Download or read book Confederate General R S Ewell written by Paul D. Casdorph and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2014-07-15 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard Stoddert Ewell is best known as the Confederate General selected by Robert E. Lee to replace "Stonewall" Jackson as chief of the Second Corps in the Army of Northern Virginia. Ewell is also remembered as the general who failed to drive Federal troops from the high ground of Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg. Many historians believe that Ewell's inaction cost the Confederates a victory in this seminal battle and, ultimately, cost the Civil War. During his long military career, Ewell was never an aggressive warrior. He graduated from West Point and served in the Indian wars in Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and Arizona. In 1861 he resigned his commission in the U.S. Army and rushed to the Confederate standard. Ewell saw action at First Manassas and took up divisional command under Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign and in the Seven Days' Battles around Richmond. A crippling wound and a leg amputation soon compounded the persistent manic-depressive disorder that had hindered his ability to make difficult decisions on the battlefield. When Lee reorganized the Army of Northern Virginia in May of 1863, Ewell was promoted to lieutenant general. At the same time he married a widowed first cousin who came to dominate his life -- often to the disgust of his subordinate officers -- and he became heavily influenced by the wave of religious fervor that was then sweeping through the Confederate Army. In Confederate General R.S. Ewell, Paul D. Casdorph offers a fresh portrait of a major -- but deeply flawed -- figure in the Confederate war effort, examining the pattern of hesitancy and indecisiveness that characterized Ewell's entire military career. This definitive biography probes the crucial question of why Lee selected such an obviously inconsistent and unreliable commander to lead one-third of his army on the eve of the Gettysburg Campaign. Casdorph describes Ewell's intriguing life and career with penetrating insights into his loyalty to the Confederate cause and the Virginia ties that kept him in Lee's favor for much of the war. Complete with riveting descriptions of key battles, Ewell's biography is essential reading for Civil War historians.
Download or read book The First Great Confederate General written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-12 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures of Johnston and important people and places in his life. *Analyzes his generalship at the beginning of the Civil War and at Shiloh. *Includes some of Johnston's quotes during the Battle of Shiloh and accounts of the battle from Grant, Sherman, and others. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "The turning point of our fate." - Jefferson Davis on the death of Albert Sidney Johnston Today Albert Sidney Johnston (1803- 1862) is one of the most overlooked generals of the Civil War, but in April 1862 he was widely considered the Confederacy's best general. After graduating from West Point, where he befriended classmates Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, Johnston had a distinguished military career that ensured he would play a principal role in the Civil War. The fact that he was friends with Davis didn't hurt either, and near the beginning of the war Johnston was given command of the Western Department, which basically comprised the entire Western theater at the time. The Confederates were served poorly in that theater by incompetent officers who Johnston and the South had been saddled with, and from the beginning of the Civil War the Confederates struggled to gain traction in the battlegrounds of Kentucky and Missouri. After critical Confederate setbacks at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in early 1862, Johnston concentrated his forces in northern Georgia and prepared for a major offensive that culminated with the biggest battle of the war to that point, the Battle of Shiloh. On the morning of April 6, Johnston directed an all out attack on Grant's army around Shiloh Church, and though Grant's men had been encamped there, they had failed to create defensive fortifications or earthworks. They were also badly caught by surprise. With nearly 45,000 Confederates attacking, Johnston's army began to steadily push Grant's men back toward the river. As fate would have it, the Confederates may have been undone by friendly fire at Shiloh. Johnston advanced out ahead of his men on horseback while directing a charge near a peach orchard when he was hit in the lower leg by a bullet that historians now widely believe was fired by his own men. Nobody thought the wound was serious, including Johnston, who continued to aggressively lead his men and even sent his personal physician to treat wounded Union soldiers taken captive. But the bullet had clipped an artery, and shortly after being wounded Johnston began to feel faint in the saddle. With blood filling up his boot, Johnston unwittingly bled to death. The delay caused by his death, and the transfer of command to subordinate P.G.T. Beauregard, bought the Union defenders critical time on April 6, and the following day Grant's reinforced army struck back and pushed the Confederate army off the field. The First Great Confederate General: The Life and Career of Albert Sidney Johnston chronicles the life and career of one of the Confederacy's most indispensable generals, and the most senior officer to die in battle during the war. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events in his life, you will learn about Albert Sidney Johnston like you never have before, in no time at all.
