General Lee's army : from victory to collapse /
Glatthaar, Joseph T.,1956-
New York : Free Press,
2008.
General Robert E. Lee's army was a surprise to almost everyone: With daring early victories and an invasion into the North, they nearly managed to convince the North to give up the fight. Astonishingly, after 150 years of scholarship, there are still some major surprises about the Army of Northern Virginia. Historian Joseph T. Glatthaar draws on sources assembled over two decades--from letters and diaries, to official war records, to a new, definitive database of statistics--to rewrite the history of the Civil War's most important army and, indeed, of the war itself. The history of Lee's army is a powerful lens on the entire war. The fate of Lee's army explains why the South almost won--and why it lost. The story of his men--their reasons for fighting, their cohesion, mounting casualties, diseases, supply problems, and discipline problems--tells it all.--From publisher description.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 543-581) and index.
Comedy of errors, tragedy of triumph -- Secession and mobilizing for war -- The Volunteers of '61 -- Why they enlisted -- Becoming soldiers -- "To slaughter one another like brutes" -- "A great canvass city" -- Keeping the army together -- Clashes within the high command -- Playing troops like fireflies -- Lee in command -- The battle for Richmond: the Seven Days' campaign -- Taking war to the enemy -- A failure of discipline -- Lee's officer corps and army culture -- The soldiers of '62 -- Supplying the army -- Camp and recreation -- Religion and morality -- Chancellorsville -- Arms and ammunition -- The failure at Gettysburg -- Home front -- Blacks and the army -- Combat -- Lee and the high command -- Preparing for the spring campaign of 1864 -- The overland campaign -- The trenches -- Medical care -- Manpower -- Desertion -- The grind of war -- Spiral of defeat -- The final days -- The sample.
General Robert E. Lee's army was a surprise to almost everyone: With daring early victories and an invasion into the North, they nearly managed to convince the North to give up the fight. Astonishingly, after 150 years of scholarship, there are still some major surprises about the Army of Northern Virginia. Historian Joseph T. Glatthaar draws on sources assembled over two decades--from letters and diaries, to official war records, to a new, definitive database of statistics--to rewrite the history of the Civil War's most important army and, indeed, of the war itself. The history of Lee's army is a powerful lens on the entire war. The fate of Lee's army explains why the South almost won--and why it lost. The story of his men--their reasons for fighting, their cohesion, mounting casualties, diseases, supply problems, and discipline problems--tells it all.--From publisher description.
Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870
Confederate States of America. Army of Northern Virginia.
Soldiers
Soldiers
Soldiers