Commander Of All Lincolns Armies

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Commander of All Lincoln’s Armies

Author : John F. Marszalek
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674040643
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis Commander of All Lincoln’s Armies by : John F. Marszalek

Download or read book Commander of All Lincoln’s Armies written by John F. Marszalek and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the summer of 1862, President Lincoln called General Henry W. Halleck to Washington, D.C., to take command of all Union armies in the death struggle against the Confederacy. For the next two turbulent years, Halleck was Lincoln's chief war advisor, the man the President deferred to in all military matters. Yet, despite the fact that he was commanding general far longer than his successor, Ulysses S. Grant, he is remembered only as a failed man, ignored by posterity. In the first comprehensive biography of Halleck, the prize-winning historian John F. Marszalek recreates the life of a man of enormous achievement who bungled his most important mission. When Lincoln summoned him to the nation's capital, Halleck boasted outstanding qualifications as a military theorist, a legal scholar, a brave soldier, and a California entrepreneur. Yet in the thick of battle, he couldn't make essential decisions. Unable to produce victory for the Union forces, he saw his power become subsumed by Grant's emergent leadership, a loss that paved the way for Halleck's path to obscurity. Harnessing previously unused research, as well as the insights of modern medicine and psychology, Marszalek unearths the seeds of Halleck's fatal wartime indecisiveness in personality traits and health problems. In this brilliant dissection of a rich and disappointed life, we gain new understanding of how the key decisions of the Civil War were taken, as well as insight into the making of effective military leadership.

Tried by War

Author : James M. McPherson
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1440652457
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (46 download)

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Book Synopsis Tried by War by : James M. McPherson

Download or read book Tried by War written by James M. McPherson and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-10-07 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "James M. McPherson’s Tried by War is a perfect primer . . . for anyone who wishes to understand the evolution of the president’s role as commander in chief. Few historians write as well as McPherson, and none evoke the sound of battle with greater clarity." —The New York Times Book Review The Pulitzer Prize–winning author reveals how Lincoln won the Civil War and invented the role of commander in chief as we know it As we celebrate the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, this study by preeminent, bestselling Civil War historian James M. McPherson provides a rare, fresh take on one of the most enigmatic figures in American history. Tried by War offers a revelatory (and timely) portrait of leadership during the greatest crisis our nation has ever endured. Suspenseful and inspiring, this is the story of how Lincoln, with almost no previous military experience before entering the White House, assumed the powers associated with the role of commander in chief, and through his strategic insight and will to fight changed the course of the war and saved the Union.

Commander in Chief

Author : Geoffrey Perret
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 13 : 1429923083
Total Pages : 468 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (299 download)

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Book Synopsis Commander in Chief by : Geoffrey Perret

Download or read book Commander in Chief written by Geoffrey Perret and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2008-01-22 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq Made The Commander In Chief and Foretell the Future of America This is a story of ever-expanding presidential powers in an age of unwinnable wars. Harry Truman and Korea, Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam, George W. Bush and Iraq: three presidents, three ever broader interpretations of the commander in chief clause of the Constitution, three unwinnable wars, and three presidential secrets. Award-winning presidential biographer and military historian Geoffrey Perret places these men and events in the larger context of the post-World War II world to establish their collective legacy: a presidency so powerful it undermines the checks and balances built into the Constitution, thereby creating a permanent threat to the Constitution itself. In choosing to fight in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq, Truman, Johnson, and Bush alike took counsel of their fears, ignored the advice of the professional military and major allies, and were influenced by facts kept from public view. Convinced that an ever-more powerful commander in chief was the key to victory, they misread the moment. Since World War II wars have become tests of stamina rather than strength, and more likely than not they sow the seeds of future wars. Yet recent American presidents have chosen to place their country in the forefront of fighting them. In the course of doing so, however, they gave away the secret of American power—for all its might, the United States can be defeated by chaos and anarchy.

