Download or read book Personal Recollections of Distinguished Generals by William F G Shanks written by William Franklin Gore Shanks and published by . This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Personal Recollections of Distinguished Generals written by William Franklin Gore Shanks and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this volume is to make more familiar to the general public the actual characters of some of our great military leaders during the late war. I have attempted to portray them not as on parade, but in undress uniform, and to illustrate not only their great military qualities, but more particularly their mental peculiarities and characteristics. These pages will be found to contain many facts about some of the great battles which official reports have left untold, with such recollections of our generals as history proper will not perhaps condescend to record, and to embrace singular facts about great campaigns and strange stories of great men. The portraits are freely drawn. They are made from actual studies, if not special sittings, and while taking care to give every beauty, I have omitted none of the deformities or blemishes of my subjects, though I have told in full detail their virtues, and have touched on their faults and vices lightly. I have avoided alike extreme extravagance in praise or censure. Still there is enough shadow to the pictures to give the necessary, if not agreeable contrast to the lights. The reader must not, however, mistake the stand-point from which I have written. Distance, unfortunately for truth, lends enchantment not only to objects, but to men. The atmosphere of Olympus produces many phantasmagoria, and the great at a distance exist to our eyes in a sort of mirage. The philosophy of perspective as applied to natural objects is reversed when applied to mankind, and there are very few men who do not grow smaller as one approaches them. Most men are pyramidal in shape only, not proportions. "No man is a hero to his valet." Even Jupiter was ridiculous at times to Homer. Very few generals have appeared great to the war correspondents; and though very few of the latter can claim to be descendants of Diogenes, they can assert, with equal positiveness, that very few of the generals have been Alexanders, and that "the very sun shines through them." I have written under the disadvantage of being too near the objects drawn; and those who do not know the subjects as well may imagine I have made them undeservedly Liliputian in dimensions. Writing contemporaneous history is the most thankless of tasks, and I discover also one of the least independent of labors. Still I have not written with a goose-quill, and there has been some gall in my ink, yet I do not think I have any thing in the ensuing chapters to blot. I do not think I have done any man injustice. I have written many sentences and made many assertions which will doubtless be termed strong, but in writing these I am only the amanuensis of truth; and I write with the firm belief that "historical truth should be only less sacred than religious truth."
Download or read book Personal Recollections of Distinguished Generals Abridged Annotated written by William F. G. Shanks and published by BIG BYTE BOOKS. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most remarkable books to come out of the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War was William F.G. Shank's book on the generals he observed up close and personal all during the war. As a correspondent for Harper's Magazine and the New York Herald, Shank followed through camp and battle, seeing the strengths but also the foibles and failings of some of our most prominent Union leaders. Shank does not shy from including illuminating details that he was later told may have offended the subjects of his treatments. But he is admiring of the men he met and admirably creates portraits of Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Rousseau, Thomas, Hooker, and others that you will not read elsewhere. As he states in the preface: "Very few generals have appeared great to the war correspondents; and though very few of the latter can claim to be descendants of Diogenes, they can assert, with equal positiveness, that very few of the generals have been Alexanders, and that 'the very sun shines through them.'" An interesting note included about Rousseau (one of our least written-about generals) is that during his legal career, he successfully tried a veritable "To Kill a Mockingbird" case. No student of the war should be without this volume. For the first time, this long-out-of-print book is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample
Download or read book Personal Recollections of Distinguished Generals Abridged Annotated written by William F. G. Shanks and published by . This book was released on 2016-11-07 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most remarkable books to come out of the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War was William F.G. Shank's book on the generals he observed up close and personal all during the war. As a correspondent for Harper's Magazine and the New York Herald, Shank followed through camp and battle, seeing the strengths but also the foibles and failings of some of our most prominent Union leaders.Shank does not shy from including illuminating details that he was later told may have offended the subjects of his treatments. But he is admiring of the men he met and admirably creates portraits of Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Rousseau, Thomas, Hooker, and others that you will not read elsewhere.As he states in the preface: "Very few generals have appeared great to the war correspondents; and though very few of the latter can claim to be descendants of Diogenes, they can assert, with equal positiveness, that very few of the generals have been Alexanders, and that 'the very sun shines through them.'"An interesting note included about Rousseau (one of our least written-about generals) is that during his legal career, he successfully tried a veritable "To Kill a Mockingbird" case.No student of the war should be without this volume."Whether extolling or condemning, [Shanks] is always interesting." New York Evening Post.
Download or read book Lincoln and His Generals written by T. Harry Williams and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-07-27 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since it was first published in 1952, Lincoln and His Generals has remained one of the definitive accounts of Lincoln’s wartime leadership. In it T. Harry Williams dramatizes Lincoln’s long and frustrating search for an effective leader of the Union Army and traces his transformation from a politician with little military knowledge into a master strategist of the Civil War. Explored in depth are Lincoln’s often fraught relationships with generals such as McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker, Fremont, and of course, Ulysses S. Grant. In this superbly written narrative, Williams demonstrates how Lincoln’s persistent “meddling” into military affairs was crucial to the Northern war effort and utterly transformed the president’s role as commander-in-chief.
