The Battle Of Balls Bluff

Download The Battle Of Balls Bluff full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online The Battle Of Balls Bluff ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!

Meade at Gettysburg

Author : Kent Masterson Brown, Esq.
Publisher : UNC Press Books
ISBN 13 : 1469662000
Total Pages : 488 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (696 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Meade at Gettysburg by : Kent Masterson Brown, Esq.

Download or read book Meade at Gettysburg written by Kent Masterson Brown, Esq. and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2021-05-03 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although he took command of the Army of the Potomac only three days before the first shots were fired at Gettysburg, Union general George G. Meade guided his forces to victory in the Civil War's most pivotal battle. Commentators often dismiss Meade when discussing the great leaders of the Civil War. But in this long-anticipated book, Kent Masterson Brown draws on an expansive archive to reappraise Meade's leadership during the Battle of Gettysburg. Using Meade's published and unpublished papers alongside diaries, letters, and memoirs of fellow officers and enlisted men, Brown highlights how Meade's rapid advance of the army to Gettysburg on July 1, his tactical control and coordination of the army in the desperate fighting on July 2, and his determination to hold his positions on July 3 insured victory. Brown argues that supply deficiencies, brought about by the army's unexpected need to advance to Gettysburg, were crippling. In spite of that, Meade pursued Lee's retreating army rapidly, and his decision not to blindly attack Lee's formidable defenses near Williamsport on July 13 was entirely correct in spite of subsequent harsh criticism. Combining compelling narrative with incisive analysis, this finely rendered work of military history deepens our understanding of the Army of the Potomac as well as the machinations of the Gettysburg Campaign, restoring Meade to his rightful place in the Gettysburg narrative.

A Little Short of Boats

Author : James A. Morgan (III.)
Publisher : Ironclad Publishing
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 332 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (89 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis A Little Short of Boats by : James A. Morgan (III.)

Download or read book A Little Short of Boats written by James A. Morgan (III.) and published by Ironclad Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To the victorious Confederates, it was the Battle of Leesburg. The badly beaten Federals named it for the imposing fortress-like rocky precipice on the northern side of the Potomac near Washington DC - Ball's Bluff. Fought three months to the day after First Manassas (Bull Run) and another in a long line of Federal defeats during the first year of the war - the battle was, as author James Morgan puts it, "a reconnaissance mission gone bad." Federal commander Gen. Charles P. Stone had planned a raid on a suspected Rebel camp, precipitating a skirmish between elements of his troops and those of Confederate Gen. Nathan "Shanks" Evans. As a series of skirmishes developed into a full-scale brawl involving some 1700 soldiers on each side, careless and costly decisions by one of Stone's commanders, Col. Edward D. Baker, led to Baker's death and a catastrophic finish, as hundreds of Union soldiers fell or threw themselves off the cliff. In the ensuing political uproar in the North, Stone became the convenient Federal scapegoat and his career was destroyed. A charter member of the volunteer Ball's Bluff guide group, Morgan, a former Marine, began to realize that the conventional battle narrative he and others were telling to visitors "just did not feel right." Further reading and more intensive study of the battlefield led him to delve deeply into primary materials to correct misconceptions and find the factual interpretation of events of this little and relatively unstudied battlefield. With the requisite keen understanding of the battlefield's terrain, Morgan has woven together a site-driven narrative in graceful style that is appropriately highlighted with participant's quotes. Featuring previously unused primary manuscript sources and a variety of first-hand accounts, this second volume in Ironclad's landmark Discovering Civil War America Series is highlighted by fine maps and numerous contemporary illustrations. A signature element of the series is the driving/walking tour of the sites, including the Ball's Bluff National Cemetery. This book is a must for all Civil War buffs, especially those interested in early clashes of the war and lesser-known battlefields.