Lincoln's Lieutenants

Author : Stephen W. Sears
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0544826256
Total Pages : 901 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (448 download)

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Book Synopsis Lincoln's Lieutenants by : Stephen W. Sears

Download or read book Lincoln's Lieutenants written by Stephen W. Sears and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-04-25 with total page 901 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A multilayered group biography of the Civil War commanders who led the Army of the Potomac: “a staggering work . . . by a masterly historian” (Kirkus, starred review). The high command of the Army of the Potomac was a changeable, often dysfunctional band of brothers, going through the fires of war under seven commanding generals in three years, until Grant came east in 1864. The men in charge all too frequently appeared to be fighting against the administration in Washington instead of for it, increasingly cast as political pawns facing down a vindictive congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War. President Lincoln oversaw, argued with, and finally tamed his unruly team of lieutenants as the eastern army was stabilized by an unsung supporting cast of corps, division, and brigade generals. With characteristic style and insight, Stephen Sears brings these courageous, determined officers, who rose through the ranks and led from the front, to life and legend. “A masterful synthesis . . . A narrative about amazing courage and astonishing gutlessness . . . It explains why Union movements worked and, more often, didn’t work in clear-eyed explanatory prose that’s vivid and direct.” —Chicago Tribune

Lincoln and His Generals

Author : T. Harry Williams
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307948153
Total Pages : 402 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (79 download)

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Book Synopsis Lincoln and His Generals by : T. Harry Williams

Download or read book Lincoln and His Generals written by T. Harry Williams and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-07-27 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since it was first published in 1952, Lincoln and His Generals has remained one of the definitive accounts of Lincoln’s wartime leadership. In it T. Harry Williams dramatizes Lincoln’s long and frustrating search for an effective leader of the Union Army and traces his transformation from a politician with little military knowledge into a master strategist of the Civil War. Explored in depth are Lincoln’s often fraught relationships with generals such as McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker, Fremont, and of course, Ulysses S. Grant. In this superbly written narrative, Williams demonstrates how Lincoln’s persistent “meddling” into military affairs was crucial to the Northern war effort and utterly transformed the president’s role as commander-in-chief.

Abraham Lincoln And Jefferson Davis: A Comparison Of Civil War Commanders In Chief

Author : L-Cmdr Michael S. Trench
Publisher : Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1782894314
Total Pages : 97 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (828 download)

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Book Synopsis Abraham Lincoln And Jefferson Davis: A Comparison Of Civil War Commanders In Chief by : L-Cmdr Michael S. Trench

Download or read book Abraham Lincoln And Jefferson Davis: A Comparison Of Civil War Commanders In Chief written by L-Cmdr Michael S. Trench and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a study of the effectiveness of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as Commanders in Chief during the Civil War. It begins by comparing their backgrounds prior to assuming the Presidency; then comparing their military strategies and command structures. The final area of comparison is their involvement in the first military draft in American history. Davis had extensive government and military experience, but exhibited personality traits early on that later hampered his performance as a war-time Commander in Chief. Lincoln had very little experience, but excelled at dealing with people. Lincoln tried several staff arrangements before finally appointing Grant as General in Chief. Davis changed his structure very little throughout the war. Although he appointed Lee as General in Chief in the first year, he lost his services by placing him in command of a field army. Both faced strong challenges from a powerful governor over the draft. Davis first tried to win over the governor, then appealed directly to the people. Lincoln publicly kept distant from the draft and worked behind the scenes.

Mr. Lincoln's Army

Author : Bruce Catton
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 1504024184
Total Pages : 519 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (4 download)

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Book Synopsis Mr. Lincoln's Army by : Bruce Catton

