National Military Park Near Fredericksburg, Va

National Military Park Near Fredericksburg, Va PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Military Affairs
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (Va.)
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description

National Military Park Near Fredericksburg, Va

National Military Park Near Fredericksburg, Va PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Military Affairs
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (Va.)
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description


For Cause and Comrades

For Cause and Comrades PDF Author: James M. McPherson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199741050
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
General John A. Wickham, commander of the famous 101st Airborne Division in the 1970s and subsequently Army Chief of Staff, once visited Antietam battlefield. Gazing at Bloody Lane where, in 1862, several Union assaults were brutally repulsed before they finally broke through, he marveled, "You couldn't get American soldiers today to make an attack like that." Why did those men risk certain death, over and over again, through countless bloody battles and four long, awful years ? Why did the conventional wisdom -- that soldiers become increasingly cynical and disillusioned as war progresses -- not hold true in the Civil War? It is to this question--why did they fight--that James McPherson, America's preeminent Civil War historian, now turns his attention. He shows that, contrary to what many scholars believe, the soldiers of the Civil War remained powerfully convinced of the ideals for which they fought throughout the conflict. Motivated by duty and honor, and often by religious faith, these men wrote frequently of their firm belief in the cause for which they fought: the principles of liberty, freedom, justice, and patriotism. Soldiers on both sides harkened back to the Founding Fathers, and the ideals of the American Revolution. They fought to defend their country, either the Union--"the best Government ever made"--or the Confederate states, where their very homes and families were under siege. And they fought to defend their honor and manhood. "I should not lik to go home with the name of a couhard," one Massachusetts private wrote, and another private from Ohio said, "My wife would sooner hear of my death than my disgrace." Even after three years of bloody battles, more than half of the Union soldiers reenlisted voluntarily. "While duty calls me here and my country demands my services I should be willing to make the sacrifice," one man wrote to his protesting parents. And another soldier said simply, "I still love my country." McPherson draws on more than 25,000 letters and nearly 250 private diaries from men on both sides. Civil War soldiers were among the most literate soldiers in history, and most of them wrote home frequently, as it was the only way for them to keep in touch with homes that many of them had left for the first time in their lives. Significantly, their letters were also uncensored by military authorities, and are uniquely frank in their criticism and detailed in their reports of marches and battles, relations between officers and men, political debates, and morale. For Cause and Comrades lets these soldiers tell their own stories in their own words to create an account that is both deeply moving and far truer than most books on war. Battle Cry of Freedom, McPherson's Pulitzer Prize-winning account of the Civil War, was a national bestseller that Hugh Brogan, in The New York Times, called "history writing of the highest order." For Cause and Comrades deserves similar accolades, as McPherson's masterful prose and the soldiers' own words combine to create both an important book on an often-overlooked aspect of our bloody Civil War, and a powerfully moving account of the men who fought it.

Wilderness and Spotsylvania 1864

Wilderness and Spotsylvania 1864 PDF Author: Andy Nunez
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472801490
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
An illustrated account of the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, which saw the first meeting of Robert E Lee and Ulysses S Grant on the battlefield. In May 1864 the Union Army of the Potomac under General George Meade had been in a leisurely pursuit of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia for nearly a year after the defeat of the Rebels at Gettysburg. Confederate commander General Robert E. Lee still retained his awe-inspiring reputation for wrecking Union armies that got too close to Richmond and Meade was still cautious. His tactics at Gettysburg were defensive and he was unsure that he was able to take the offensive against Lee. However, things changed when President Abraham Lincoln appointed General Ulysses S. Grant to command all Union armies. Grant came east and laid out a comprehensive strategy for the rest of the war. In the deep South, General William T. Sherman would march out of Tennessee to cut the Confederacy in half by taking Atlanta. Grant would lead the Army of the Potomac across the Rapidan River and march on Richmond. He had the manpower and equipment to accomplish his objective, easily outnumbering Lee. Lee, on the other hand, was far from beaten. Alongside maps and illustrations, Andy Nunez explores how the stage was set for one of the defining campaigns of the Civil War in the East.