Staff Ride Handbook For The Vicksburg Campaign, December 1862-July 1863 [Illustrated Edition]

Author : Dr. Christopher Gabel
Publisher : Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1782899359
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (828 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Staff Ride Handbook For The Vicksburg Campaign, December 1862-July 1863 [Illustrated Edition] by : Dr. Christopher Gabel

Download or read book Staff Ride Handbook For The Vicksburg Campaign, December 1862-July 1863 [Illustrated Edition] written by Dr. Christopher Gabel and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes over 30 maps and Illustrations The Staff Ride Handbook for the Vicksburg Campaign, December 1862-July 1863, provides a systematic approach to the analysis of this key Civil War campaign. Part I describes the organization of the Union and Confederate Armies, detailing their weapons, tactics, and logistical, engineer, communications, and medical support. It also includes a description of the U.S. Navy elements that featured so prominently in the campaign. Part II consists of a campaign overview that establishes the context for the individual actions to be studied in the field. Part III consists of a suggested itinerary of sites to visit in order to obtain a concrete view of the campaign in its several phases. For each site, or “stand,” there is a set of travel directions, a discussion of the action that occurred there, and vignettes by participants in the campaign that further explain the action and which also allow the student to sense the human “face of battle.” Part IV provides practical information on conducting a Staff Ride in the Vicksburg area, including sources of assistance and logistical considerations. Appendix A outlines the order of battle for the significant actions in the campaign. Appendix B provides biographical sketches of key participants. Appendix C provides an overview of Medal of Honor conferral in the campaign. An annotated bibliography suggests sources for preliminary study.

Across Five Aprils

Author : Irene Hunt
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101127945
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (11 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Across Five Aprils by : Irene Hunt

Download or read book Across Five Aprils written by Irene Hunt and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2002-01-08 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Newbery Award-winning author of Up a Road Slowly presents the unforgettable story of Jethro Creighton—a brave boy who comes of age during the turbulent years of the Civil War. In 1861, America is on the cusp of war, and young Jethro Creighton is just nine-years-old. His brother, Tom, and his cousin, Eb, are both of fighting age. As Jethro's family is pulled into the conflict between the North and the South, loyalties are divided, dreams are threatened, and their bonds are put to the test in this heart-wrenching, coming of age story. “Drawing from family records and from stories told by her grandfather, the author has, in an uncommonly fine narrative, created living characters and vividly reconstructed a crucial period of history.”—Booklist

March

Author : Geraldine Brooks
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101079258
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (1 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis March by : Geraldine Brooks

Download or read book March written by Geraldine Brooks and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-01-31 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize--a powerful love story set against the backdrop of the Civil War, from the author of The Secret Chord. From Louisa May Alcott's beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has animated the character of the absent father, March, and crafted a story "filled with the ache of love and marriage and with the power of war upon the mind and heart of one unforgettable man" (Sue Monk Kidd). With "pitch-perfect writing" (USA Today), Brooks follows March as he leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause in the Civil War. His experiences will utterly change his marriage and challenge his most ardently held beliefs. A lushly written, wholly original tale steeped in the details of another time, March secures Geraldine Brooks's place as a renowned author of historical fiction.

House to House

Author : David Bellavia
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1471105873
Total Pages : 393 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (711 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis House to House by : David Bellavia

Download or read book House to House written by David Bellavia and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-12-25 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 8 November 2004, the largest battle of the War on Terror began, with the US Army's assault on Fallujah and its network of tens of thousands of insurgents hiding in fortified bunkers, on rooftops, and inside booby-trapped houses. For Sgt. David Bellavia of 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, it quickly turned into a battle on foot, from street to street and house to house. On the second day, he and his men laid siege to a mosque, only to be driven to a rooftop and surrounded, before heavy artillery could smash through to rescue them. By the third day, Bellavia charges an insurgent-filled house and finds himself trapped with six enemy fighters. One by one, he shoots, wrestles, stabs, and kills five of them, until his men arrive to take care of the final target. It is one of the most hair-raising battle stories of any age -- yet it does not spell the end of Bellavia's service. It would take serveral more weeks before the Battle of Fallujah finally came to a close, with Bellavia, miraculously, alive. In the words of the author: "HOUSE TO HOUSE holds nothing back. It is a raw, gritty look at killing and combat and how men react to it. It is gut-wrenching, shocking and brutal. It is honest. It is not a glorification of war. Yet it will not shy from acknowledging this: sometimes it takes something as terrible as war for the full beauty of the human spirit to emerge."