Download or read book Mr. Lincoln's Army written by Bruce Catton and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2015-11-03 with total page 519 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid account of the early battles, first in the Pulitzer Prize-winning trilogy: “One of America’s foremost Civil War authorities” (Kirkus Reviews). The first book in Bruce Catton’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Army of the Potomac Trilogy, Mr. Lincoln’s Army is a riveting history of the early years of the Civil War, when a fledgling Union Army took its stumbling first steps under the command of the controversial general George McClellan. Following the secession of the Southern states, a beleaguered President Abraham Lincoln entrusted the dashing, charismatic McClellan with the creation of the Union’s Army of the Potomac and the responsibility of leading it to a swift and decisive victory against Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Although a brilliant tactician who was beloved by his troops and embraced by the hero-hungry North, McClellan’s ego and ambition ultimately put him at loggerheads with his commander in chief—a man McClellan considered unworthy of the presidency. McClellan’s weaknesses were exposed during the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American military history, which ended in a stalemate even though the Confederate troops were greatly outnumbered. After Antietam, Lincoln ordered McClellan’s removal from command, and the Union entered the war’s next chapter having suffered thousands of casualties and with great uncertainty ahead. America’s premier chronicler of the nation’s brutal internecine conflict, Bruce Catton is renowned for his unparalleled ability to bring a detailed and vivid immediacy to Civil War battlefields and military strategy sessions. With tremendous depth and insight, he presents legendary commanders and common soldiers in all their complex and heartbreaking humanity.

Lincoln's Cavalrymen

Author : Edward G. Longacre
Publisher : Stackpole Books
ISBN 13 : 9780811710497
Total Pages : 508 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Lincoln's Cavalrymen by : Edward G. Longacre

Download or read book Lincoln's Cavalrymen written by Edward G. Longacre and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2000 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This modern study focuses solely on the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac and includes all major battles and commanders. Drawing heavily on primary sources, the author has consulted 50 manuscript collections pertaining to general officers of cavalry as well as the unpublished letters and diaries of 200 officers and enlisted men, representing almost every mounted unit in the Army of the Potomac.

Lincoln Takes Command

Author : Steve Norder
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1611214580
Total Pages : 414 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (112 download)

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Book Synopsis Lincoln Takes Command by : Steve Norder

Download or read book Lincoln Takes Command written by Steve Norder and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2019-12-20 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed history of one week during the Civil War in which the American president assumed control of the nation’s military. One rainy evening in May, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln boarded the revenue cutter Miami and sailed to Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, Virginia. There, for the first and only time in our country’s history, a sitting president assumed direct control of armed forces to launch a military campaign. In Lincoln Takes Command, author Steve Norderdetails this exciting, little-known week in Civil War history. Lincoln recognized the strategic possibilities offered by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s ongoing Peninsula Campaign and the importance of seizing Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the Gosport Navy Yard. For five days, the president spent time on sea and land, studied maps, spoke with military leaders, suggested actions, and issued direct orders to subordinate commanders. He helped set in motion many events, including the naval bombardment of a Confederate fort, the sailing of Union ships up the James River toward the enemy capital, an amphibious landing of Union soldiers followed by an overland march that expedited the capture of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the navy yard, and the destruction of the Rebel ironclad CSS Virginia. The president returned to Washington in triumph, with some urging him to assume direct command of the nation’s field armies. The week discussed in Lincoln Takes Command has never been as heavily researched or told in such fine detail. The successes that crowned Lincoln’s short time in Hampton Roads offered him a better understanding of, and more confidence in, his ability to see what needed to be accomplished. This insight helped sustain him through the rest of the war.

With Malice Toward None

Author : Stephen B. Oates
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 9780060924713
Total Pages : 548 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (247 download)

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Book Synopsis With Malice Toward None by : Stephen B. Oates

Download or read book With Malice Toward None written by Stephen B. Oates and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1994-01-05 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive life of Abraham Lincoln, With Malice Toward None is historian Stephen B. Oates's acclaimed and enthralling portrait of America's greatest leader. Oates masterfully charts, with the pacing of a novel, Lincoln's rise from bitter poverty in America's midwestern frontier to become a self-made success in business, law, and regional politics. The second half of the book examines his legendary leadership on the national stage as president during one of the country's most tumultuous and bloody periods, the Civil War years, which concluded tragically with Lincoln's assassination. In this award-winning biography, Lincoln steps forward out of the shadow of myth as a recognizable, fully drawn American whose remarkable life continues to inspire and inform us today.