Download or read book The First Great Confederate General the Life and Career of Albert Sidney Johnston written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by . This book was released on 2013-10-17 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures of Johnston and important people and places in his life. *Analyzes his generalship at the beginning of the Civil War and at Shiloh. *Includes some of Johnston's quotes during the Battle of Shiloh and accounts of the battle from Grant, Sherman, and others. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "The turning point of our fate." - Jefferson Davis on the death of Albert Sidney Johnston Today Albert Sidney Johnston (1803- 1862) is one of the most overlooked generals of the Civil War, but in April 1862 he was widely considered the Confederacy's best general. After graduating from West Point, where he befriended classmates Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, Johnston had a distinguished military career that ensured he would play a principal role in the Civil War. The fact that he was friends with Davis didn't hurt either, and near the beginning of the war Johnston was given command of the Western Department, which basically comprised the entire Western theater at the time. The Confederates were served poorly in that theater by incompetent officers who Johnston and the South had been saddled with, and from the beginning of the Civil War the Confederates struggled to gain traction in the battlegrounds of Kentucky and Missouri. After critical Confederate setbacks at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in early 1862, Johnston concentrated his forces in northern Georgia and prepared for a major offensive that culminated with the biggest battle of the war to that point, the Battle of Shiloh. On the morning of April 6, Johnston directed an all out attack on Grant's army around Shiloh Church, and though Grant's men had been encamped there, they had failed to create defensive fortifications or earthworks. They were also badly caught by surprise. With nearly 45,000 Confederates attacking, Johnston's army began to steadily push Grant's men back toward the river. As fate would have it, the Confederates may have been undone by friendly fire at Shiloh. Johnston advanced out ahead of his men on horseback while directing a charge near a peach orchard when he was hit in the lower leg by a bullet that historians now widely believe was fired by his own men. Nobody thought the wound was serious, including Johnston, who continued to aggressively lead his men and even sent his personal physician to treat wounded Union soldiers taken captive. But the bullet had clipped an artery, and shortly after being wounded Johnston began to feel faint in the saddle. With blood filling up his boot, Johnston unwittingly bled to death. The delay caused by his death, and the transfer of command to subordinate P.G.T. Beauregard, bought the Union defenders critical time on April 6, and the following day Grant's reinforced army struck back and pushed the Confederate army off the field. The First Great Confederate General: The Life and Career of Albert Sidney Johnston chronicles the life and career of one of the Confederacy's most indispensable generals, and the most senior officer to die in battle during the war. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events in his life, you will learn about Albert Sidney Johnston like you never have before, in no time at all.
Download or read book The Great Partnership written by Christian B Keller and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-07-02 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why were Generals Lee and Jackson so successful in their partner- ship in trying to win the war for the South? What was it about their styles, friendship, even their faith, that cemented them together into a fighting machine that consistently won despite often overwhelming odds against them?The Great Partnership has the power to change how we think about Confederate strategic decision-making and the value of personal relationships among senior leaders responsible for organizational survival. Those relationships in the Confederate high command were particularly critical for victory, especially the one that existed between the two great Army of Northern Virginia generals.It has been over two decades since any author attempted a joint study of the two generals. At the very least, the book will inspire a very lively debate among the thousands of students of Civil War his- tory. At best, it will significantly revise how we evaluate Confederate strategy during the height the war and our understanding of why, in the end, the South lost.