Imperfect Union

Author : Chuck Raasch
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 0811765466
Total Pages : 417 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (117 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Imperfect Union by : Chuck Raasch

Download or read book Imperfect Union written by Chuck Raasch and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-10-01 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, Union artillery lieutenant Bayard Wilkeson fell while bravely spurring his men to action. His father, Sam, a New York Times correspondent, was already on his way to Gettysburg when he learned of his son’s wounding but had to wait until the guns went silent before seeking out his son, who had died at the town’s poorhouse. Sitting next to his dead boy, Sam Wilkeson then wrote one of the greatest battlefield dispatches in American history. This vivid exploration of one of Gettysburg’s most famous stories--the story of a father and a son, the son’s courage under fire, and the father’s search for his son in the bloody aftermath of battle--reconstructs Bayard Wilkeson’s wounding and death, which have been shrouded in myth and legend, and sheds light on Civil War–era journalism, battlefield medicine, and the “good death.”

Battle of Ball's Bluff, The: All the Drowned Soldiers

Author : Bill Howard
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1467140732
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (671 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Battle of Ball's Bluff, The: All the Drowned Soldiers by : Bill Howard

Download or read book Battle of Ball's Bluff, The: All the Drowned Soldiers written by Bill Howard and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2018 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Three months after the Civil War's first important battle at Manassas in 1861, Union and Confederate armies met again near the sleepy town of Leesburg. What began as a simple scouting mission evolved into a full-scale battle when a regiment of Union soldiers unexpectedly encountered a detachment of Confederate cavalry. The Confederates pushed forward and scattered the Union line. Soldiers drowned trying to escape back to Union lines on the other side of the Potomac River. A congressional investigation of the battle had long-lasting effects on the war's political and military administration. Bill Howard narrates the history of the battle as well as its thorny aftermath"--Page 4 of cover.

Grant's Left Hook

Author : Sean Chick
Publisher : Savas Beatie
ISBN 13 : 1611214394
Total Pages : 193 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (112 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Grant's Left Hook by : Sean Chick

Download or read book Grant's Left Hook written by Sean Chick and published by Savas Beatie. This book was released on 2021-07-21 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the series of American Civil War battles fought at a town outside of Richmond, Virginia. Robert E. Lee feared the day the Union army would return up the James River and invest the Confederate capital of Richmond. In the spring of 1864, Ulysses Grant, looking for a way to weaken Lee, was about to exploit the Confederate commander’s greatest fear and weakness. After two years of futile offensives in Virginia, the Union commander set the stage for a campaign that could decide the war. Grant sent the 38,000-man Army of the James to Bermuda Hundred, to threaten and possibly take Richmond, or at least pin down troops that could reinforce Lee. Jefferson Davis, in desperate need of a capable commander, turned to the Confederacy’s first hero: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard. Butler’s 1862 occupation of New Orleans had infuriated the South, but no one more than Beauregard, a New Orleans native. This campaign would be personal. In the hot weeks of May 1864, Butler and Beauregard fought a series of skirmishes and battles to decide the fate of Richmond and Lee’s army. Historian Sean Michael Chick analyzes and explains the plans, events, and repercussions of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Grant’s Left Hook: The Bermuda Hundred Campaign, May 5-June 7, 1864. The book contains hundreds of photographs, new maps, and a fresh consideration of Grant’s Virginia strategy and the generalship of Butler and Beauregard. The book is also filled with anecdotes and impressions from the rank and file who wore blue and gray. Praise for Grant’s Left Hook “A superb installment . . . one of the best books in the ECW series (easily rating among the top handful in this reviewer’s estimation). Sean Chick’s Grant’s Left Hook is highly recommended reading.” —Civil War Books and Authors “An excellent, very informative book about one of the least understood campaigns of the Civil War . . . also quite readable, and is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the great conflict, and particularly for those who like tramping across battlefields.” —The NYMAS Review

Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law, and Ideas

Author : Stephen Budiansky
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393634736
Total Pages : 592 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (936 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law, and Ideas by : Stephen Budiansky

