the Richmond raid. In a lively narrative describing the multiple problems that beset the raiders, Kill Jeff Davis uncovers new details about the African American guide whom Dahlgren ordered hanged; the defenders of the Confederate capital, who were not just the “old men and young boys” of popular lore; and General Benjamin F. Butler’s expedition to capture Davis, as well as Custer’s diversionary raid on Charlottesville. Venter’s thoughtful reinterpretations and well-reasoned observations put to rest many myths and misperceptions. He tells, at last, the full story of this hotly contested moment in Civil War history.

Download or read book Mr Lincoln Goes to War written by William Marvel and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2006 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marvel vividly recreates President Lincoln's first year in office, drawing the conclusion that Lincoln actually fanned the flames of war and often acted unconstitutionally in prosecuting the war once it had begun.

Download or read book Abraham Lincoln and Men of War times written by Alexander Kelly McClure and published by . This book was released on 1892 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines Lincoln's administration during the Civil War and the president's relations with his generals and other politicians.

Download or read book Our One Common Country written by James Conroy and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2013-12-23 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our One Common Country explores the most critical meeting of the Civil War. Given short shrift or overlooked by many historians, the Hampton Roads Conference of 1865 was a crucial turning point in the War between the States. In this well written and highly documented book, James B. Conroy describes in fascinating detail what happened when leaders from both sides came together to try to end the hostilities. The meeting was meant to end the fighting on peaceful terms. It failed, however, and the war dragged on for two more bloody, destructive months. Through meticulous research of both primary and secondary sources, Conroy tells the story of the doomed peace negotiations through the characters who lived it. With a fresh and immediate perspective, Our One Common Country offers a thrilling and eye-opening look into the inability of our nation’s leaders to find a peaceful solution. The failure of the Hamptons Roads Conference shaped the course of American history and the future of America’s wars to come.

Download or read book Secession on Trial written by Cynthia Nicoletti and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-10-19 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the treason trial of President Jefferson Davis, where the question of secession's constitutionality was debated.

Download or read book Chasing Lincoln s Killer written by James L. Swanson and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2012-09-01 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author James Swanson delivers a riveting account of the chase for Abraham Lincoln's assassin. Based on rare archival material, obscure trial manuscripts, and interviews with relatives of the conspirators and the manhunters, CHASING LINCOLN'S KILLER is a fast-paced thriller about the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth: a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia.