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The Boy of Chancellorville and Other Civil War Stories is an unforgettable collection of stories for and about children during the Civil War, with contributions from American luminaries such as Louisa May Alcott, Ambrose Bierce, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Walt Whitman. The book reveals that the war affected the lives of children differently than their mothers and fathers: some looked at it as a grand adventure and for others it was a puzzling, premature end to childhood. James Marten includes accounts from nearly every viewpoint-boys and girls, Northerners and Southerners, blacks and whites-and various situations, ranging from life on the home front to confronting enemy soldiers to the aftermath of the war. Each story begins with a short introduction to place it in its literary context and explains the author's connection to the war.
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• Preface Acknowledgments I. Slavery and the Coming of War
• 1. And the War Came
• 2. Escape and Revolt in Black and White II. The Lost Cause Revisited
• 3. The Confederacy: A House Divided?
• 4. Was the Best Defense a Good Offense? Jefferson Davis and Confederate Strategies
• 5. The Saratoga That Wasn't: The Impact of Antietam Abroad
• 6. To Conquer a Peace? Lee's Goals in the Gettysburg Campaign
• 7. The Last Rebel: Jesse James
• 8. Long-Legged Yankee Lies: The Lost Cause Textbook Crusade III. Architects of Victory
• 9. "We Stand by Each Other Always": Grant and Sherman
• 10. The Hard Hand of War
• 11. Unvexed to the Sea: Lincoln, Grant, and the Vicksburg Campaign IV. Home Front and Battle Front
• 12. Brahmins at War
• 13. "Spend Much Time in Reading the Daily Papers": The Press and Army Morale in the Civil War
• 14. No Peace Without Victory, 1861-1865 V. Lincoln
• 15. To Remember That He Had Lived
• 16. "As Commander-in-Chief I Have a Right to Take Any Measure Which May Best Subdue the Enemy" Notes Index.
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In the same tradition as Lincoln and the Second American Revolution and Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the Civil War, Pulitzer-prize winner James M. McPherson has gathered an illuminating collection of essays that reflect his latest thinking on the Civil War. Filled with new interpretations and fresh scholarship, these essays address many of the most enduring questions and provocative debates about the Civil War. In some, McPherson distills the wisdom of many years of teaching and writing about the meaning of the war and about slavery and its abolition. In others, he makes use of primary research that breaks new ground on such topics as Confederate military strategy, foreign views of the war, soldiers and the press, the failure of peace negotiations to end the war, and Southern efforts to shape a heroic memory of the war. The selection will include several never-before-published essays, including one on General Robert E. Lee's goals in the Gettysburg campaign, and another on Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief. The book also features a typescript of McPherson's 2000 National Endowment for the Humanities Jefferson Lecture about Lincoln's legacy that has never been published in its complete form. As a whole, these essays provide a rich interpretive history of the Civil War and its meaning for America - indeed for the world.
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• Cover; Half title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Introduction; The First Modern War; The Politics of War; The Citizen Soldier; Making Hard War; The Era of Suspicion; The General as President; The Heritage of Victory; Index.

A fascinating study of the first modern war and its effect on American Culture.
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• Maps; Acknowledgments;
• 1. The Blockade;
• 2. Union Men;
• 3. On Station;
• 4. Closing the Coast;
• 5. Contrabands;
• 6. Henry A. Crane, Unionist;
• 7. Two Ships;
• 8. Conscripts and Deserters;
• 9. William W. Strickland, Deserter;
• 10. United States Second Florida Cavalry;
• 11. Second Infantry Regiment, United States Colored Troops;
• 12. Cattle Raids;
• 13. Changing Relations;
• 14. Civil War: The Squadron's Emblazonment; Appendix: Tables; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands chronicles the role of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron as an important Federal contingent in Florida.
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• LIFE AND MILITARY CAREER OF THOMAS JACKSON
• PREFACE
• CONTENTS.
• CHAPTER I.
• BEFORE THE REBELLION.
• His Military Career an Episode in the History of the Rebellion
• Compared with the Puritan Leaders of England
• Resemblance to Havelock
• Northern Appreciation of his Gallantry
• Birth and Parentage
• Becomes a Student at West-Point
• Slow at Study
• Futile Attempt to play the Flute
• Specimens of Eccentricities
• Graduates
• Class-Mates
• Enters the Army
• Proceeds to Mexico
• Promoted for his Bravery
• Instances of Gallantry
• Retires from the Army.

