Download or read book Master of War written by Benson Bobrick and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-02-10 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this revelatory, dynamic biography, one of our finest historians, Benson Bobrick, profiles George H. Thomas, arguing that he was the greatest and most successful general of the Civil War. Because Thomas didn't live to write his memoirs, his reputation has been largely shaped by others, most notably Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, two generals with whom Thomas served and who, Bobrick says, diminished his successes in their favor in their own memoirs. Born in Virginia, Thomas survived Nat Turner's rebellion as a boy, then studied at West Point, where Sherman was a classmate. Thomas distinguished himself in the Mexican War and then returned to West Point as an instructor. When the Civil War broke out, Thomas remained loyal to the Union, unlike fellow Virginia-born officer Robert E. Lee (among others). He compiled an outstanding record as an officer in battles at Mill Springs, Perryville, and Stones River. At the Battle of Chickamauga, Thomas, at the time a corps commander, held the center of the Union line under a ferocious assault, then rallied the troops on Horseshoe Ridge to prevent a Confederate rout of the Union army. His extraordinary performance there earned him the nickname "The Rock of Chickamauga." Promoted to command of the Army of the Cumberland, he led his army in a stunning Union victory at the Battle of Chattanooga. Thomas supported Sherman on his march through Georgia in the spring of 1864, winning an important victory at the Battle of Peachtree Creek. As Sherman continued on his March to the Sea, Thomas returned to Tennessee and in the battle of Nashville destroyed the army of Confederate General John Bell Hood. It was one of the most decisive victories of the war, and Thomas won it even as Grant was on his way to remove Thomas from his command. (When Grant discovered the magnitude of Thomas's victory, he quickly changed his mind.) Thomas died of a stroke in 1870 while still on active duty. In the entire Civil War, he never lost a battle or a movement. Throughout his career, Thomas was methodical and careful, and always prepared. Unlike Grant at Shiloh, he was never surprised by an enemy. Unlike Sherman, he never panicked in battle but always remained calm and focused. He was derided by both men as "Slow Trot Thomas," but as Bobrick shows in this brilliant biography, he was quick to analyze every situation and always knew what to do and when to do it. He was not colorful like Grant and Sherman, but he was widely admired by his peers, and some, such as Grant's favorite cavalry commander, General James H. Wilson, thought Thomas the peer of any general in either army. He was the only Union commander to destroy two Confederate armies in the field. Although historians of the Civil War have always regarded Thomas highly, he has never captured the public imagination, perhaps because he has lacked an outstanding biographer -- until now. This informed, judicious, and lucid biography at last gives Thomas his due.
Download or read book The Life and Times of General Andrew Pickens written by Rod Andrew Jr. and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2017-02-23 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Andrew Pickens (1739–1817), the hard-fighting South Carolina militia commander of the American Revolution, was the hero of many victories against British and Loyalist forces. In this book, Rod Andrew Jr. offers an authoritative and comprehensive biography of Pickens the man, the general, the planter, and the diplomat. Andrew vividly depicts Pickens as he founds churches, acquires slaves, joins the Patriot cause, and struggles over Indian territorial boundaries on the southern frontier. Combining insights from military and social history, Andrew argues that while Pickens's actions consistently reaffirmed the authority of white men, he was also determined to help found the new republic based on broader principles of morality and justice. After the war, Pickens sought a peaceful and just relationship between his country and the southern Native American tribes and wrestled internally with the issue of slavery. Andrew suggests that Pickens's rise to prominence, his stern character, and his sense of duty highlight the egalitarian ideals of his generation as well as its moral shortcomings--all of which still influence Americans' understanding of themselves.
Download or read book The Life of Gen Albert Sidney Johnston written by William Preston Johnston and published by . This book was released on 1878 with total page 812 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Agent of Destiny written by John S. D. Eisenhower and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hero of the War of 1812, the conqueror of Mexico City in the Mexican-American War, and Abraham Lincoln’s top soldier during the first six months of the Civil War, General Winfield Scott was a seminal force in the early expansion and consolidation of the American republic. John S. D. Eisenhower explores how Scott, who served under fourteen presidents, played a leading role in the development of the United States Army from a tiny, loosely organized, politics-dominated establishment to a disciplined professional force capable of effective and sustained campaigning.