Download or read book The Top 5 Greatest Confederate Generals written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-23 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures and maps. *Includes bibliographies on each general for further reading. With the exception of George Washington, perhaps the most famous general in American history might be Robert E. Lee, despite the fact he led the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia against the Union in the Civil War. Lee had distinguished himself so well before the Civil War that President Lincoln asked him to command the entire Union Army. Lee famously declined, serving his home state of Virginia instead after it seceded. Lee's most famous subordinate, Thomas Jonathan Jackson earned his famous "Stonewall" moniker at the First Battle of Bull Run, when Brigadier-General Bee told his brigade to rally behind Jackson, whose men were standing like a stone wall. Lee's other most famous subordinate was James Longstreet, the man Lee called his "old war horse." Had Longstreet died on the field in early May 1864, he would almost certainly be considered one of the South's biggest heroes. However, it was his performance at Gettysburg and arguments with other Southern generals after the Civil War that tarnished his image. One of the only bright spots in the West for the Confederacy was Irish immigrant Patrick Cleburne, whose successes earned him the nickname "Stonewall of the West." Where so many Confederates were failing, Cleburne's strategic tactics and bold defensive fighting earned him fame and recognition throughout the South, even leading Lee to call him "a meteor shining from a clouded sky." Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest is possibly the war's most controversial soldier. A self-made man with no formal military training, Forrest spent the entire war fighting in the West, becoming the only individual in the war to rise from the rank of Private to Lieutenant General. Forrest has been credited with having killed 30 Union soldiers in combat and having 29 horses shot out from under him.
Download or read book John Bell Hood written by Stephen Hood and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Bell Hood was one of the Confederacy's most successful generals. He died at 48 after a brief illness in August of 1879, leaving behind the first draft of his memoirs Advance and Retreat: Personal Experiences in the United States and Confederate States Armies. Published posthumously the following year, the memoirs immediately became as controve
Download or read book The Encyclopedia of Confederate Generals written by Samuel W. Mitcham and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-05-24 with total page 967 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A renown military historian and frequent television commenter brings to life the generalship of the South during the Civil War in sparkling, information-filled vignettes. For both the Civil War completist and the general reader! Anyone acquainted with the American Civil War will readily recognize the names of the Confederacy’s most prominent generals. Robert E. Lee. Stonewall Jackson. James Longstreet. These men have long been lionized as fearless commanders and genius tacticians. Yet few have heard of the hundreds of generals who led under and alongside them. Men whose battlefield resolve spurred the Confederacy through four years of the bloodiest combat Americans have ever faced. In The Encyclopedia of Confederate Generals, veteran Civil War historian, Samuel W. Mitcham, documents the lives of every Confederate general from birth to death, highlighting their unique contributions to the battlefield and bringing their personal triumphs and tragedies to life. Packed with photos and historical briefings, The Encyclopedia of Confederate Generals belongs on the shelf of every Civil War historian, and preserves in words the legacies once carved in stone.
Download or read book Stealing the General written by Russell S. Bonds and published by Westholme Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In April 1862, 20 Union soldiers crossed Confederate lines to steal a locomotive called the General and destroy a critical Confederate supply line. In the aftermath half the team was executed; the half that escaped received the newly established Medal of Honor. -- publishers description.
Download or read book Braxton Bragg written by Earl J. Hess and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2016-09-02 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a leading Confederate general, Braxton Bragg (1817–1876) earned a reputation for incompetence, for wantonly shooting his own soldiers, and for losing battles. This public image established him not only as a scapegoat for the South's military failures but also as the chief whipping boy of the Confederacy. The strongly negative opinions of Bragg's contemporaries have continued to color assessments of the general's military career and character by generations of historians. Rather than take these assessments at face value, Earl J. Hess's biography offers a much more balanced account of Bragg, the man and the officer. While Hess analyzes Bragg's many campaigns and battles, he also emphasizes how his contemporaries viewed his successes and failures and how these reactions affected Bragg both personally and professionally. The testimony and opinions of other members of the Confederate army--including Bragg's superiors, his fellow generals, and his subordinates--reveal how the general became a symbol for the larger military failures that undid the Confederacy. By connecting the general's personal life to his military career, Hess positions Bragg as a figure saddled with unwarranted infamy and humanizes him as a flawed yet misunderstood figure in Civil War history.
Download or read book General James Longstreet written by Jeffry D. Wert and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-05-26 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: General James Longstreet fought in nearly every campaign of the Civil War, from Manassas (the first battle of Bull Run) to Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chickamauga, Gettysburg, and was present at the surrender at Appomattox. Yet, he was largely held to blame for the Confederacy's defeat at Gettysburg. General James Longstreet sheds new light on the controversial commander and the man Robert E. Lee called “my old war horse.”
