Lincoln's Lieutenants: The High Command Of The Army Of The Potomac Hardcover

Stephen W. Sears

The high command of the Army of the Potomac was a changeable, often dysfunctional band of brothers, going through the fires of war under seven commanding generals in three years, until Grant came east in 1864. The men in charge all too frequently appeared to be fighting against the administration in Washington instead of for it, increasingly cast as political pawns facing down a vindictive congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War. President Lincoln oversaw, argued with, and finally tamed his unruly team of generals as the eastern army was stabilised by an unsung supporting cast of corps, division, and brigade generals. With characteristic style and insight, Stephen Sears brings these courageous, determined officers, who rose through the ranks and led from the front, to life.

9780618428250

English

Houghton Mifflin

10/May/17

896

STEPHEN W. SEARS is the author of many award-winning books on the Civil War, including Gettysburg, Landscape Turned Red, and Chancellorsville, all winners of the Fletcher Pratt Award. He lives in Connecticut.

A masterful synthesis...a narrative about amazing courage and astonishing gutlessness...It explains why Union movements worked and, more often, didn't work in clear-eyed explanatory prose that's vivid and direct. --Chicago Tribune "A monumental group biography...reminds us that the outcome of the war was not a foregone conclusion." --The Wall Street Journal "Massive, elegant study...a staggering work of research by a masterly historian." --Kirkus, STARRED