• Becomes Professor of Mathematics at Lexington, Va.
• Escapes Assassination
• Married
• Becomes a Widower
• Married a Second Time
• CHAPTER II.
• THE UPPER POTOMAC .
• Jackson resigns his Professorship and joins the Confederate Army
• Becomes a Colonel
• Joins Johnston's Forces on the Upper Potomac
• Rebel Evacuation of Harper's Ferry
• Scenes of Devastation
• Encounter with Patterson at Falling Waters
• Jackson's First Display of Strategetic Ability
• Johnston eludes Patterson and joins Beauregard
• Jackson made a Brigadier-General.
• CHAPTER III.
• THE BATTLE OF BULLRUN.

• Jackson's Position at the Opening of the Battle
• His Timely Appearance upon the Principal Scene
• Origin of the Sobriquet "Stonewall"
• Description of the Main Battle-Ground
• Desperate Position of the Confederates
• Terrible Conflicts between the Opposing Forcess
• Gallantry of Jackson's Brigade
• The Federals finally Repulsed
• They become Panic-Stricken
• Reasons why they were not Pursued by the Rebels
• Beauregard's Official Remarks on Jackson's Heroism
• His Appearance on the Field of Battle.
• CHAPTER IV.
• WINTER CAMPAIGN ON THE UPPER POTOMAC.
• Lull in Military Proceedings.

• Jackson placed in Command on the Upper Potomac
• March to Hancock
• Severity of the Weather and Suffering of the Troops
• Skirmish at Bath
• Engagement at Hancock
• Results of the Expedition
• Jackson's Energy as a Commander
• His Endurance of Fatigue
• Illustrations of his Piety.
• CHAPTER V.
• THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER .
• Jackson retires from the Upper Potomac
• Skirmish at Blue's Gap
• Encounter at Blooming Gap
• Death of General Lander
• Harper's Ferry reoccupied by the Federals
• Advance of General Banks to Winchester
• Skirmishes before the Battle.

• Country around Winchester
• Opening of the Engagement
• Terrific Conflict near a Stone Wall
• The Confederates finally repulsed
• Numbers and Losses of the Combatants.
• CHAPTER VI.
• CAMPAIGN IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH
• RETREAT OF GENERAL BANKS.
• Retreat of Jackson up the Valley
• Federal Plans to capture him
• Battle of McDowell
• Compels Banks to retreat
• Battle of Front Royal
• Alarm of General Banks at Strasburgh
• He commences a rapid Retreat
• Disasters by the Way
• Exciting Scenes in Winchester
• Second Battle of Winchester.

"Stonewall" Jackson has been considered by military authorities to be one of the most brilliant commanders of his time. He had a skillful, though sometimes peculiar, style of fighting that could turn the tide of a battle in the Confederate favor and avoid disastrous defeat.

• ""Contents""; ""Illustrations""; ""Preface""; ""Introduction""; ""1. ""A Healthy Bunch of Scrappers""""; ""2. A Fightin' Preacher and His Unruly Flock""; ""3. ""If You Want to Have a Good Time Gine the Cavalry""""; ""4. ""The Yankees Are as Afraid as Death of the Texans""""; ""5. The Swamp Fox Regiment""; ""6. ""They Don't Like Our Mode of Fighting""""; ""7. The Race to Arkansas Post""; ""8. Off to Missouri""; ""9. ""To Strike a Blow for Vicksburg""""; ""10. The Loss of Arkansas""; ""11. Whiskey and Gunpowder Aren't ""Necessary to Enable a Southron to Make a Charge""""

• ""12. The Road to Yellow Bayou""""13. The Last Year""; ""Epilogue""; ""Appendix""; ""Notes""; ""Bibliography""; ""Index""; ""About the Author""

Much of the Civil War west of the Mississippi was a war of waiting for action, of foraging already stripped land for an army that supposedly could provision itself, and of disease in camp, while trying to hold out against Union pressure. There were none of the major engagements that characterized the conflict farther east. Instead, small units of Confederate cavalry and infantry skirmished with Federal forces in Arkansas, Missouri, and Louisiana, trying to hold the western Confederacy together. The many units of Texans who joined this fight had a second objective -- to keep the enemy out of their home state by placing themselves "between the enemy and Texas." Historian Anne J. Bailey studies one Texas unit, Parsons's Cavalry Brigade, to show how the war west of the Mississippi was fought. Historian Norman D. Brown calls this "the definitive study of Parsons's Cavalry Brigade; the story will not need to be told again." Exhaustively researched and written with literary grace, Between the Enemy and Texas is a "must" book for anyone interested in the role of mounted troops in the Trans-Mississippi Department.

