Osprey Essential Histories 4 : The American Civil War (1) : The War in the East 1861-May 1863

The United States saw long-simmering sectional tensions erupt into fighting at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, in April 1861, beginning what would become the most cataclysmic military struggle in the western world between Waterloo and the First World War. This book focuses on events in the Virginia theatre during the conflict's first two years, highlighting Union and Confederate strengths and weaknesses, leadership and strategy on each side, and the ways in which events on the battlefield influenced politics, diplomacy, and debates about emancipation. The aged Winfield Scott, whom the Duke of Wellington had called the greatest soldier of his era, oversaw Union planning until pushed aside by the brilliant but flawed young George B. McClellan. A gifted organizer, McClellan built the Army of the Potomac in the wake of northern disaster at First Manassas, the war's first large clash, and eventually led his soldiers to the outskirts of the rebel capital at Richmond. There he met ultimate defeat at the hands of Robert E. Lee, whose daringly aggressive generalship during the Seven Days battles thrilled the Confederate people and impressed observers in London and Paris. Lee followed up his success at Richmond with a counteroffensive that included a victory over General John Pope's army at Second Manassas. At Antietam, the bloodiest single day in United States military history, Lee's string of triumphs ended, but his Army of Northern Virginia rebounded with major victories at Fredericksburg in December 1862 and Chancellorsville in May 1863. As the second year of the war drew to a close, political dissension wracked the North and Lee's success in the Virginia theatre had set the stage for potential Confederate independence. Text by Gary W. Gallagher.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chronology
• Background to War : Societal Tensions Divide the United States 1820-1860
• Outbreak : Election : Southern Secession : Creation of the Confederacy
• Warring Sides : Strengths and Weaknesses of the Union and the Confederacy
• The Fighting : From First Manassas to Chancellorsville
• Common Soldiers : Federals and Confederates in Camp and Battle
• Portrait of a Soldier : Robert Augustus Moor, A Confederate Soldier
• The World around War : Northern and Southern Society adjusts to the demands of War
• Portrait of a Civilian : Elizabeth Herndon Maury on the Virginia Home Front
• How the Period Ended : An Uncertain Future