Download or read book Damned Yankee written by Christopher Phillips and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 1996-10-01 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nathaniel Lyon (1818–1861) was the first Union general to die in the Civil War. Killed at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, Missouri, he became the North’s first war hero, famed as the man who saved Missouri for the Union. In Damned Yankee, chosen by Choice as an Outstanding Academic Book in 1991, Christopher Phillips portrays Lyon not as the savior of a border state threatened by secessionist extremists but as an unbalanced, monomaniacal Unionist zealot who purposely—and perhaps unnecessarily—brought war to a fragile state whose populace had voted overwhelmingly to stay out of the conflict. Phillips meticulously examines Lyon’s role in the Camp Jackson affair, his quest to oust the pro-southern governor of Missouri, and his campaign to eliminate the secessionist element in the state. He contends that Lyon’s actions in Missouri in 1861 were congruent with his dogmatic personality and troubled past. Damned Yankee is a complex, often shocking, portrait of one of the most controversial figures of the Civil War and a sobering study of how the faults of men may greatly affect history.
Download or read book General George Washington written by Edward G. Lengel and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2007-01-09 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The most comprehensive and authoritative study of Washington’s military career ever written.” –Joseph J. Ellis, author of His Excellency: George Washington Based largely on George Washington’s personal papers, this engrossing book paints a vivid, factual portrait of Washington the soldier. An expert in military history, Edward Lengel demonstrates that the “secret” to Washington’s excellence lay in his completeness, in how he united the military, political, and personal skills necessary to lead a nation in war and peace. Despite being an “imperfect commander”–and at times even a tactically suspect one–Washington nevertheless possessed the requisite combination of vision, integrity, talents, and good fortune to lead America to victory in its war for independence. At once informative and engaging, and filled with some eye-opening revelations about Washington, the American Revolution, and the very nature of military command, General George Washington is a book that reintroduces readers to a figure many think they already know. “The book’s balanced assessment of Washington is satisfying and thought-provoking. Lengel gives us a believable Washington . . . the most admired man of his generation by far.” –The Washington Post Book World “A compelling picture of a man who was ‘the archetypal American soldier’ . . . The sum of his parts was the greatness of Washington.” –The Boston Globe “[An] excellent book . . . fresh insights . . . If you have room on your bookshelf for only one book on the Revolution, this may be it.” –The Washington Times
Download or read book The Will to Win written by Paul F. Braim and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2008-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Called the Army's "greatest combat general" by President Truman, James Van Fleet led American and allied forces to battlefield victory during a career that spanned World War I and the Cold War. In this biography, a military historian who once commanded a rifle company under Van Fleet in Korea tells the legendary leader's unique story and draws parallels to the U.S. Army's history of diverse challenges met in the twentieth century. Defining the root of Van Fleet's success as devotion to his men and dedication to rigorous field training and mental conditioning, Paul Braim describes Van Fleet's ability to inspire his men with the will to win through two world wars and in the limited wars that followed. He chronicles Van Fleet's command of III Corps in its drive into the heart of Nazi Germany in World War II and his training of allied soldiers in the Cold Wars, including his development of the Greek National Army into a fighting force capable of driving off a strong communist insurgency. He tells how as commander of the Eighth Army in Korea Van Fleet applied his winning tactics so successfully within the constraints of the limited war that the South Korean Army was able to assume a major fighting role. Finally, he explains that Van Fleet was one of few senior military leaders to argue for training the Vietnamese instead of committing U.S. combat forces in Vietnam. This tribute to an outstanding American--a poor boy from rural Florida who rose to the rank of four-star general--will fascinate everyone who enjoys reading biographies and those who like military history. It is presented in cooperation with the Association of the U.S. Army.
Download or read book Renegade Revolutionary written by Phillip Papas and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2014-04-11 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Lee, a former British army officer turned revolutionary, was one of the earliest advocates for American independence. Papas shows that few American revolutionaries shared Lee's radical political outlook, and his confidence that the American Revolution could be won primarily by the militia (or irregulars) rather than a centralized regular army.
