Lincoln's Political Generals

Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men

The Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War: With a New Introductory Essay

Eric Foner

Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men has been recognized as a classic, an indispensable contribution to our understanding of the causes of the American Civil War. A key work in establishing political ideology as a major concern of modern Americanhistorians, it remains the only full-scale evaluation of the ideas of the early Republican party. modern American historical writing.

Patriotic Toil

Northern Women and the American Civil War

Jeanie Attie

During the Civil War, the United States Sanitary Commission attempted to replace female charity networks and traditions of voluntarism with a centralized organization that would ensure women's support for the war effort served an elite, liberal vision of nationhood. Coming after years of debate over women's place in the democracy and status as citizens, soldier relief work offered women an occasion to demonstrate their patriotism and their rights to inclusion in the body politic. Exploring the economic and ideological conflicts that surrounded women's unpaid labors on behalf of the Union army, Jeanie Attie reveals the impact of the Civil War on the gender structure of nineteenth-century America. She illuminates how the war became a testing ground for the gendering of political rights and the ideological separation of men's and women's domains of work and influence. Attie draws on letters by hundreds of women in which they reflect on their political awakenings at the war's outbreak and their increasing skepticism of national policies as the conflict dragged on. Her book integrates the Civil War into the history of American gender relations and the development of feminism, providing a nuanced analysis of the relationship among gender construction, class development, and state formation in nineteenth-century America.

Harriet Tubman

The Road to Freedom

Catherine Clinton

With impeccable scholarship that draws on newly available sources and research into the daily lives of slaves, "Harriet Tubman" is an enduring work on one of the most important figures in American history.

Lee's Last Retreat

The Flight to Appomattox

William Marvel

A chronicle of the last days of the Civil War examines Lee's final retreat and subsequent surrender at Appomattox.

This Mighty Scourge

Perspectives on the Civil War

James M. McPherson

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom and the New York Times bestseller Crossroads of Freedom, among many other award-winning books, James M. McPherson is America's preeminent Civil War historian. Now, in this collection of provocative and illuminating essays, McPherson offers fresh insight into many of the most enduring questions about one of the defining moments in our nation's history.McPherson sheds light on topics large and small, from the average soldier's avid love of newspapers to the postwar creation of the mystique of a Lost Cause in the South. Readers will find insightful pieces on such intriguing figures as Harriet Tubman, John Brown, Jesse James, and William Tecumseh Sherman, and on such vital issues as Confederate military strategy, the failure of peace negotiations to end the war, and the realities and myths of the Confederacy. This Mighty Scourge includes several never-before-published essays--pieces on General Robert E. Lee's goals in the Gettysburg campaign, on Lincoln and Grant in the Vicksburg campaign, and on Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief. In that capacity, Lincoln invented the concept of presidential war powers that are again at the center of controversy today. All of the essays have been updated and revised to give the volume greater thematic coherence and continuity, so that it can be read in sequence as an interpretive history of the war and its meaning for America and the world.Combining the finest scholarship with luminous prose, and packed with new information and fresh ideas, this book brings together the most recent thinking by the nation's leading authority on the Civil War. It will be must reading for everyone interested in the war and American history.

A New Birth of Freedom

Abraham Lincoln and the Coming of the Civil War

Harry V. Jaffa

This book represents the culmination of over a half a century of study and reflection by Jaffa, and continues his piercing examination of the political thought of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln's Political Generals

David Work

At the beginning of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln sought to bind important political leaders to the Union by appointing them as generals. The task was formidable: he had to find enough qualified officers to command a military that would fight along a front that stretched halfway across the continent. West Point hadn't graduated enough officers, and many of its best chose to fight for the Confederacy. Lincoln needed loyal men accustomed to organization, administration, and command. He also needed soldiers, and political generals brought with them their constituents and patronage power. As the war proceeded, the value of the political generals became a matter of serious dispute. Could politicians make the shift from a political campaign to a military one? Could they be trusted to fight? Could they avoid destructive jealousies and the temptations of corruption? And with several of the generals being Irish or German immigrants, what effect would ethnic prejudices have on their success or failure? In this book, David Work examines Lincoln's policy of appointing political generals to build a national coalition to fight and win the Civil War. Work follows the careers of sixteen generals through the war to assess their contributions and to ascertain how Lincoln assessed them as commander-in-chief. Eight of the generals began the war as Republicans and eight as Democrats. Some commanded armies, some regiments. Among them were some of the most famous generals of the Union--such as Francis P. Blair Jr., John A. Dix, John A. Logan, James S. Wadsworth--and others whose importance has been obscured by more dramatic personalities. Work finds that Lincoln's policy was ultimately successful, as these generals provided effective political support and made important contributions in military administration and on the battlefield. Although several of them proved to be poor commanders, others were effective in exercising influence on military administration and recruitment, slavery policy, and national politics.

Lincoln's Political Generals

The Battlefield Performance of Seven Controversial Appointees

Benton Rain Patterson

Lincoln's most controversial generals--his so-called "political generals"--were appointed, promoted or kept in service for political purposes without regard for their competence. "It seems but little better than murder," the Army's general in chief, Henry Halleck, protested, "to give important commands to such men." The book shows these seven generals--Butler, Banks, Sigel, Fremont, McClernand, Hurlbut and Wallace--in action, allowing readers to decide for themselves if Halleck was right in his withering assessment of Lincoln's political generals.

