Lee's Endangered Left: The Civil War in Western Virginia Spring of 1864

by Richard R. Duncan

In the spring of 1864, Ulysses S. Grant devised a plan of action to bring down the Confederacy. He aimed to destroy General Lee's source of supplies in western Virginia and to use military activity there as an extended turning movement to threaten Lee from the west. This study offers an overview of military operations in western Virginia during the period and their impact on the civilian population, shedding light on an overlooked chapter of the Civil War. Includes b&w maps. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

346 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1999

Reviews

[Sean Chick]

Duncan just can't make this topic interesting. His stilted prose meanders and lacks the clarity of Cozzens, the poetry of Catton, or the action of Rhea to name a few. Really a shame too, since this campaign was just crying out for more coverage.

[Pete Smith]

This book covers all the related events around the Siegel and Hunter campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley. It’s a pretty straight-forward book without much flair or sense of the dramatic, simply laying out a well-researched timeline of events in text and a couple of poorly rendered maps. It did what it said it would: cover the events of 1864, and then abruptly ends the narrative without connecting any dots of major events to come. It was fine, but didn’t really bring any of the events or characters to life.