Download or read book The Civil Wars of General Joseph E Johnston written by Richard M. McMurry and published by Savas Beatie. This book was released on 2023-01-16 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Joseph Eggleston Johnston was one of the original five full Confederate generals. He graduated West Point in the same 1829 class as Robert E. Lee and served in the War with Mexico, the Seminole Wars in Florida, and in Texas and Kansas. By 1860 Johnston was widely looked upon as one of America’s finest military officers. During the Civil War he commanded armies in Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas and served as commander of the entire Western Theater during a critical period of the war. Johnston’s contributions to the war effort, however, remain a lightning rod of controversy. In The Civil Wars of General Joseph E. Johnston, Richard M. McMurry argues persuasively that the Confederacy’s most lethal enemy was the toxic dissension within the top echelons of its high command. The discord between General Johnston and President Jefferson Davis (and others), which began early in the conflict and only worsened as the months passed, routinely prevented the cooperation and coordination the South needed on the battlefield if it was going to achieve its independence. The result was one failed campaign after another, all of which cumulatively doomed the Southern Confederacy. McMurry’s study is not a traditional military biography but a lively and opinionated conversation about major campaigns and battles, strategic goals and accomplishments, and how these men and their decision-making and leadership abilities directly impacted the war effort. Personalities, argues McMurry, win and lose wars, and the military and political leaders who form the focal point of this study could not have been more different (and in the case of Davis and Johnston, more at odds) when it came to making the important and timely decisions necessary to wage the war effectively. The Civil Wars of General Joseph E. Johnston represents a lifetime of study and contemplation that captures Johnston in a way that has never been accomplished. It sheds fresh light on old controversies and compels readers to think about major wartime events in unique and compelling ways. This first installment begins just before the Civil War and ends on the eve of Johnston taking command of the Army of Tennessee in North Georgia. Here, finally, is the definitive study of how qualities of character played an oversized role in determining the outcome of the Civil War.
Download or read book The Top 10 Greatest Confederate Generals written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by . This book was released on 2013-09-05 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures of each general, and important people, places, and events in their lives. *Includes an original introduction for each general. *Includes a bibliography for each general. Despite the fact that the Civil War began over 150 years ago, it remains one of the most widely debated topics in America today, with Americans arguing over its causes, reenacting its famous battles, and arguing over which general was better than others. Americans continue to be fascinated by the Civil War icons who made the difference between victory and defeat in the war's great battles. In particular, the Confederates have been the most popular topics of Civil War history, Foremost among the South's generals were the icons of the Army of Northern Virginia, led by Robert E. Lee and his most trusted subordinates, James Longstreet, Stonewall Jackson, and JEB Stuart. While that army is the most celebrated, several other Confederate generals left their mark, including Joseph E. Johnston, who Lee replaced in command of his famous army. P.G.T. Beauregard was the Confederate hero at Fort Sumter and led the army at Shiloh after the death of its commander, Albert Sidney Johnston. The Confederacy also had its share of controversial generals, notably Patrick Cleburne and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Cleburne was incredibly effective but controversial after suggesting the South should arm its slaves, while Forrest was controversial for the alleged massacre of black Union soldiers at Fort Pillow.
Download or read book Longstreet written by Elizabeth Varon and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-11-21 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography American Battlefield Trust Prize for History Finalist A “compelling portrait” (Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author) of the controversial Confederate general who later embraced Reconstruction and became an outcast in the South. It was the most remarkable political about-face in American history. During the Civil War, General James Longstreet fought tenaciously for the Confederacy. He was alongside Lee at Gettysburg (and counseled him not to order the ill-fated attacks on entrenched Union forces there). He won a major Confederate victory at Chickamauga and was seriously wounded during a later battle. After the war, Longstreet moved to New Orleans, where he dramatically changed course. He supported Black voting and joined the newly elected, integrated postwar government in Louisiana. When white supremacists took up arms to oust that government, Longstreet, leading the interracial state militia, did battle against former Confederates. His defiance ignited a firestorm of controversy, as white Southerners branded him a race traitor and blamed him retroactively for the South’s defeat in the Civil War. Although he was one of the highest-ranking Confederate generals, Longstreet has never been commemorated with statues or other memorials in the South because of his postwar actions in rejecting the Lost Cause mythology and urging racial reconciliation. He is being discovered in the new age of racial reckoning as “one of the most enduringly relevant voices in American history” (The Wall Street Journal). This is the first authoritative biography in decades and the first that “brilliantly creates the wider context for Longstreet’s career” (The New York Times).