Lincoln and the Military

Author : John F. Marszalek
Publisher : SIU Press
ISBN 13 : 0809333627
Total Pages : 166 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (93 download)

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Book Synopsis Lincoln and the Military by : John F. Marszalek

Download or read book Lincoln and the Military written by John F. Marszalek and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2014-11-03 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States in 1860, he came into office with practically no experience in military strategy and tactics. Consequently, at the start of the Civil War, he depended on leading military men to teach him how to manage warfare. As the war continued and Lincoln matured as a military leader, however, he no longer relied on the advice of others and became the major military mind of the war. In this brief overview of Lincoln’s military actions and relationships during the war, John F. Marszalek traces the sixteenth president’s evolution from a nonmilitary politician into the commander in chief who won the Civil War, demonstrating why Lincoln remains America’s greatest military president. As tensions erupted into conflict in 1861, Lincoln turned to his generals, including Winfield Scott, George B. McClellan, and Henry W. Halleck, for guidance in running the war. These men were products of the traditional philosophy of war, which taught that armies alone wage war and the way to win was to maneuver masses of forces against fractions of the enemy at the key point in the strategic area. As Marszalek shows, Lincoln listened at first, and made mistakes along the way, but he increasingly came to realize that these military men should no longer direct him. He developed a different philosophy of war, one that advocated attacks on all parts of the enemy line and war between not just armies but also societies. Warfare had changed, and now the generals had to learn from their commander in chief. It was only when Ulysses S. Grant became commanding general, Marszalek explains, that Lincoln had a leader who agreed with his approach to war. Implementation of this new philosophy, he shows, won the war for the Union forces. Tying the necessity of emancipation to preservation of the Union, Marszalek considers the many presidential matters Lincoln had to face in order to manage the war effectively and demonstrates how Lincoln’s determination, humility, sense of humor, analytical ability, and knack for quickly learning important information proved instrumental in his military success. Based primarily on Lincoln’s own words, this succinct volume offers an easily-accessible window into a critical period in the life of Abraham Lincoln and the history of the nation.

The Lincoln Brigade

Author : William Loren Katz
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1620329018
Total Pages : 96 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (23 download)

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Book Synopsis The Lincoln Brigade by : William Loren Katz

Download or read book The Lincoln Brigade written by William Loren Katz and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2013-05-15 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE LINCOLN BRIGADE The day after Christmas in 1936, a group of ninety-six Americans sailed from New York to help Spain defend its democratic government against fascism. Ultimately, twenty-eight hundred United States volunteers reached Spain to become the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Few Lincolns had any military training. More than half were seriously wounded or died in battle. Most Lincolns were activists and idealists who had worked with and demonstrated for the homeless and unemployed during the Great Depression. They were poets and blue-collar workers, professors and students, seamen and journalists, lawyers and painters, Christians and Jews, blacks and whites. The Brigade was the first fully integrated United States army, and Oliver Law, an African American from Texas, was an early Lincoln commander. William Loren Katz and the late Marc Crawford twice traveled with the Brigade to Spain in the 1980s, interviewed surviving Lincolns on old battlefields, and obtained never-before-published documents and photographs for this book.

Lincoln's Political Generals

Author : David Work
Publisher : University of Illinois Press
ISBN 13 : 0252056884
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (52 download)

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Book Synopsis Lincoln's Political Generals by : David Work

Download or read book Lincoln's Political Generals written by David Work and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2024-03-18 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

The Sword of Lincoln

Author : Jeffry D. Wert
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 0743271920
Total Pages : 576 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (432 download)

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Book Synopsis The Sword of Lincoln by : Jeffry D. Wert