• 1. Introduction-- Part I. Lincoln the Politician and Commander in Chief:
• 2. Lincoln's evolving policies regarding slavery: compromise and utilitarianism--
• 3. Habeas corpus, colonization, and the status and rights of free African-Americans--
• 4. Did the union have a just cause for fighting the American civil war?--
• 5. Jus in bello: did the union fight the war justly?--
• 6. Moral luck and Lincoln's good moral luck-- Part II. Lincoln's Moral Character:
• 7. Lincoln's virtues--
• 8. Other salient features of Lincoln's character and personality--
• 9. Lincoln's marriage and family life and what they reveal about his character--
• 10. Was Lincoln a racist?--
• 11. Conclusion.
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Unlike many important leaders and historical figures, Abraham Lincoln is generally regarded as a singularly good and morally virtuous human being. Lincoln's Ethics assesses Lincoln's moral character and his many morally fraught decisions regarding slavery and the rights of African-Americans, as well as his actions and policies as commander in chief during the Civil War. Some of these decisions and policies have been the subject of considerable criticism. Lincoln undoubtedly possessed many important moral virtues, such as kindness and magnanimity, to a very high degree. Despite this, there are also grounds to question the goodness of his character. Many fault him as a husband, father and son, and many claim that he was a racist. Carson explains Lincoln's virtues and assesses these criticisms.
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• Birth of the Western long arm
• "The battery was the common target"
• Missed opportunities
• "Enough of Kentucky"
• Failed lessons : Stones River
• "All hands fixing up the battery"
• Of officers and organization : the artillery infrastructure
• A fateful autumn
• Artillery disaster at Missionary Ridge
• Reorganization at Dalton
• Boots and saddles : retreat to Atlanta
• "Those brave cannoneers"
• The final campaign
• Appendix A : Organizational tables
• Appendix B : Battery profiles
• Appendix C : Prewar military backgrounds.

Winner of the 1984 Mrs. Simon Baruch University Award from the United Daughters of the ConfederacyWinner of the 1984 Fletcher Pratt Award from the Civil War Roundtable of New YorkThis enlarged edition of Cannoneers in Gray provides new detail concerning the activities of artillery units operating in key campaigns of the western theater of the Civil War-at Stones River, Missionary Ridge, Kennesaw Mountain, Shiloh, Peachtree Creek. Larry Daniel traces the four-year history of the artillery branch of the Army of Tennessee from its organization through its demise at the war's end. He shows that Ci.

• Summoned to War, Charged to Patriotism
• Loyalties in Conflict
• The Economic Battlefront
• Domesticity under Siege
• From Patriots to Partisans, and Back Again
• Aiding the Cause, Serving the State
• Saving the Sick, Healing the Nation
• Wartime Emancipation
• American Women and the Enduring Power of the State
• An Ambiguous Legacy.