Download or read book Confederate Struggle for Command written by Alexander Mendoza and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Though he has traditionally been saddled with much of the blame for the Confederate loss at Gettysburg, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet was a capable, resourceful, and brave commander. Lee referred to Longstreet as his "Old Warhorse," and Longstreet's men gave him the sobriquet "Bull of the Woods" for his aggressive tactics at Chickamauga." "Now, historian Alexander Mendoza offers a comprehensive analysis of Longstreet's leadership during his seven-month assignment in the Tennessee theater of operations. He concludes that the obstacles to effective command faced by Longstreet during his sojourn in the west had at least as much to do with longstanding grievances and politically motivated prejudices as they did with any personal or military shortcomings of Longstreet himself."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Lieutenant General Jubal A Early Confederate States of America written by Jubal Early and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2013-12 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jubal Early is one of the most interesting generals of the Civil War. While he played important roles at battles like Gettysburg and Monocacy, as well as being the man who led a Confederate army at Fort Stevens, where President Lincoln came under fire, his biggest contributions came after the war. Early's writings helped shape how the Civil War and Confederacy were remembered in the decades after the war, particularly as a Virginian working and contributing toward the Southern Historical Society. He helped shape the Lost Cause, as well as the deification of Robert E. Lee, all while defending the South and justifying the war. Naturally, Early also wrote a memoirs of his time in the Army of Northern Virginia and as a Confederate general throughout the war as well. The memoirs are important not just for Civil War historians but also anyone interested in the Lost Cause as a literary and historiographical movement.
Download or read book Robert E Lee written by Terry Lee Collins and published by Capstone. This book was released on 2011 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Southern General Robert E. Lee felt that it was a mistake for the South to fight in the U.S. Civil War. In spite of his doubts, he led his men to victory in several important battles. But eventually the South lost the war, and Lee had to surrender. Join him as he recalls the biggest battles of the war and teaches his men that they can have dignity even in defeat.
Download or read book Confederate General R S Ewell written by Paul D. Casdorph and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2021-12-14 with total page 719 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard Stoddert Ewell is best known as the Confederate General selected by Robert E. Lee to replace "Stonewall" Jackson as chief of the Second Corps in the Army of Northern Virginia. Ewell is also remembered as the general who failed to drive Federal troops from the high ground of Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg. Many historians believe that Ewell's inaction cost the Confederates a victory in this seminal battle and, ultimately, cost the Civil War. During his long military career, Ewell was never an aggressive warrior. He graduated from West Point and served in the Indian wars in Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, and Arizona. In 1861 he resigned his commission in the U.S. Army and rushed to the Confederate standard. Ewell saw action at First Manassas and took up divisional command under Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign and in the Seven Days' Battles around Richmond. A crippling wound and a leg amputation soon compounded the persistent manic-depressive disorder that had hindered his ability to make difficult decisions on the battlefield. When Lee reorganized the Army of Northern Virginia in May of 1863, Ewell was promoted to lieutenant general. At the same time he married a widowed first cousin who came to dominate his life—often to the disgust of his subordinate officers—and he became heavily influenced by the wave of religious fervor that was then sweeping through the Confederate Army. In Confederate General R.S. Ewell, Paul D. Casdorph offers a fresh portrait of a major—but deeply flawed—figure in the Confederate war effort, examining the pattern of hesitancy and indecisiveness that characterized Ewell's entire military career. This definitive biography probes the crucial question of why Lee selected such an obviously inconsistent and unreliable commander to lead one-third of his army on the eve of the Gettysburg Campaign. Casdorph describes Ewell's intriguing life and career with penetrating insights into his loyalty to the Confederate cause and the Virginia ties that kept him in Lee's favor for much of the war. Complete with riveting descriptions of key battles, Ewell's biography is essential reading for Civil War historians.