Download or read book The Sword of Lincoln written by Jeffry D. Wert and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2005-04-06 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sword of Lincoln is the first authoritative single-volume history of the Army of the Potomac in many years. From Bull Run to Gettysburg to Appomattox, the Army of the Potomac repeatedly fought -- and eventually defeated -- Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. Jeffry D. Wert, one of our finest Civil War historians, brings to life the battles, the generals, and the common soldiers who fought for the Union and ultimately prevailed. The obligation throughout the Civil War to defend the capital, Washington, D.C., infused a defensive mentality in the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac. They began ignominiously with defeat at Bull Run. Suffering under a succession of flawed commanders -- McClellan, Burnside, and Hooker -- they endured a string of losses until at last they won a decisive battle at Gettysburg under a brand-new commander, General George Meade. Within a year, the Army of the Potomac would come under the overall leadership of the Union's new general-in-chief, Ulysses S. Grant. Under Grant, the army marched through the Virginia countryside, stalking Lee and finally trapping him and the remnants of his army at Appomattox. Wert takes us into the heart of the action with the ordinary soldiers of the Irish Brigade, the Iron Brigade, the Excelsior Brigade, and other units, contrasting their experiences with those of their Confederate adversaries. He draws on letters and diaries, some of them previously unpublished, to show us what army life was like. Throughout his history, Wert shows how Lincoln carefully oversaw the operations of the Army of the Potomac, learning as the war progressed, until he found in Grant the commander he'd long sought. With a swiftly moving narrative style and perceptive analysis, The Sword of Lincoln is destined to become the modern account of the army that was so central to the history of the Civil War.

Lincoln and His Generals

Author : Thomas Harry Williams
Publisher : New York : Knopf
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 408 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Lincoln and His Generals by : Thomas Harry Williams

Download or read book Lincoln and His Generals written by Thomas Harry Williams and published by New York : Knopf. This book was released on 1952 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theme is Lincoln as a director of war, and his place in the high command system for this nation.

Lincoln and McClellan

Author : John C. Waugh
Publisher : St. Martin's Press
ISBN 13 : 9780230106765
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (67 download)

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Book Synopsis Lincoln and McClellan by : John C. Waugh

Download or read book Lincoln and McClellan written by John C. Waugh and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2010-05-11 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There was no more remarkable pair in the Civil War than Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan. At only 35 years old, McClellan commanded the Ohio troops early in the war, and won skirmishes for the Union in western Virginia. After the disastrous Union defeat at Bull Run in the summer of 1861, Lincoln sent word for McClellan to come to Washington, and soon elevated him to commander-in-chief of the Union army. But in the late summer and fall of 1861, things took a turn for the worst. Meticulous in his planning and preparations, McClellan began to delay attacking the enemy and developed a penchant for vastly overestimating the Confederate forces he faced. All of this hampered his ability to lead an aggressive force in a fast-moving battlefield environment. Finally losing his patience, Lincoln was famously quoted as saying, "If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time." Lincoln and McClellan takes an in-depth look at this fascinating relationship, from the early days of the Civil War to the 1864 presidential election when McClellan ran against Lincoln on an anti-war platform and lost. Here, award-winning author John C. Waugh weaves a tale of hubris, paranoia, failure, and triumph, illuminating as never before this unique and complicated alliance.

Lincoln's Men

Author : William C. Davis
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 340 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Lincoln's Men by : William C. Davis

Download or read book Lincoln's Men written by William C. Davis and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: LINCOLN'S MEN offers a fascinating account of the emotional bonds forged between the average Union soldier and 'Father Abraham' Lincoln. William C. Davis bases his study on the correspondence and diaries of Union soldiers to argue that Lincoln was revered by his troops as a kind-hearted father figure. Although few ever met, or even saw Lincoln, he left an enduring impression on them as his mesmerising eloquence, combined with his melancholy face, convinced them he was just like them. In return for this loyalty, Lincoln looked after them, provided for their families with the nations' first veterans' benefits system, and offered the exemplary leadership that molded and sustained their resolve to bring the Union to victory. Davis tracks the war chronologically, highlighting events that inspired ordinary soldiers to comment upon their commander and chief, including his spats with General McClellan, calls for more recruits and his decision to free the slaves. William C. Davis offers a captivating study of the powerful and symbolic relationship between Lincoln and his men as he sustained them though the most brutal war in American history.