Daughters of the Union casts a spotlight on some of the most overlooked and least understood participants in the American Civil War: the women of the North. Unlike their Confederate counterparts, who were often caught in the midst of the conflict, most Northern women remained far from the dangers of battle. Nonetheless, they enlisted in the Union cause on their home ground, and the experience transformed their lives. Nina Silber traces the emergence of a new sense of self and citizenship among the women left behind by Union soldiers. She offers a complex account, bolstered by women's own words from diaries and letters, of the changes in activity and attitude wrought by the war. Women became wageearners, participants in partisan politics, and active contributors to the war effort. But even as their political and civic identities expanded, they were expected to subordinate themselves to maledominated government and military bureaucracies. Silber's arresting tale fills an important gap in women's history. She shows the women of the North - many for the first time - discovering their patriotism as well as their ability to confront new economic and political challenges, even as they encountered the obstacles of wartime rule. The Civil War required many women to act with greater independence in running their households and in expressing their political views. It brought women more firmly into the civic sphere and ultimately gave them new public roles, which would prove crucial starting points for the late-nineteenth-century feminist struggle for social and political equality.
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This book casts a spotlight on some of the most overlooked and least understood participants in the American Civil War: the women of the North. Unlike their Confederate counterparts, who were often caught in the midst of the conflict, most Northern women remained far from the dangers of battle. Nonetheless, they enlisted in the Union cause on their home ground, and the experience transformed their lives.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Maps
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Forming the First New Jersey Brigade
• Chapter 2: Into Virginia
• Chapter 3: On to Richmond!
• Chapter 4: The Summer and Fall of 1862
• Chapter 5: Fredericksburg, Terrible Weather, and Sickness
• Chapter 6: Chancellorsville and Gettysburg
• Chapter 7: The Fall Campaign of 1863 and the Winter of 1863-1864
• Chapter 8: The Wilderness and Spotsylvania
• Chapter 9: To Petersburg
• Chapter 10: Washington and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign
• Chapter 11: Defeating General Early
• Chapter 12: Back to Petersburg.

• Appendix A: Regimental Losses in the First Half of the War
• Appendix B: Regimental Losses in the Second Half of the War
• Appendix C: Numbers and Losses of the First New Jersey Brigade
• Appendix D: The Fate of the Men Whose Diaries/Letters Were Quoted
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author.

From the first battle at Bull Run to the surrender of Lee's army at Appomattox four years later, only one federal infantry brigade experienced the entire Civil War as a cohesive unit. While most units were composed of regiments from different states that were disbanded after three years, the First New Jersey Brigade was the enduring exception. Despite the group's remarkable coherency, it started as many military units did during the early stages of the war - a disorganized ragtag outfit that was poorly trained and ill-prepared for battle. This quickly changed, however, with the appointment of General Philip Kearny in the fall of 1861. Kearny transformed the troops, making them among the most disciplined and effective commands in the Army of the Potomac. A series of notable victories earned the soldiers an impressive reputation and, with it, thousands of others voluntarily came forward to enlist. Even when they suffered heavy losses, the New Jersey regiments fought exceptionally well and served key roles in dozens of battles, including the Peninsula, Seven Days, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Early's Valley, and the Petersburg Campaigns. In "Kearny's Own", Bradley M. Gottfried weaves together compelling accounts of battles fought with a wealth of letters and diaries to tell the story of this famous brigade from a uniquely personal perspective. The hopes, fears, and sorrows of the men come through vividly as accounts reveal how civilians were physically and emotionally transformed into soldiers. Primary sources also provide insight to what the war meant to the men who fought for the Union. Fourteen maps illustrate the battles and marches, while detailed appendices include statistical breakdowns of losses and outline the fates of the men whose letters and diaries are used as sources. In this first book published on the subject, Gottfried not only provides a long-overdue history of the First New Jersey Brigade, he offers a human window into the turbulent and trying experiences of war.
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• Introduction / Matthew Warshauer
• Guns and butter : how Connecticut financed the Civil War / James E. Brown
• Mystic shipbuilding and the Union Navy / Diana Moraco
• Patriotism and abolitionism in Civil War-era Windham County / Carol Patterson-Martineau
• Untried to unrivaled : the Fourteenth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry / David C.W. Batch
• The Colt Armory fire : Connecticut and the great Confederate conspiracy / Luke G. Boyd
• Post-traumatic stress disorder in the Civil War : connecticut casualties and a look into the mind / Michael Sturges
• Patriot, soldier, statesman : General Joseph R. Hawley and Civil War commemoration in Connecticut / Todd Jones
• From Decoration Day to the Centennial Commission : Civil War commemoration in Connecticut, 1868-1965 / Emily E. Gifford
• Teaching the past's perspective of the past : Civil War reenactors in Connecticut / Michael Conlin.