Decided on the Battlefield

Grant, Sherman, Lincoln and the Election of 1864

David Alan Johnson

In the summer of 1864, the American Civil War had been dragging on for over three years with no end in sight. Things had not gone well for the Union, and the public blamed the president for the stalemate against the Confederacy and for the appalling numbers of killed and wounded. Lincoln was thoroughly convinced that without a favorable change in the trajectory of the war he would have no chance of winning a second term against former Union general George B. McClellan, whom he had previously dismissed as commander of the Army of the Potomac. This vivid, engrossing account of a critical year in American history examines the events of 1864, when the course of American history might have taken a radically different direction. It’s no exaggeration to say that if McClellan had won the election, everything would have been different—McClellan and the Democrats planned to end the war immediately, grant the South its independence, and let the Confederacy keep its slaves. What were the crucial factors that in the end swung public sentiment in favor of Lincoln? Johnson focuses on the battlefield campaigns of Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. While Grant was waging a war of attrition with superior manpower against the quick and elusive rebel forces under General Robert E. Lee, Sherman was fighting a protracted battle in Georgia against Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston. But then the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, made a tactical error that would change the whole course of the war. This lively narrative, full of intriguing historical facts, brings to life an important series of episodes in our nation’s history. History and Civil War buffs will not want to put down this real-life page-turner.

Lincoln and His Cabinet

Wikipedians

Lincoln and his Cabinet A study of the American Civil War must include a look at the men who made the policies that drove armies in the field. Lincoln and his Cabinet is an account of the life of Abraham Lincoln. It is also a multiple biography of the entire team of personal and political competitors that he put together to lead the country through its greatest crisis. This biographical book about President Lincoln and the men in his Cabinet fills a void in Civil War literature. It provides a new and easy reference to the lifes of the politicians who pulled the levers behind the curtain and who are themselves as important as the Generals in the field. President Lincoln's cabinet included all of his major rivals for the Republican nomination for President in 1860 including William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Simon Cameron and Edward Bates. Lincoln did not shy away from surrounding himself with strong-minded men, even those whose credentials for office appeared to be much more impressive than his own. Lincoln attempted to reach out to every faction of his party with a special emphasis on balancing anti-slavery former Whigs with former free-soil Democrats. It seems clear that his goal was not to create a "War Cabinet" (because he did not expect war), but to create a cabinet that would unite the party: a team of rivals. Before the War ended, of the four leading vote-getters for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination that Lincoln placed on his original team, three left during his first term. Only Seward endured throughout the Civil War. The biographies of Lincoln and the fifteen men who served in his Administration provide a fascinating look at the men and the politics of the Civil War. About the Editor Joe Mieczkowski is a Civil War living historian and educator. Having received his Bachelor's Degree from Salem College and his Master's Degree from Pennsylvania State University, Joe's education provided the foundation to support his 37 year career with the Social Security Administration. He retired from federal service as the Area Director in Harrisburg, PA. Joe is an Adjunct Professor for local community colleges, teaching courses in various aspects of American History, including Rival Teams, The Lincoln and Davis Administration. While doing research for a battlefield program Joe realized there were few succinct sources of information concerning the Civil War Cabinets and decided to create a book on the topic. He is a Licensed Battlefield and Town Guide for the Gettysburg National Military Park, and is a Past President of the Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable. Joe is a resident of Fairfield, PA, where he lives with his wife, Chris. About Wikipedia in Print Book Series The Wikipedia in Print Book Series represents a novel and innovative approach to publishing. It focusses on distinctive niche topics that were not covered by the traditional book market before. Expert editors from a wide variety of backgrounds compile the titles from mindfully selected and thoroughly reviewed Wikipedia articles. This careful curation results in a series that reflects the vibrant and diverse agendas which characterize the contemporary public discourse as well as the ongoing and fruitful efforts to build a system that will allow every human being to share in the sum of all knowledge.

Conflict of Command

George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln, and the Politics of War

George C. Rable

Winner of the Barondess/Lincoln Award Winner of the Austin Civil War Round Table Book Prize Finalist for the American Battlefield Trust Book Prize The fraught relationship between Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan is well known, so much so that many scholars rarely question the standard narrative casting the two as foils, with the Great Emancipator inevitably coming out on top over his supposedly feckless commander. In Conflict of Command, acclaimed Civil War historian George C. Rable rethinks that stance, providing a new understanding of the interaction between the president and his leading wartime general by reinterpreting the political aspects of their partnership. Rable pays considerable attention to Lincoln’s cabinet, Congress, and newspaper editorials, revealing the role each played in shaping the dealings between the two men. While he surveys McClellan’s military campaigns as commander of the Army of the Potomac, Rable focuses on the political fallout of the fighting rather than the tactical details. This broadly conceived approach highlights the army officers and enlisted men who emerged as citizen-soldiers and political actors. Most accounts of the Lincoln-McClellan feud solely examine one of the two individuals, and the vast majority adopt a steadfast pro-Lincoln position. Taking a more neutral view, Rable deftly shows how the relationship between the two developed in a political context and ultimately failed spectacularly, profoundly altering the course of the Civil War itself.

Campfire and Battlefield

A History of the Campaigns and Conflicts of the Great Civil War in the United States, the Spanish-American War, the War in the Philippines, the Boxer War in China

Rossiter Johnson

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