Jefferson Davis and His Generals

Jefferson Davis and His Generals PDF Author: Steven E. Woodworth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Jefferson Davis is a historical figure who provokes strong passions among scholars. Through the years historians have place him at both ends of the spectrum: some have portrayed him as a hero, others have judged him incompetent.

Jefferson Davis and His Generals

Jefferson Davis and His Generals PDF Author: Steven E. Woodworth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Jefferson Davis is a historical figure who provokes strong passions among scholars. Through the years historians have place him at both ends of the spectrum: some have portrayed him as a hero, others have judged him incompetent.

Jefferson Davis's Generals

Jefferson Davis's Generals PDF Author: Gabor S. Boritt
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199923779
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Confederate General P.G.T.Beauregard once wrote that "no people ever warred for independence with more relative advantages than the Confederates." If there was any doubt as to what Beauregard sought to imply, he later to chose to spell it out: the failure of the Confederacy lay with the Confederate president Jefferson Davis. In Jefferson Davis' Generals, a team of the nation's most distinguished Civil War historians present fascinating examinations of the men who led the Confederacy through our nation's bloodiest conflict, focusing in particular on Jefferson Davis' relationships with five key generals who held independent commands: Joseph E. Johnston, Robert E. Lee, P.G.T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg, and John Bell Hood. Craig Symonds examines the underlying implications of a withering trust between Johnston and his friend Jefferson Davis. And was there really harmony between Davis and Robert E. Lee? A tenuous harmony at best, according to Emory Thomas. Michael Parrish explores how Beauregard and Davis worked through a deep and mutual loathing, while Steven E. Woodworth and Herman Hattaway make contrasting evaluations of the competence of Generals Braxton Bragg and John Bell Hood. Taking a different angle on Davis' ill-fated commanders, Lesley Gordon probes the private side of war through the roles of the generals' wives, and Harold Holzer investigates public perceptions of the Confederate leadership through printed images created by artists of the day. Pulitzer Prize-winner James M. McPherson's final chapter ties the individual essays together and offers a new perspective on Confederate strategy as a whole. Jefferson Davis' Generals provides stimulating new insights into one of the most vociferously debated topics in Civil War history.

The Papers of Jefferson Davis

The Papers of Jefferson Davis PDF Author: Jefferson Davis
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 9780807129098
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 770

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Book Description
During the last nine months of the Civil War, virtually all of the news reports and President Jefferson Davis’s correspondence confirmed the imminent demise of the Confederate States, the nation Davis had striven to uphold since 1861. But despite defeat after defeat on the battlefield, a recalcitrant Congress, nay-sayers in the press, disastrous financial conditions, failures in foreign policy and peace efforts, and plummeting national morale, Davis remained in office and tried to maintain the government—even after the fall of Richmond on April 2—until his capture by Union forces on May 10, 1865. The eleventh volume of The Papers of Jefferson Davis follows these tumultuous last months of the Confederacy and illuminates Davis’s policies, feelings, ideas, and relationships, as well as the viewpoints of hundreds of southerners—critics and supporters—who asked favors, pointed out abuses, and offered advice on myriad topics. Printed here for the first time are many speeches and a number of new letters and telegrams. In the course of the volume, Robert E. Lee officially becomes general in chief, Joseph E. Johnston is given a final command, legislation is enacted to place slaves in the army as soldiers, and peace negotiations are opened at the highest levels. The closing pages chronicle Davis’s dramatic flight from Richmond, including emotional correspondence with his wife as the two endeavor to find each other en route and make plans for the future in the wreckage of their lives. The holdings of seventy different manuscript repositories and private collections in addition to numerous published sources contribute to Volume 11, the fifth in the Civil War period.

Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis: Civil War General

Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis: Civil War General PDF Author: Major Bruce V. Sones
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782896295
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
This thesis is a historical analysis and an assessment of Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis’ life with special emphasis on his division’s performance during the Civil War. The thesis will discuss Davis’ quick rise through the military ranks, which led to his eventual assumption of a corps command by the end of the Civil War. Davis’ career was not without controversy. He was a non-traditional soldier in an army that was very traditional. He was a tough disciplinarian and took training of soldiers seriously. He was also aggressive, feisty, and confrontational. It was these later characteristics that on occasion led him into trouble with his superiors and may have been determiners in his non-selection for promotions and specific assignments. The thesis begins with an examination of Davis’ background and life from his birth through his participation in the Mexican War and the initiation of hostilities at Fort Sumter. Next, Davis’ Civil War experiences to include the Battles of Pea Ridge and Murfreesboro and details of Davis’ performance at the Battle of Chickamauga will be discussed. Thereafter, Davis’ march through the South with General Sherman and the remainder of his military career and life will be discussed. Finally, an analysis will be presented of who Davis was and why he did or did not achieve the potential that he thought he deserved.