National Military Park Near Federicksburg, Va

National Military Park Near Federicksburg, Va PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Military Affairs
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (Va.)
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description


Confederate General William "Extra Billy" Smith

Confederate General William Author: Scott L. Mingus
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1611211301
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 599

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Book Description
An award-winning biography of one of the Confederacy’s most colorful and controversial generals. Winner of the 2013 Nathan Bedford Forrest History Book Award for Southern History Nominated for the 2014 Virginia Book Award for Nonfiction Despite a life full of drama, politics, and adventure, little has been written about William “Extra Billy” Smith—aside from a rather biased account by his brother-in-law back in the nineteenth century. As the oldest and one of the most controversial Confederate generals on the field at Gettysburg, Smith was also one of the most charismatic characters of the Civil War and the antebellum Old South. Known nationally as “Extra Billy” because of his prewar penchant for finding loopholes in government postal contracts to gain extra money for his stagecoach lines, Smith served as Virginia’s governor during both the war with Mexico and the Civil War; served five terms in the US Congress; and was one of Virginia’s leading spokesmen for slavery and states’ rights. Extra Billy’s extra-long speeches and wry sense of humor were legendary among his peers. A lawyer during the heady Gold Rush days, he made a fortune in California—and, as with his income earned from stagecoaches, quickly lost it. Despite his advanced age, Smith took to the field and fought well at First Manassas, was wounded at Seven Pines and again at Sharpsburg, and marched with Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania. There, on the first day at Gettysburg, Smith’s frantic messages about a possible Union flanking attack remain a matter of controversy to this day. Did his aging eyes see distant fence-lines that he interpreted as approaching enemy soldiers—mere phantoms of his imagination? Or did his prompt action stave off a looming Confederate disaster? This biography draws upon a wide array of newspapers, diaries, letters, and other firsthand accounts to paint a portrait of one of the South’s most interesting leaders, complete with original maps and photos.

The Battle of Fredericksburg

The Battle of Fredericksburg PDF Author: James Longstreet
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Book Description
This is written as a first-person account of the Battle of Fredericksburg during the American Civil War. Longstreet was a lieutenant general on the Confederate side. This battle was one of the bloodiest of the whole war and certainly extremely important.

Wilderness-Spotsylvania Staff Ride Briefing Book [Illustrated Edition]

Wilderness-Spotsylvania Staff Ride Briefing Book [Illustrated Edition] PDF Author: Anon
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1789121205
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 122

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Book Description
The Battle of the Wilderness began Lt. Gen Ulysses S. Grant’s 1864 Overland Campaign against the Confederate army of Northern Virginia that ultimately, after many weeks and horrendous casualties, forced Gen. Robert E. Lee’s men back to the defenses at Richmond. The fighting took place in an area of Virginia where tangled underbrush and trees had grown up in long-abandoned farmland, near the old Chancellorsville battlefield. Close-quarters fighting among the dense woods created high casualties, but the battle proved inconclusive for both sides. It produced an important strategic event, however; whereas before Union commanders had withdrawn their armies after failing to achieve victory south of the Rappahannock River, Grant did not retreat. Instead, he attempted to outflank Lee by moving to the left, setting the stage for the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse. In this briefing book the battle and its environs are discussed and described in detail.

Account of Operations

Account of Operations PDF Author: India. Great Trigonometrical Survey
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 814

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Book Description


Simply Murder

Simply Murder PDF Author: Chris Mackowski
Publisher: Emerging Civil War
ISBN: 9781611211467
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The battle of Fredericksburg is usually remembered as the most lopsided Union defeat of the Civil War. The authors have worked for years along Fredericksburg's Sunken Road and Stone Wall, and they've escorted thousands of visitors across the battlefield. This book not only recounts Fredericksburg's tragic story of slaughter, but includes invaluabl

Pickett's Charge in History and Memory

Pickett's Charge in History and Memory PDF Author: Carol Reardon
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 9780807854617
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
A telling assessment of the myths and facts surrounding the most famous single military event of the Civil War.