Download or read book The Athenaeum written by and published by . This book was released on 1867 with total page 888 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Decision in the West written by Albert Castel and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 764 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following a skirmish on June 28, 1864, a truce is called so the North can remove their dead and wounded. For two hours, Yankees and Rebels mingle, with some of the latter even assisting the former in their grisly work. Newspapers are exchanged. Northern coffee is swapped for Southern tobacco. Yanks crowd around two Rebel generals, soliciting and obtaining autographs.
Download or read book Scott s Monthly Magazine written by and published by . This book was released on 1867 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Black Jack written by James Pickett Jones and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John A. Logan, called "Black Jack" by the men he led in Civil War battles from the Henry-Donelson campaign to Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and on to Atlanta, was one of the Union Army’s most colorful generals. James Pickett Jones places Logan in his southern Illinois surroundings as he examines the role of the political soldier in the Civil War. When Logan altered his stance on national issues, so did the southern part of the state. Although secession, civil strife, Copperheadism, and the new attitudes created by the war contributed to this change of position in southern Illinois, Logan’s role as political and military leader was important in the region’s swing to strong support of the war against the Confederacy, to the policies of Lincoln, and eventually, to the Republican party.
Download or read book Civil War Dynasty written by Kenneth J. Heineman and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brings to life the drama of political intrigue and military valor of the Ewing family.
Download or read book General Gordon Granger written by Robert C. Conner and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2013-11-15 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first full-length biography of the Civil War general who saved the Union army from catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga, and went on to play major roles in the Chattanooga and Mobile campaigns. Immediately after the war, as commander of U.S. troops in Texas, his actions sparked the ÒJuneteenthÓ celebrations of slaveryÕs end, which continue to this day. GrangerÕs first battle was at WilsonÕs Creek, Missouri, and he soon thereafter rose through the ranksÑcavalry, then infantryÑin early 1863 vying with Forrest and Van Dorn for control of central Tennessee. The artillery platform he erected at Franklin, dubbed Fort Granger, would soon overlook the death knell of the main Confederate army in the west. GrangerÕs first fame, however, came at Chickamauga, when the Rebel Army of Tennessee came within a hairÕs-breadth of destroying the Union Army of the Cumberland. Without ordersÑeven defying themÑGranger marched his Reserve Corps to the scene of the hottest action, where Thomas was just barely holding on with the rump of RosecransÕ army. Bringing fresh ammunition and hurling his men against LongstreetÕs oncoming legions, Granger provided just enough breathing space to prevent that Union defeat from becoming the worst open-field battle disgrace of the war. Granger was then given command of a full infantry corps, but just proved too odd of a fellow to promote further. At Chattanooga he got on the nerves of U.S. Grant for going off to shoot cannons instead of commanding his troops (heÕd actually indulged this impulse also at Chickamauga) and Sherman had no use for him either. So he went down to join Farragut in the conquest of Mobile, Alabama, leading land operations against the Confederate forts. This long-overdue biography sheds fascinating new light on a colorful commander who fought through the war in the West from its first major battles to its last, and even left his impact on the Reconstruction beyond.
Download or read book Battle of Stones River written by Larry J. Daniel and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 2012-11-05 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Three days of savage and bloody fighting between Confederate and Union troops at Stones River in Middle Tennessee ended with nearly 25,000 casualties but no clear victor. The staggering number of killed or wounded equaled the losses suffered in the well-known Battle of Shiloh. Using previously neglected sources, Larry J. Daniel rescues this important campaign from obscurity. The Battle of Stones River, fought between December 31, 1862, and January 2, 1863, was a tactical draw but proved to be a strategic northern victory. According to Daniel, Union defeats in late 1862 -- both at Chickasaw Bayou in Mississippi and at Fredericksburg, Virginia -- transformed the clash in Tennessee into a much-needed morale booster for the North. Daniel's study of the battle's two antagonists, William S. Rosecrans for the Union Army of the Cumberland and Braxton Bragg for the Confederate Army of Tennessee, presents contrasts in leadership and a series of missteps. Union soldiers liked Rosecrans's personable nature, whereas Bragg acquired a reputation as antisocial and suspicious. Rosecrans had won his previous battle at Corinth, and Bragg had failed at the recent Kentucky Campaign. But despite Rosecrans's apparent advantage, both commanders made serious mistakes. With only a few hundred yards separating the lines, Rosecrans allowed Confederates to surprise and route his right ring. Eventually, Union pressure forced Bragg to launch a division-size attack, a disastrous move. Neither side could claim victory on the battlefield. In the aftermath of the bloody conflict, Union commanders and northern newspapers portrayed the stalemate as a victory, bolstering confidence in the Lincoln administration and dimming the prospects for the "peace wing" of the northern Democratic Party. In the South, the deadlock led to continued bickering in the Confederate western high command and scorn for Braxton Bragg.
