The Civil War and the Limits of Destruction

by Neely, Mark E., Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780674045958
• ISBN10: 0674045955
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-05-10
• Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr

Summary

The Civil War is often portrayed as the most brutal war in America's history, a premonition of twentieth-century slaughter and carnage. In challenging this view, Mark Neely considers the war's destructiveness in a comparative context, revealing the sense of limits that guided the conduct of American soldiers and statesmen. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Mark E. Neely, Jr., is McCabe-Greer Professor of the History of the Civil War Era, Pennsylvania State University, and the author of a number of books, including his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Destructiveness in the Civil War	p. 1
The Mexican-American War: Republicanism and the Ethos of War	p. 6
Price's Raid: Limited War in Missouri	p. 41
Emperor Maximilian's Black Decree: War in the Tropics	p. 72
The Shenandoah Valley: Sheridan and Scorched Earth	p. 109
The Sand Creek Massacre: The Grand Burning of the Prairie	p. 140
Avenging Andersonville: Retaliation and the Political Uses of Hatred	p. 170
Conclusion: The Cult of Violence in Civil War History	p. 198
Notes	p. 221
Selected Bibliography	p. 253
Acknowledgments	p. 267
Illustration Sources	p. 269
Index	p. 271
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