What do you think?
Generals in Blue and Gray
The twenty-one profiles of Confederate generals in this volume chronicle the South's war effort. Familiar leaders such as Lee, Jackson, and Stuart are each covered, as are the notorious Nathan Bedford Forrest, Episcopalian bishop Leonidas Polk, and John C. Breckinridge, who ran against Lincoln in 1860 and briefly served in the U.S. Senate. With the same accessible style of the first volume, Jones shows how the outcome of battles, campaigns, and even entire theaters often depended on individual commanders.
464 pages, Paperback
First published March 17, 2006
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
September 27, 2019
I have the 2004 Stackpole softcover edition of the book, which is quite fetching. The front- and back-covers of the book are over-long and fold into inside dustcovers, something I hadn't seen before. The outer covers have a lacquered sheen and the pages of the book are hewn in such a manner that they form undulating ridges when lying unopened, giving the book an aged appearance.
This volume covers the lives of about 20 confederate generals. 'With a focus on character, ability to command, personality and how these factors would influence military decisions, each general comes to life'. Here are a few of the generals whose lives are described in the book:
Braxton Bragg was a cantankerous old codger whose men despised him. Yet he was courageous and more importantly, had fought alongside Jefferson Davis during the war against Mexico so his friend Davis retained him as a leading general, much to the dismay of many.
No one expected great things of Stonewall Jackson. As an instructor at Virginia Military Institute, he failed miserably. He taught optics, analytical mathematics, and astronomy but struggled because he did not fully understand these subjects himself but got by through judicious use of a photographic memory. For instance, ''When a student asked a question or said he did not understand, Jackson merely repeated what he had said in the same words in the same way... When a cadet listed the three simple machines of physics as the inclined plane, the lever, and the wheel, Jackson corrected him saying, 'No sir. The lever, the wheel, and the inclined plane', as they had been listed in the texbook."
Jackson was also somewhat weak-sighted. One of his pupils recalled "We used to annoy Jackson a great deal by catcalls, dog barks, etc. One day I was imitating a puppy. He tried in vain to find the cause, much worried. Finally said, 'There seems to be a puppy in the room.'". So it went with Jackson as a teacher.
Yet this was the same man whose 'stonewall' defense at the First Battle of Bull Run saved the South from a defeat. And his Shenandoah Valley Campaign is still studied at military institutions today as a textbook example of how a smaller force can tie down a much larger one without being being destroyed through hit and run tactics.
Robert E. Lee was a distinguished graduate of West Point and later its superintendent. When the Civil War commenced, he was offered command of the Union Army. Instead, he declined and joined the South, where he was initially known as a timid general.
Patrick Cleburne was an Irishman who immigrated to the US to seek a better life. He owned no slaves yet out of loyalty to his local community enlisted in the Confederate army as private, going on to end his life as an accomplished major general.
Bedford Forrest was a cunning strategist with a opinionated, violent disposition. As a leader during the war he was ruthless and quite successful. Killing came easily for him. After the war, late in his life, he repented his ways and tried to make peace with all, including African Americans. This angered several of his peers.
James Longstreet was arguably the South's most able general. At war's end, he was a hero to the people of the South and to the men who fought under him. However, they quickly turned on him when he published a letter in The New York Times urging recounciliation and cooperation with the despised Republican party (Lincoln was a Republican.). He was then forced to spend the rest of his life defending his beliefs and his legacy.
John Bell Hood was tall, wide at the shoulders and narrow at the hip, every inch of him a fighter. Sad of eye and auburn of hair, women adored him and he them. Yet he was favored as an opponent by Union generals, for although they knew Hood's army would strike fast and strike hard, Hood did not stop to consider the situation before he attacked. And the situation was that Union forces outnumbered Confederate forces handily so going toe to toe against the Union army was a losing proposition in the long run.
Like Longstreet, Jubal A. Early was another West Point graduate who chose to fight for the South. When the Confederacy was defeated in 1865, Early fled to Mexico to live in exile rather than surrender to the 'damned Yankees'.
And so the list goes on.
This is a good read. Even more interesting than reading about Napoleon's Marshalls.
This volume covers the lives of about 20 confederate generals. 'With a focus on character, ability to command, personality and how these factors would influence military decisions, each general comes to life'. Here are a few of the generals whose lives are described in the book:
Braxton Bragg was a cantankerous old codger whose men despised him. Yet he was courageous and more importantly, had fought alongside Jefferson Davis during the war against Mexico so his friend Davis retained him as a leading general, much to the dismay of many.
No one expected great things of Stonewall Jackson. As an instructor at Virginia Military Institute, he failed miserably. He taught optics, analytical mathematics, and astronomy but struggled because he did not fully understand these subjects himself but got by through judicious use of a photographic memory. For instance, ''When a student asked a question or said he did not understand, Jackson merely repeated what he had said in the same words in the same way... When a cadet listed the three simple machines of physics as the inclined plane, the lever, and the wheel, Jackson corrected him saying, 'No sir. The lever, the wheel, and the inclined plane', as they had been listed in the texbook."
Jackson was also somewhat weak-sighted. One of his pupils recalled "We used to annoy Jackson a great deal by catcalls, dog barks, etc. One day I was imitating a puppy. He tried in vain to find the cause, much worried. Finally said, 'There seems to be a puppy in the room.'". So it went with Jackson as a teacher.
Yet this was the same man whose 'stonewall' defense at the First Battle of Bull Run saved the South from a defeat. And his Shenandoah Valley Campaign is still studied at military institutions today as a textbook example of how a smaller force can tie down a much larger one without being being destroyed through hit and run tactics.
Robert E. Lee was a distinguished graduate of West Point and later its superintendent. When the Civil War commenced, he was offered command of the Union Army. Instead, he declined and joined the South, where he was initially known as a timid general.
Patrick Cleburne was an Irishman who immigrated to the US to seek a better life. He owned no slaves yet out of loyalty to his local community enlisted in the Confederate army as private, going on to end his life as an accomplished major general.
Bedford Forrest was a cunning strategist with a opinionated, violent disposition. As a leader during the war he was ruthless and quite successful. Killing came easily for him. After the war, late in his life, he repented his ways and tried to make peace with all, including African Americans. This angered several of his peers.
James Longstreet was arguably the South's most able general. At war's end, he was a hero to the people of the South and to the men who fought under him. However, they quickly turned on him when he published a letter in The New York Times urging recounciliation and cooperation with the despised Republican party (Lincoln was a Republican.). He was then forced to spend the rest of his life defending his beliefs and his legacy.
John Bell Hood was tall, wide at the shoulders and narrow at the hip, every inch of him a fighter. Sad of eye and auburn of hair, women adored him and he them. Yet he was favored as an opponent by Union generals, for although they knew Hood's army would strike fast and strike hard, Hood did not stop to consider the situation before he attacked. And the situation was that Union forces outnumbered Confederate forces handily so going toe to toe against the Union army was a losing proposition in the long run.
Like Longstreet, Jubal A. Early was another West Point graduate who chose to fight for the South. When the Confederacy was defeated in 1865, Early fled to Mexico to live in exile rather than surrender to the 'damned Yankees'.
And so the list goes on.
This is a good read. Even more interesting than reading about Napoleon's Marshalls.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review