The Dahlgren Affair: Terror and Conspiracy in the Civil War

by Duane P. Schultz

The first full-length analysis of a little-studied aspect of the Civil War demonstrates how a failed Yankee cavalry raid set off a campaign of terror waged by the Confederacy, which may have manufactured the incident to justify its actions. 12,500 first printing.

Genres: Civil War, History, American Civil War, Nonfiction

298 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

More than a story about the miserable failure that was the Kilpatrick-Dahlgren raid this book interleaves stories about the raid, espionage operations of Elizabeth Van Lew as well as the Northwest Conspiracy operations of Thomas Hines. While somewhat challenging to follow at times due to the back and forth nature the book provides background and details of successes and failures in each of these areas as well as the behind the scenes political machinations that occurred both before and after the raid. The author links the Dahlgren papers, which he argues were forged, to the authorization by the Confederate government of the Northwest Conspiracy operations. Historians have come down on both sides of the fence in regards to the authenticity of the Dahlgren papers, but at this point no clear answer will likely ever be known. The reader is left to judge after considering the arguments. Overall an enjoyable work.

[Katherine Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solidly good book about the Dahlgren Affair. Schultz picks apart what was going on on both sides that led up to the raid (and boy does he---rightly---have no use for Judson Kilpatrick) and then goes into what the Confederacy used the Dahlgren papers as an excuse to try to do. He argues that it was out of character for Dahlgren to have made up his own orders to assassinate Jefferson Davis, and that even if he HAD, he would have had the basic intelligence to DESTROY THE PAPERS when the raid failed. Schultz also makes it clear WHY the Confederacy might have wanted to forge those incindiary orders. He doesn't come down solidly on either side, but he makes a pretty good case for the Dahlgren papers being forgeries.

The series of failed Confederate terrorist attacks in what was then the American northwest (and the one semi-success in New York) is horrifying when you imagine what might have happened if they had succeeded.

[Darryl Updegrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read. A bit of Civil War history I knew nothing about. I realized how far we've come in our expectations of war versus that time (not going to say whether for good or bad; let the reader decide). I realized while reading that photographs, only recently being utilized regularly, would have such an impact on understanding the controversy underlying this event.

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not expecting this book to be as interesting as it was. It is about a little discussed controversy of the Civil War, and I believe even non historical readers will be entertained by this book. The writing is so well done and the material is so interesting that this has to be one of my favorite civil war books.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Col. Ulrich Dahlgren lead a portion of a Federal cavalry raid on Richmond designed to free POWs from Belle Island and Libby Prison. The raid didn't go so well for the Yankees and Dahlgren was killed. Papers were recovered from his body which indicated that in addition to freeing POWs the purpose of the raid had also been the assassination of President Davis and his cabinet. Debate about the authenticity of the papers began immediately and has continued until today. Schultz comes down on the side of forgery. Other noted Civil War historians, Stephen Sears comes to mind, believe the papers were genuine. As the papers disappered shortly after the war, we will probably never know. [return][return]This was the first book length examination of the raid since the 1950s. Schultz does a good job documenting the raid. He also discusses Confederate attempts to conduct irregular warfare against civilian targets in the North. Well worth reading.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read from Schultz. This is the story of a failed raid on Richmond to rescue some prisoners. Dahlgren was a Colenel for the North who was killed in the debacle of a raid. Some papers where found near him which I believe were a forgery, they relayed planned attrocities on Jefferson Davis and Richmond, used as a battle cry for the sound. Good read if you laike stories during the civil war. This is not hugely significant, but an interesting story and well written. .

[Tom Darrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

An admirable attempt but weakly executed. Well-researched, but the huge amount of information often weakens the narative structure. Many decent points are made, but the author never fully ties them all together.