Download or read book Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law, and Ideas written by Stephen Budiansky and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2019-05-28 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Consistently gripping.… [I]t’s possessed of a zest and omnivorous curiosity that reflects the boundless energy of its subject.” —Steve Donoghue, Christian Science Monitor Oliver Wendell Holmes escaped death twice as a young Union officer in the Civil War. He lived ever after with unwavering moral courage, unremitting scorn for dogma, and an insatiable intellectual curiosity. During his nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, he wrote a series of opinions that would prove prophetic in securing freedom of speech, protecting the rights of criminal defendants, and ending the Court’s reactionary resistance to social and economic reforms. As a pioneering legal scholar, Holmes revolutionized the understanding of common law. As an enthusiastic friend, he wrote thousands of letters brimming with an abiding joy in fighting the good fight. Drawing on many previously unpublished letters and records, Stephen Budiansky offers the fullest portrait yet of this pivotal American figure.

A Fierce Glory

Author : Justin Martin
Publisher : Da Capo Press
ISBN 13 : 0306825260
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (68 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis A Fierce Glory by : Justin Martin

Download or read book A Fierce Glory written by Justin Martin and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On September 17, 1862, the "United States" was on the brink, facing a permanent split into two separate nations. America's very future hung on the outcome of a single battle--and the result reverberates to this day. Given the deep divisions that still rive the nation, given what unites the country, too, Antietam is more relevant now than ever. The epic battle, fought near Sharpsburg, Maryland, was a Civil War turning point. The South had just launched its first invasion of the North; victory for Robert E. Lee would almost certainly have ended the war on Confederate terms. If the Union prevailed, Lincoln stood ready to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. He knew that freeing the slaves would lend renewed energy and lofty purpose to the North's war effort. Lincoln needed a victory to save the divided country, but victory would come at a price. Detailed here is the cannon din and desperation, the horrors and heroes of this monumental battle, one that killed 3,650 soldiers, still the highest single-day toll in American history. Justin Martin, an acclaimed writer of narrative nonfiction, renders this landmark event in a revealing new way. More than in previous accounts, Lincoln is laced deeply into the story. Antietam represents Lincoln at his finest, as the grief-racked president--struggling with the recent death of his son, Willie--summoned the guile necessary to manage his reluctant general, George McClellan. The Emancipation Proclamation would be the greatest gambit of the nation's most inspired leader. And, in fact, the battle's impact extended far beyond the field; brilliant and lasting innovations in medicine, photography, and communications were given crucial real-world tests. No mere gunfight, Antietam rippled through politics and society, transforming history. A Fierce Glory is a fresh and vibrant account of an event that had enduring consequences that still resonate today.

Staff Ride Handbook for the Overland Campaign, Virginia, 4 May to 15 June 1864: A Study in Operational-Level Command

Author :
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1428916466
Total Pages : 487 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (289 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Staff Ride Handbook for the Overland Campaign, Virginia, 4 May to 15 June 1864: A Study in Operational-Level Command by :

Download or read book Staff Ride Handbook for the Overland Campaign, Virginia, 4 May to 15 June 1864: A Study in Operational-Level Command written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Shanks

Author : Jason Silverman
Publisher : Da Capo Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Shanks by : Jason Silverman

Download or read book Shanks written by Jason Silverman and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2002-07-04 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first biography of Nathan "Shanks" Evans, an important Confederate general, based upon a large cache of newly discovered and previously unpublished sources

The Woman in Battle

Author : Loreta Janeta Velazquez
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780857063847
Total Pages : 580 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (638 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Woman in Battle by : Loreta Janeta Velazquez

