Struggle for the Shenandoah: Essays on the 1864 valley campaign

by Gary W. Gallagher (Editor)

The product of a symposium held in 1989, this book of essays provides an introduction to the cardinal aspects of an important American Civil War campaign. The authors disagree on the relative importance of certain operations or leaders in the valley.

Genres: American Civil War, Civil War Eastern Theater, Essays, Military History, Civil War

137 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Gary W. Gallagher, the John L. Nau III Professor of History at the University of Virginia, is the author or editor of many books in the field of Civil War history, including The Confederate War; Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War; and The Union War.

Reviews

[Josh Liller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1991, this is one of the older books in the Gallagher essay series. This entry in the series deals with aspects of the 1864 Shenandoah Valley campaign. As seems to be standard for this subject, the campaign is narrow in scope to only the battles between Sheridan and Early.

Give the age and subject it may seem surprising that this is one of the stronger entries in the series. Gallagher provides an overview of the campaign and does manage to touch briefly on some of the related events beyond the fall fighting between Sheridan and Early (Sigel, Hunter, Early's close approach to Washington). Jeffry Wert provides an even-handed appraisal of Jubal Early's generalship while A. Wilson Greene gives Phil Sheridan a similiar treatment. Robert Krick breaks down the weaknesses of Early's cavalry, tracing problems through not only the cavalry leaders but back to Turner Ashby as well. Dennis Frye wraps things up by looking at what impact John Mosby's partisan rangers had on the campaign (short answer: not much). All the essays are solid and effective.