The Papers of Jefferson Davis

The Papers of Jefferson Davis PDF Author: Jefferson Davis
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 9780807117262
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 598

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Book Description
Lynda Lasswell Crist, Editor Mary Seaton Dix, Coeditor Introduction by Frank E. VandiverVolume 7 of The Papers of Jefferson Davis offers a unique view of 1861, the first year of the Confederacy, Davis' presidency, and the Civil War.On January 21 Davis made his affecting farewell speech before a hushed Senate, then left for Mississippi. His uncertainty over a military or political course vanished when he received news of his unanimous election as president of the Confederate States of America. Inaugurated at Montgomery, Alabama, on February 18, Davis quickly set to work to forge a government, in a race with events to select a cabinet, establish departments, and plan for the common defense.Hopes for a peaceful separation from the North ended with the firing on Fort Sumter; subsequent documents reveal a president absorbed by the problems of waging a war that soon stretched from the Atlantic Coast to the Gulf of Mexico. Victory at Manassas produced euphoria among southerners but plunged the president into the first of several unfortunate controversies with his generals, this one over the failure to pursue the enemy and capitalize on success.Throughout 1861 the Confederate commissioners in Europe reported to Davis on their expectations of recognition, convinced that the demand for cotton would induce Great Britain and France to break the North's blockade of southern ports and help supply arms for the defense of the fledgling nation.Volume 7 provides a rare opportunity to assess anew Davis' strengths and weaknesses as executive, to reexamine his relationship with generals, governors, congressmen, cabinet officers, the press, and the public. Davis ended the year as he begun, aware of the difficulties of the course the South had adopted and confident that its cause would ultimately triumph. Containing illustrations, maps, and more than 2,500 documents drawn from numerous printed sources and more than seventy repositories and private collections, Volume 7 covers a year of paramount importance in our country's history.

Jefferson Davis and His Generals

Jefferson Davis and His Generals PDF Author: Steven E. Woodworth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Generals
Languages : en
Pages : 888

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Book Description
Jefferson Davis, though apparently well-qualified for the role of commander-in-chief, nevertheless proved to be a failure in that role because of his blind devotion to certain friends, some of whom turned out to be incompetent generals, and because he lacked the ability to grasp new ideas, to handle pressure, and to make crucial decisions. This was most clearly demonstrated in the western theater of the war. Davis showed favoritism in appointing a number of his pre-war friends as generals, notably Leonidas Polk. Polk proved to be incompetent and insubordinate to his commanders, but Davis could not see this and failed to remove him. Polk's presence was made especially damaging by his efforts to undermine his immediate superior, Braxton Bragg. Bragg was a fairly competent general who, though a pre-war enemy of Davis, came to possess a moderate degree of Davis's confidence and commanded the South's chief western army for over a year. Bragg's effectiveness was reduced by Polk, who regularly disregarded orders with which he disagreed, sometimes costing the army a chance for victory. Polk also organized a movement for Bragg's removal. The morale damage caused by Polk eventually brought about the army's collapse. Davis's personal friendship with Polk kept him from preventing this. Davis's inability to trust his own judgments and to act forcefully and decisively was demonstrated in his handling of Joseph E. Johnston. Though Johnston had already caused problems in Virginia, Davis appointed the popular general to overall command in the West. Besides lacking the nerve to engage in battle, Johnston disagreed with nearly all of Davis's strategic ideas. His subsequent foot-dragging hurt the Confederate cause, especially during the Vicksburg campaign. Davis, rather than forcing compliance or removing the stubborn general, engaged in a long and petty argument with his subordinate. Despite all this Davis, in early 1864, still gave Johnston direct command of the Confederacy's only remaining major army in the West. Johnston again failed, but Davis hesitated to remove him until it was all but too late to save the vital city of Atlanta.

Generals in Blue and Gray: Davis's generals

Generals in Blue and Gray: Davis's generals PDF Author: Wilmer L. Jones
Publisher: Greenwood
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
Portrays the interactions of Lincoln and Davis, as commanders-in-chief, with their key generals and the resulting impact on the course of the war.

Davis and Lee at War

Davis and Lee at War PDF Author: Steven E. Woodworth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 438

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Book Description
Woodworth shows how the lack of a unified purpose and strategy in the East sealed the Confederacy's fate.

The Papers of Jefferson Davis

The Papers of Jefferson Davis PDF Author: Jefferson Davis
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 9780807109434
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 704

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Book Description
Much of Jefferson Davis' life and career has been obscured in controversy and misinterpretation. This full, carefully annotated edition will make it possible for scholars to reassess the man who served as President of the Confederacy and who in the aftermath of war became the symbolic leader of the South. For almost a decade a dedicated team of scholars has been collecting and documenting Davis' papers and correspondence for this multi-volume work. The first volume includes not only Davis' private and public correspondence but also the important letters and documents addressed to and concerning him. Two autobiographical accounts, a detailed genealogy of the Davis family, and a complete bibliography are also included. This volume covers Davis' early years in Mississippi and Kentucky, his career at West Point, his first military assignments, and his tragic marriage to Sarah Knox Taylor. Together, the letters and documents unfold a human story of the first thirty-two years of a long life that later became filled with turbulence and controversy.

The Encyclopedia of Confederate Generals

The Encyclopedia of Confederate Generals PDF Author: Samuel W. Mitcham
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1684512794
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 967

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Book Description
A renown military historian and frequent television commenter brings to life the generalship of the South during the Civil War in sparkling, information-filled vignettes. For both the Civil War completist and the general reader! Anyone acquainted with the American Civil War will readily recognize the names of the Confederacy’s most prominent generals. Robert E. Lee. Stonewall Jackson. James Longstreet. These men have long been lionized as fearless commanders and genius tacticians. Yet few have heard of the hundreds of generals who led under and alongside them. Men whose battlefield resolve spurred the Confederacy through four years of the bloodiest combat Americans have ever faced. In The Encyclopedia of Confederate Generals, veteran Civil War historian, Samuel W. Mitcham, documents the lives of every Confederate general from birth to death, highlighting their unique contributions to the battlefield and bringing their personal triumphs and tragedies to life. Packed with photos and historical briefings, The Encyclopedia of Confederate Generals belongs on the shelf of every Civil War historian, and preserves in words the legacies once carved in stone.