Download or read book The Woman in Battle written by Loreta Janeta Velazquez and published by . This book was released on 2010-11 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An incredible heroine of the Confederacy There are several accounts told through the ages, and concerning several conflicts, of women who went to war for the cause they espoused and who not only performed extraordinary feats of daring and bravery, but acted disguised and undetected in the roles of men. The history of the American Civil War offers several examples where the women concerned came from both sides of the conflict and all are incredible. Several of these dauntless Amazons have left posterity riveting accounts of their experiences, but among them all this book, written by the Cuban born Loreta Janeta Velazquez, is widely regarded not only as an extraordinary narrative among those where all are extraordinary, but also as an account of a woman's wartime experiences that has virtually no equal in history. This was an exceptional woman by any standards and her story will inform, astonish and entertain. Indeed, it has long been the subject of disputed veracity in its entirety, but modern historians have confirmed much of its authenticity. If it does contain a few 'tall stories' it will not be exceptional among memoirs irrespective of the gender of the author. Loreta enlisted for the South in 1861 as a regular soldier and, of course, as a man, under the name of Lieutenant Harry Buford. She fought at First Bull Run, Balls Bluff, Fort Donelson and at Shiloh. This remarkable woman then gave up uniform to travel behind the Union lines, there working as a spy, gathering intelligence and undertaking other dangerous and subversive activities on behalf of the Confederacy. This is an indispensable book for all those interested in outstanding women of action. Available in softcover and hardcover with dustjacket.

The Cambridge History of the American Civil War: Volume 1, Military Affairs

Author : Aaron Sheehan-Dean
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108754643
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (87 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Cambridge History of the American Civil War: Volume 1, Military Affairs by : Aaron Sheehan-Dean

Download or read book The Cambridge History of the American Civil War: Volume 1, Military Affairs written by Aaron Sheehan-Dean and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-10-31 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume narrates the major battles and campaigns of the conflict, conveying the full military experience during the Civil War. The military encounters between Union and Confederate soldiers and between both armies and irregular combatants and true non-combatants structured the four years of war. These encounters were not solely defined by violence, but military encounters gave the war its central architecture. Chapters explore well-known battles, such as Antietam and Gettysburg, as well as military conflict in more abstract places, defined by political qualities (like the border or the West) or physical ones (such as rivers or seas). Chapters also explore the nature of civil-military relations as Union armies occupied parts of the South and garrison troops took up residence in southern cities and towns, showing that the Civil War was not solely a series of battles but a sustained process that drew people together in more ambiguous settings and outcomes.

Battlefield Atlas of Price's Missouri Expedition Of 1864

Author : Charles Collins
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781719088947
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (889 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Battlefield Atlas of Price's Missouri Expedition Of 1864 by : Charles Collins

Download or read book Battlefield Atlas of Price's Missouri Expedition Of 1864 written by Charles Collins and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-05-13 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 230 page atlas is divided into seven parts. Part I, Missouri's Divided Loyalties, and Part II, Missouri's Five Seasons, provide an overview of Missouri's history from the initial settlement of the Louisiana Purchase Territories through the opening years of the American Civil War. The remaining parts cover the Confederate plan, the Confederate movement into Missouri and the Union reaction, the Confederate retreat and Union pursuit into Kansas, and the ﬁnal Confederate escape back into Arkansas. The atlas has a standard format with the map to left and the narrative to the right. Each narrative closes with two or more primary source vignettes. These vignettes provide an overview of the events shown on the map and discussed in the narrative from the perspective of persons who participated in the events. In most cases there are two vignettes with the ﬁrst from a person loyal to the Union and the second from a person who supported the southern cause. A few narratives have two or more vignettes from only the Union side. This was done to emphasize disagreements and struggles among senior leaders to establish a common course of action. Map 25, Decision at the Little Blue River, is a good example and the three vignettes emphasize the disagreement between Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis and his subordinate, Maj. Gen. James Blunt on where to locate the Union defensive line.

Ball's Bluff: An Episode and Its Consequences to Some of Us

Author : Charles Lawrence Peirson
Publisher : DigiCat
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 34 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (596 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Ball's Bluff: An Episode and Its Consequences to Some of Us by : Charles Lawrence Peirson

Download or read book Ball's Bluff: An Episode and Its Consequences to Some of Us written by Charles Lawrence Peirson and published by DigiCat. This book was released on 2022-11-22 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This history book, about an incident during the American Civil War was originally a paper written for the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts. The Battle of Ball's Bluff was relatively small-scale, but it was a victory for the Confederates over the Yankees, and moreover, it was a humiliating defeat. Many soldiers were killed and hundreds drowned, while more even ran away or surrendered to avoid drowning in the Potomac River. The book contains eyewitness accounts and explains why this was a politically significant battle.