Download or read book Corinth 1862 written by Timothy B. Smith and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2016-10-07 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the spring of 1862, there was no more important place in the western Confederacy-perhaps in all the South-than the tiny town of Corinth, Mississippi. Major General Henry W. Halleck, commander of Union forces in the Western Theater, reported to Washington that "Richmond and Corinth are now the great strategical points of war, and our success at these points should be insured at all hazards." In the same vein, Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard declared to Richmond that "If defeated at Corinth, we lose the Mississippi Valley and probably our cause." Those were odd sentiments concerning a town scarcely a decade old. By this time, however, it sat at the junction of the South's two most important rail lines and had become a major strategic locale. Despite its significance, Corinth has received comparatively little attention from Civil War historians and has been largely overshadowed by events at Shiloh, Antietam, and Perryville. Timothy Smith's panoramic and vividly detailed new look at Corinth corrects that neglect, focusing on the nearly year-long campaign that opened the way to Vicksburg and presaged the Confederacy's defeat in the West. Combining big-picture strategic and operational analysis with ground-level views, Smith covers the spring siege, the vicious attacks and counterattacks of the October battle, and the subsequent occupation. He has drawn extensively on hundreds of eyewitness accounts to capture the sights, sounds, and smells of battle and highlight the command decisions of Halleck, Beauregard, Ulysses S. Grant, Sterling Price, William S. Rosecrans, and Earl Van Dorn. This is also the first in-depth examination of Corinth following the creation of a new National Park Service center located at the site. Weaving together an immensely compelling tale that places the reader in the midst of war's maelstrom, it substantially revises and enlarges our understanding of Corinth and its crucial importance in the Civil War.
Download or read book Hell by the Acre written by Daniel A. Masters and published by Savas Beatie. This book was released on 2024-11-21 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the pivotal Stones River Campaign of 1862-1863, detailing the intense battles and firsthand accounts that turned the tide for the Union Army. The waning days of 1862 marked a nadir in the fortunes of the Union. After major defeats at Fredericksburg in Virginia and Chickasaw Bayou in Mississippi, it fell to Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans and his Army of the Cumberland to secure a victory that would give military teeth to the Emancipation Proclamation set to take effect on January 1, 1863. Rosecrans moved his army out of Nashville on the day after Christmas to Murfreesboro, met Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee, and fought one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the war. The full campaign, with extensive new material and coverage, is the subject of Daniel Masters’ new Hell by the Acre: A Narrative History of the Stones River Campaign, November 1862-January 1863. The opposing armies, 44,000 men under Rosecrans and 37,000 under Bragg, locked bayonets on December 31, 1862, in some of the hardest fighting of the war. Bragg’s initial attack drove the Federals back nearly three miles, captured 29 cannons, and thousands of prisoners. Somehow the Union lines held firm during the critical fighting along the Nashville Pike that afternoon against repeated determined attacks that left both armies bloodied and exhausted. The decisive moment came two days later when, in the fading afternoon of January 2, 1863, Bragg launched an assault on an isolated Union division on the east bank of Stones River. Once again, the Confederates enjoyed initial success only to be repulsed by 58 Union guns arrayed along the west bank and a daring counterattack. This repulse broke Bragg’s hold on Murfreesboro. He retreated the following night, leaving Rosecrans and his army victors of the field. Stones River was the quintessential soldiers’ battle. Prior books focus more on the generalship and high-level commands than the often-forgotten men in the ranks. Masters constructed his study from the ground up by focusing on the experiences of the front-line troops through hundreds of archival and firsthand accounts, many of which have never been published. Hell by the Acre is an unparalleled soldier’s view of Civil War combat and tactical command. Stones River marked a turning point for Federal fortunes in the Western Theater, and this fresh and original study sets forth the hefty cost of securing that victory for the Union.
Download or read book Major General James Scott Negley And His Division At Chickamauga A Historical Analysis written by Major Keith A. Barclay and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis is a historical analysis of Major General James Negley and his division during the Battle of Chickamauga. An examination of Negley, his actions, his major subordinate commanders, and the regiments of the division was conducted to provide a base with which to evaluate the principals during the Chickamauga Campaign of 1863. On 19 September, the division fought well as, and served to arrest a Confederate penetration of the Federal lines. The division was piecemealed into the fight on 20 September by brigade, and regiments. Negley ended up commanding fifty Federal artillery pieces on Snodgrass Hill and withdrew them to support the Union collapse upon Chattanooga. Negley was relieved after the battle, and charged with removing the artillery prematurely. He was acquitted of all charges during a subsequent court of inquiry; however, he never received another command. The relief of Negley tarnished an otherwise solid performance by the division during the two day battle. This study analyzes Negley and his division during the Battle of Chickamauga and draws conclusions using the battle command competencies as a framework: seeing the enemy, seeing the terrain, knowing yourself, visualizing the battle, and seeing into the future.
Download or read book The North American Review written by and published by . This book was released on 1867 with total page 696 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The North American Review written by Jared Sparks and published by . This book was released on 1867 with total page 700 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vols. 277-230, no. 2 include Stuff and nonsense, v. 5-6, no. 8, Jan. 1929-Aug. 1930.
