The Longest Night; A Military History of the Civil War

by David J Eicher; James M. McPherson; Lee Vande Visse

• ISBN13: 9780684849447
• ISBN10: 0684849445
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-09-04
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary

Like no other conflict in our history, the Civil War casts a long shadow onto modern America," writes David Eicher. In his compelling new account of that war, Eicher gives us an authoritative modern single-volume battle history that spans the war from the opening engagement at Fort Sumter to Lee's surrender at Appomattox (and even beyond, to the less well-known but conclusive surrender of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith in Galveston, Texas, on June 2, 1865).

Although there are other one-volume histories of the Civil War -- most notably James M. McPherson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom, which puts the war in its political, economic, and social context -- The Longest Night is strictly a military history. It covers hundreds of engagements on land and sea, and along rivers. The Western theater, often neglected in accounts of the Civil War, and the naval actions along the coasts and major rivers are at last given their due. Such major battles as Gettysburg, Antietam, and Chancellorsville are, of course, described in detail, but Eicher also examines lesser-known actions such as Sabine Pass, Texas, and Fort Clinch, Florida. The result is a gripping popular history that will fascinate anyone just learning about the Civil War while at the same time offering more than a few surprises for longtime students of the War Between the States.

The Longest Night draws on hundreds of sources and includes numerous excerpts from letters, diaries, and reports by the soldiers who fought the war, giving readers a real sense of life -- and death -- on the battlefield. In addition to the main battle narrative, Eicher analyzes each side's evolving strategy and examines the tactics of Lee, Grant, Johnston, Sherman, and other leading figures of the war. He also discusses such militarily significant topics as prisons, railroads, shipbuilding, clandestine operations, and the expanding role of African Americans in the war.

The Longest Night is a riveting, indispensable history of the war that James McPherson in the Foreword to this book calls "the most dramatic, violent, and fateful experience in American history."

Like no other conflict in our history, the Civil War casts a long shadow onto modern America," writes David Eicher. In his compelling new account of that war, Eicher gives us an authoritative modern single-volume battle history that spans the war from the opening engagement at Fort Sumter to Lee's surrender at Appomattox (and even beyond, to the less well-known but conclusive surrender of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith in Galveston, Texas, on June 2, 1865).

Although there are other one-volume histories of the Civil War -- most notably James M. McPherson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom, which puts the war in its political, economic, and social context -- The Longest Night is strictly a military history. It covers hundreds of engagements on land and sea, and along rivers. The Western theater, often neglected in accounts of the Civil War, and the naval actions along the coasts and major rivers are at last given their due. Such major battles as Gettysburg, Antietam, and Chancellorsville are, of course, described in detail, but Eicher also examines lesser-known actions such as Sabine Pass, Texas, and Fort Clinch, Florida. The result is a gripping popular history that will fascinate anyone just learning about the Civil War while at the same time offering more than a few surprises for longtime students of the War Between the States.

The Longest Night draws on hundreds of sources and includes numerous excerpts from letters, diaries, and reports by the soldiers who fought the war, giving readers a real sense of life -- and death -- on the battlefield. In addition to the main battle narrative, Eicher analyzes each side's evolving strategy and examines the tactics of Lee, Grant, Johnston, Sherman, and other leading figures of the war. He also discusses such militarily significant topics as prisons, railroads, shipbuilding, clandestine operations, and the expanding role of African Americans in the war.

The Longest Night is a riveting, indispensable history of the war that James McPherson in the Foreword to this book calls "the most dramatic, violent, and fateful experience in American history."

Author Biography

David J. Eicher is an astronomer and Civil War historian. The managing editor of Astronomy magazine, he is the author of several books on the Civil War, among them, Mystic Chords of Memory: Civil War Battlefields and Historic Sites Recaptured and The Civil War in Books: An Analytical Bibliography. He lives with his wife and son in the Milwaukee suburbs.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	11	(6)
Foreword	17	(4)
James M. McPherson
Introduction	21	(8)
Prologue: 1915	29	(4)
The War Begins at Sumter	33	(24)
Organizing the Struggle	57	(23)
Southern Joy over First Bull Run	80	(30)
A Massacre at Ball's Bluff	110	(20)
An Unlikely Hero at Belmont	130	(24)
Grant Moves into Tennessee	154	(29)
Clash of the Ironclads	183	(36)
A Bloodbath at Shiloh	219	(24)
Jackson's Valley Campaign	243	(25)
The Peninsular Campaign	268	(30)
Confederate Triumph at Second Bull Run	298	(37)
The War's Bloodiest Day	335	(46)
Fredericksburg's Appalling Loss	381	(27)
Stalemate at Stones River	408	(28)
The Campaign for Vicksburg	436	(21)
Lee's Master Stroke	457	(44)
Three Days at Gettysburg	501	(69)
Visiting the River of Death	570	(30)
The Battles for Chattanooga	600	(24)
Sherman Eyes the Deep South	624	(17)
The Red River Campaign	641	(18)
Grant Moves into the Wilderness	659	(46)
Action at Atlanta and Petersburg	705	(30)
Sheridan Raids the Valley	735	(25)
Sherman's March to the Sea	760	(25)
Fall of the Last Confederate Port	785	(17)
Lee's Army Crumbles	802	(39)
The End of the Civil War	841	(11)
Epilogue: 1865	852	(4)
Acknowledgments	856	(2)
Notes	858	(39)
Bibliography	897	(42)
Index	939