This collection of nine original essays provides a rich new understanding of Connecticut's vital role in the Civil War. The book's nine chapters address an array of individual topics that together weave an intricate fabric depicting the state's involvement in this tumultuous period of American history. In-depth examinations of subjects as diverse as the abolitionist movement in Windham County, the shipbuilding industry in Mystic, and post-traumatic stress disorder in Connecticut veterans serve as an excellent companion to Matthew Warshauer's earlier book on the subject, Connecticut in the American Civil War: Slavery, Sacrifice, and Survival. Contributors include David C. W. Batch, Luke G. Boyd, James E. Brown, Michael Conlin, Emily E. Gifford, Todd Jones, Diana Moraco, Carol Patterson-Martineau, and Michael Sturges.
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Had Henry Hopkins Sibley and his Confederate army troops succeeded in capturing New Mexico from the Federals, author Jerry Thompson argues, ""the entire history of the Southern Confederacy might have been radically altered."" In Confederate General of the West , Thompson portrays the life and career of a soldier whose character flaws and leadership weaknesses stood in stark contrast to his sometime military successes and mechanical ingenuity. A veteran of the Mexican-American War, Sibley served in Texas from 1850 to 1855, moving west with his regiment to Kansas and then joining the 1857 Utah Expedition. By the end of 1859 he had moved on to the New Mexico Territory. When the Civil War broke out, Jefferson Davis appointed him to lead an expeditionary force from Texas to seize New Mexico, Colorado, and California. He won a controversial Confederate victory at the Battle of Valverde in 1862-controversial because of his own disreputable performance. In the spring of that year, after defeat at Glorieta Pass, he retreated in disgrace from New Mexico into west Texas and later faced court-martial for his inadequate and often drunken leadership. A later mercenary stint in the Egyptian army also ended for similar reasons. Civil War scholars, students, and enthusiasts will welcome this new paperback edition.
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In 1861 and 1862, in the vast deserts and rugged mountains of the Southwest, eighteen hundred miles from Washington and Richmond, the Civil War raged in a struggle that could have decided the fate of the nation. In the summer and fall of 1861, Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley raised a brigade of young and zealous Texans to invade New Mexico Territory as a step toward the conquest of Colorado and California and the creation of a Confederate empire in the Southwest. Of the Sibley Brigade's sixteen major battles during the war, their most excruciating experiences came during the ill-fated New Mexico Campaign. Civil War in the Southwest tells the dramatic story of that campaign in the words of some of the actual participants. Noted Civil War scholar Jerry Thompson has edited and annotated eighteen episodes written by William Lott ""Old Bill"" Davidson and six other members of Sibley's Brigade that were originally published in a small East Texas newspaper, the Overton Sharp Shooter, in 1887-88. Written ""to set the record straight, "" these veterans' stories provide colorful accounts of the bloody battles of Valverde, Glorieta, and Peralta, as well as details of the soldiers' tragic and painful retreat back to Texas in the summer of 1862. With his extensive knowledge of Sibley's campaign, Thompson has provided context for the eyewitness accounts-and corrections where needed-to produce a campaign history that is intimate and passionate, yet accurate in the smallest detail. History readers will find much to ponder in these unique first-person recollections of a campaign that, had it succeeded, would have radically altered the history of the Southern Confederacy and the United States.
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• CONTENTS; EDITOR'S NOTE; PREFACE; PROLOGUE: "The Joint Resolution 'For Annexing Texas to the United States' Is Finally Passed"; 1 "GOIN' TO TEXAS": Texas in the American Imagination and Politics, 1821-1841; 2 "AND TYLER TOO"; 3 "WE CANNOT CARRY VIRGINIA FOR YOU": Political Earthquake, 1843-1844; 4 "TEXAS WILL BE ANNEXED"; 5 "PROLIFIC OF EVIL AND PREGNANT WITH BLOODY FRUIT"; 6 "NEITHER SLAVERY NOR INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE"; 7 "THEIR HEINOUS SIN": The Long Shadow of Texas; 8 CONCLUSION: "An Element of Overwhelming Ruin to the Republic"; Notes; Bibliographic Essay; Acknowledgments; Index.

