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Civil War Journal: The Leaders
This is the first book in a series of three developed from the popular History Channel series Civil War Journal. The Leaders explores the Federals and Confederates who had the greatest influence on how the war was fought. Illustrated and indexed.
- GenresCivil War
480 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1997
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August 23, 2009
"Civil War Journal" was a series that I enjoyed immensely when it began its telecast run in the 1990s. This volume is one of the print outcomes of that project, edited by William Davis, Brian Pohanka, and Don Troiani (a well respected artist).
The focus of this volume is the leaders. There is parallelism in numbers of chapters on Union and Confederate leaders. In addition, there is a chapter on John Brown and another on West Point classmates (many leaders on opposite sides of the Civil War still retained respect and friendship with their putative enemies). The chapter on West Point classmates is especially interesting, as it lays out the bonds developed there--and how these affected interactions among classmates later on (e.g., George Custer sometimes crossed the battle lines to attend a wedding or birthday of a classmate--page 51).
Who are some of the subjects of this volume? On the Confederate side, we see Jefferson Davis (formerly a combat officer in the Mexican War as well as Secretary of War), Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, Jeb Stuart, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and John Singleton Mosby). Union leaders? George McLellan, Ulysses Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, Winfield Scott Hancock, Daniel Sickles, Phil Sheridan, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Other chapters" Frederick Douglass and "Boy Generals."
A bit more detail on one of the chapters might be useful. The chapter on the "Boy Generals" focuses on youthful leaders. Stephen Ramseur was a general by age 25. William Roberts was the youngest Confederate general by age 23; Union general Gelusha Pennypacker attained general's rank at age twenty! Other "boy generals"--George Custer, Fitzhugh Lee, Micah Jenkins, Nelson Miles, Francis Barlow, Emory Upton, and so on. Fascinating reading!
Sometimes, there is not the detail that I would like, but this still does well at what it
The focus of this volume is the leaders. There is parallelism in numbers of chapters on Union and Confederate leaders. In addition, there is a chapter on John Brown and another on West Point classmates (many leaders on opposite sides of the Civil War still retained respect and friendship with their putative enemies). The chapter on West Point classmates is especially interesting, as it lays out the bonds developed there--and how these affected interactions among classmates later on (e.g., George Custer sometimes crossed the battle lines to attend a wedding or birthday of a classmate--page 51).
Who are some of the subjects of this volume? On the Confederate side, we see Jefferson Davis (formerly a combat officer in the Mexican War as well as Secretary of War), Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, Jeb Stuart, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and John Singleton Mosby). Union leaders? George McLellan, Ulysses Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, Winfield Scott Hancock, Daniel Sickles, Phil Sheridan, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Other chapters" Frederick Douglass and "Boy Generals."
A bit more detail on one of the chapters might be useful. The chapter on the "Boy Generals" focuses on youthful leaders. Stephen Ramseur was a general by age 25. William Roberts was the youngest Confederate general by age 23; Union general Gelusha Pennypacker attained general's rank at age twenty! Other "boy generals"--George Custer, Fitzhugh Lee, Micah Jenkins, Nelson Miles, Francis Barlow, Emory Upton, and so on. Fascinating reading!
Sometimes, there is not the detail that I would like, but this still does well at what it
Displaying 1 of 1 review