Download or read book The Life of Gen Francis Marion written by Mason Locke Weems and published by . This book was released on 1852 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book David Humphreys Life of General Washington written by David Humphreys and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The biography of Washington written by his close friend and military aide
Download or read book A General s Life An Autobiography written by Omar Bradley and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-07-29 with total page 793 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this autobiography, Omar N. Bradley (1893-1981) recounts his youth in Missouri, his years at the US Military Academy at West Point (he graduated in 1915 alongside Dwight D. Eisenhower), his assignments on the US-Mexico border and in Montana guarding copper mines during World War I, his tours teaching mathematics at West Point and in 1941, commanding of the US Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, his active duty during World War II in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy and eventually commanding 43 divisions and 1.3 million Americans in Europe, linking up with Soviet forces on the Elbe in April 1945, sealing the defeat of Nazi forces. Bradley provides vivid descriptions of key figures in the liberation of Europe, including Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, Churchill and Montgomery. Back in Washington, Bradley describes his years heading the Veterans Administration, his tenure as Army Chief of Staff and as first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff starting in 1949. After being promoted to the rank of General of the Army (five stars) in 1950, Bradley was the senior military commander when the Korean War started; he supported President Truman’s wartime policy of containment and was instrumental in persuading Truman to dismiss General MacArthur in 1951 after MacArthur resisted administration attempts to scale back the war’s strategic objectives. “The narrative deals skillfully with the planning and execution of campaigns that changed history... an unmatched panorama of 40 years of American military history... A great many writers have taken a crack at describing the 1944 Allied landings in Normandy [but] no overall description of that long, bitter battle on the American beaches, Utah and Omaha, is better than the one in this book.” — Drew Middleton,The New York Times “The most unassuming of the WW II military chiefs has (in recompense?) the last, stinging word... a vigorous, accomplished, exceptionally unconstrained narrative... Explosive yet likable.” — Kirkus Reviews “[A] surprisingly candid account from a man long reputed to be mild-mannered, discreet, and uncritical of the figures of his time... General Bradley has given us a very informative autobiography. Especially interesting are the sections on American military participation in the North African and Sicilian campaigns, and Eisenhower’s role there; the Normandy landings and subsequent breakout; the Battle of the Bulge; and President Truman’s removal of General MacArthur from command in Korea... He is very frank in his comments on Eisenhower’s weaknesses as Allied commander in North Africa and Sicily, and of Patton’s ill-advised behavior and remarks during that period and later. He is also harshly critical of Montgomery’s “prima donna”-like behavior and his continual efforts to push Eisenhower into giving him the supreme command of all Allied ground troops... With the loss of General Bradley, there are unlikely to be any more top-rank firsthand accounts of this period in US military history. Bradley’s book, therefore, may have the last word, but he hasn’t abused that privilege. He was too fair a man for that.” — Howard C. Thomas, The Christian Science Monitor “[A] superb book... a remarkably smooth-flowing account of the life of one of this country’s most distinguished military leaders... Bradley’s candid appraisals of his superiors, subordinates and peers, notably Patton, Montgomery, Eisenhower, Simpson and Hodges, make fascinating reading... this is a first-rate addition to the growing number of biographies of prominent World War II military personalities. Besides being eminently enjoyable reading for casual consumption, it is of significant value to the student of military history.” — Lieutenant Colonel William A. de Palo, Jr., Infantry Magazine
Download or read book Beetle written by D.K.R. Crosswell and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 1050 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This biography recounts one of the most significant yet unsung military careers of the twentieth century: “a major contribution to the history of World War II” (Foreign Affairs). General Walter Bedell Smith began his public service career of more than forty years at age sixteen, when he joined the Indiana National Guard. His bulldog tenacity earned him an opportunity to work with General George C. Marshall in 1941, playing an essential role in formation of the Combined and Joint Chiefs of Staff. After his appointment as chief of staff to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1942, Smith took a central part in planning the major Allied operations of World War II in Europe. Among his many duties, Smith negotiated the surrenders of the Italian and German armed forces in 1945. Smith’s postwar career included service as the US ambassador to the Soviet Union, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and undersecretary of state. In Beetle, D. K. R. Crosswell offers the first full-length biography of the general, including insights into his close relationships with Marshall and Eisenhower. Meticulously researched and long overdue, Beetle sheds new light on Eisenhower as supreme commander, as well as the WWII campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and Europe.