In the Spring of 1844, a fiery political conflict erupted over the admission of Texas into the Union, a hard-fought and bitter controversy that profoundly changed the course of American history. Indeed, as Joel Silbey argues in A Fierce Political Storm, the battle over Texas marked the crucial moment when partisan differences were transformed into a North-vs-South antagonism, and the momentum towards Civil War leaped into high gear. One of America's renowned political historians, Silbey offers a swiftly paced and compelling narrative of the Texas imbroglio, with an exceptional cast of characters, including John C. Calhoun, John Quincy Adams, James K. Polk, and Martin Van Buren. He shows in particular how the Van Buren bloc of the Democratic Party-the "Barnburners"-stood at the heart the annexation controversy. We see how a series of unexpected moves, some planned, some inadvertent, sparked a crisis that intensified and crystallized the North-South divide, which then became, for the first time, a driving force in national affairs. Sectionalism, Silbey shows, had often been intense, but rarely widespread and generally well contained by other forces on the political landscape. But after Texas statehood, the political landscape was transformed into one sculpted by implacable sectional differences. The bitter discord over annexation-with slavery the core issue-was the seed from which America's great crisis of union grew, leading ultimately to Southern secession and Civil War. The Texas controversy released demons that were never again pushed back into the bottle. With subtlety, great care, and much imagination, Joel Silbey shows that this brief political struggle became, in the words of an Alabama congressman, "the greatest question of the age"-indeed, a pivotal moment in American history.
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• ""Contents""; ""Preface""; ""1. Holston Methodism""; ""2. Slavery and Free Blacks""; ""3. Identity through Dissent""; ""4. Confederate Ascendancy""; ""5. Union Triumphant""; ""Epilogue: Unreconstructed""; ""Appendix A: Numbers of Traveling Preachers and Local Preachers, Holston Conference, 1838â??1860""; ""Appendix B: Local Preachers Elected to Deaconâ€?s or Elderâ€?s Orders in the Holston Conference, 1824â??1860""; ""Appendix C: Membership in the Holston Conference, 1824â??1860""; ""Notes""; ""Bibliography""; ""Index""

The Civil War in Southern Appalachian Methodism addresses a much-neglected topic in both Appalachian and Civil War history-the role of organized religion in the sectional strife and the war itself. Meticulously researched, well written, and full of fresh facts, this new book brings an original perspective to the study of the conflict and the region. In many important respects, the actual Civil War that began in 1861 unveiled an internal civil war within the Holston Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South-comprising churches in southwestern Virginia, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and a small portion of northern Georgia-that had been waged surreptitiously for the previous five decades. This work examines the split within the Methodist Church that occurred with mounting tensions over the slavery question and the rise of the Confederacy. Specifically, it looks at how the church was changing from its early roots as a reform movement grounded in a strong local pastoral ministry to a church with a more intellectual, professionalized clergy that often identified with Southern secessionists. The author has mined an exhaustive trove of primary sources, especially the extensive, yet often-overlooked minutes from frequent local and regional Methodist gatherings. He has also explored East Tennessee newspapers and other published works on the topic. The author's deep research into obscure church records and other resources results not only in a surprising interpretation of the division within the Methodist Church but also new insights into the roles of African Americans, women, and especially lay people and local clergy in the decades prior to the war and through its aftermath. In addition, Dunn presents important information about what the inner Civil War was like in East Tennessee, an area deeply divided between Union and Confederate sympathizers. Students and scholars of religious history, southern history, and Appalachian studies will be enlightened by this volume and its bold new way of looking at the history of the Methodist Church and this part of the nation.
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• Prologue: Battleground
• 1. Union: 1860
• 2. Revolution: 1861
• 3. Liberty: 1862
• 4. Emancipation: 1862
• 5. Bloodfield: 1863
• 6. On Home Ground: 1864 Epilogue: United or Untied?
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The American Civil War (1861-65) remains a searing event in the collective consciousness of the United States. It was one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern history, claiming the lives of at least 600,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians and slaves. The Civil War was also one of the world's first truly industrial conflicts, involving railroads, the telegraph, steamships and mass-manufactured weaponry. The eventual victory of the Union over the Confederacy rang the death-knell for American slavery, and set the USA on the path to becoming a truly world power. Paul Christopher Anderson shows how and why the conflict remains the nation's defining moment, arguing that it was above all a struggle for power and political supremacy but was also a struggle for the idea of America. Melding social, cultural and military history, the author explores iconic battles like Shiloh, Chickamauga, Antietam and Gettysburg, as well as the bitterly contesting forces underlying them and the myth-making that came to define them in aftermath. He shows that while both sides began the war in order to preserve - the integrity of the American state in the case of the Union, the integrity of a culture, a value system, and as slave society in the case of the Confederacy - it allowed the American South to define a regional identity that has survived into modern times.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)