Download or read book Stalin s General written by Geoffrey Roberts and published by Random House Incorporated. This book was released on 2012 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major profile of the Soviet general credited with a decisive role in key World War II victories compares his legend with his achievements while surveying his eventful post-war experiences as Krushchev's disgraced defense minister. 15,000 first printing.
Download or read book The Life and Work of General Andrew J Goodpaster written by C. Richard Nelson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-09-29 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: General Andrew J. Goodpaster (1915-2005) was a brilliant military leader, a scholar and, most of all, an exceptional presidential adviser who served under seven successive administrations. A respected strategist, he participated at the highest levels of government in many of the most important decisions of the second half of the twentieth century. As President Eisenhower’s Staff Secretary, he was the de facto originator of the National Security Council process and served as a mentor and role model to his successors down to the present day. He was involved in many security challenges, such as establishing and sustaining NATO, planning for nuclear weapons and arms control, and implementing détente. He developed a collaborative method of approaching national security affairs —a style that reflected a strong capacity to engage effectively the necessary people to work together to achieve the best possible outcomes. In doing so, he learned and taught best practices in national security that still influence decision making today. This biography shows the importance of experienced soldier-scholars with high integrity on national security teams and provides the first systematic mining of the documents Goodpaster wrote on national security. Organized chronologically, it demonstrates how Goodpaster was able to adapt best practices to a constantly changing political, military, economic and technological environment. It also explains why he was so frequently selected as an insider in national security decision making. His life and work reveal how best to approach complex national security problems and the kind of collaborative leadership needed to get the job done. Still today, his method confirms General Scowcroft’s view that Goodpaster is “too important to ignore.”
Download or read book Jubal written by Charles C. Osborne and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive biography of one of the Civil War's most combative, assertive, and controversial generals. Detailed maps of Early's battles and campaigns and 16 pages of illustrations make Jubal not only the first modern biography of an important figure but a major contribution to our knowledge of the Civil War, the Confederacy and the American South.
Download or read book Paratrooper written by Thomas Michael Booth and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: * A gripping account on an exceptional man - the life of Jim Gavin, America's best paratrooper leader throughout World War II World War II, which occurred precisely at the juncture between air transport capability and the invention of the helicopter, saw history's first and only mass use of paratroopers dropped into battle from the sky, perhaps the most courageous combat task seen in modern warfare. And "Jumpin' Jim" Gavin was by all accounts America's best paratrooper leader. His first combat jump was in Sicily, where as a battalion commander he found his men scattered all over the landscape in one of airborne's greatest fiascos. Yet his stand with a few stalwarts at Biazza Ridge is credited with saving the U.S. invasion front. In Normandy, as assistant division commander of the 82nd Airborne, he won the eternal affection of his men for continuing to lead in combat, M-1 slung over his shoulder, even as his paratroopers were similarly scattered and faced German fire on all sides. His cool leadership served to coalesce the paratrooper bridgehead behind enemy lines until infantry from the beaches could finally reach them. During Operation Market Garden, now as commander of the 82nd, Gavin wrote a new chapter in paratrooper heroism, seizing all his objectives despite a serious spinal injury on landing. With hardly a respite after the grueling campaign in Holland, Gavin and his men were called upon for perhaps their most dangerous task - stemming the German onslaught during the Battle of the Bulge. After the war Gavin continued to earn as much respect from policymakers as he had from his men, providing commentary on our Cold War stance, the war in Vietnam, and as Kennedy's ambassador to France. He was not an unflawed individual, as this comprehensive biography reveals, but an exceptional one in every sense, especially during his days of combat leadership during history's greatest war. ILLUSTRATIONS: 16 pages
Download or read book The Life of General the Right Honourable Sir David Baird Bart written by Theodore Edward Hook and published by . This book was released on 1832 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Baird visited the Cape in 1779 and 1797 and was in command of the expedition which captured it in 1806.
