."..Presents eleven stories form these turbulent times that afford a better understanding of how the war unfolded and how it was fought. The stories range form the Union's delayed introduction of repeating arms and why a commercial steamer and not a warship was sent to relieve Fort Sumter to how Robert E. Lee's critical dispatch at the battle of Antietam may have been lost and whether William T. Sherman was the best choice to lead the Union's western offensive in 1864."--Back cover.

Examines Federal wartime legislation in order to broaden our understanding of Reconstruction, revealing how it led to African Americans being used as political pawns, first to ensure continued Republican rule, and finally to be blamed for the South's hardships in order to draw poor whites away from Populism and back to the aristocratic white Democratic banner. Civil War laws transformed America's banking system, built a railroad web, and launched the Gilded Age in the North and West, but, Leigh contends, these laws also created a dubious alliance between banks and government, sparked corruption, purposely depressed Southern industry, trapped Southern farmers--both black and white--in endless annual peonage cycles, and failed to provide lands for freedmen. While Reconstruction was intended to return the South to the Union, it could not be effective with laws that abetted Southern poverty, disfranchised many whites, fostered racial animosity to a point where lynchings and Jim Crow laws erupted, and lined the pockets of wealthy or politically well-connected business leaders outside of the region. --From publisher description.

An in-depth look at the Union force that went up against Robert E. Lee, from “a master storyteller and leading Civil War historian” (Kirkus Reviews). From an award-winning military historian and the bestselling author of Gettysburg, this is a wide-ranging collection of essays about the Army of the Potomac, delving into such topics as Professor Lowe’s reconnaissance balloons; the court-martial of Fitz John Porter; the Lost Order at Antietam; press coverage of the war; the looting of Fredericksburg; the Mud March; the roles of volunteers, conscripts, bounty jumpers, and foreign soldiers; the notorious Gen. Dan Sickles, who shot his wife’s lover outside the White House; and two generals who were much maligned: McClellan (justifiably) and Hooker (not so justifiably). This lively book follows the Army of the Potomac throughout the war, from 1861 to 1865, painting a remarkable portrait of the key incidents and personalities that influenced the course of our nation’s greatest cataclysm.

THIS IS A 2ND EDITION OF THE BOOK "LEE'S FIGHTING GENERAL"(WRITTEN FOR STUDY AT SECONDARY EDUCATION LEVEL)- a riveting narrative and serious historical study of the nineteenth century's most legendary {and obscurely studied} fighting General - D. H. Hill! This nonfiction biography provides an epic recount of his role in the two most litigious events of the American Civil War; Lee's Lost Dispatch and the Controversy at Chickamauga! This 2nd edition of Lee's Fighting General draws from obscurity the personality of the Confederate Angel of Death - Lieutenant General Daniel Harvey Hill {CSA}; providing a gripping and original study of Lee's legendary "fighter from way back" while invoking vivid memories of our nation's bloody and fratricidal civil war.This 2ND edition "D. H. Hill - The Civil War's Angel of Death" has been edited to facilitate serious historical study of the Civil War era by high school and undergraduate students while the 1st edition "Lee's Fighting General" is geared for post-graduate level research and study.The sounds of clashing bayonets, thunderous cannonades and withering volleys of musketry echo thunderously through this brilliant motif, recounting with great specificity and historical accuracy the events of a bygone era - when legendary men as Robert E. Lee, ole "Pete" Longstreet and D. H. Hill, facing insurmountable odds, gallantly responded to the echo of a distant bugle and "charged" into history's desperate and bloody civil war battles."A must read for students of civil war & military history"This captivating motif immerses the reader in a suspense-filled drama that rivals even the greatest Civil War literary novels of fiction, yet its compelling narrative is told with such historical precision and specificity that it stands noteworthy of higher level institutional study of war. Beautifully illustrated and comprehensively researched from the official archives of both armies, the events of a bygone era are validated with historical precision and accuracy as the Fighting General's namesake recounts his iconic life from cradle to grave. So fix bayonet, load your musket, move at the double quick and charge into history with Lieutenant General Daniel Harvey Hill - aka - "Lee's Fighting General"

The Fleeting Moment When the Confederate States of America Had the Best Opportunity to Achieve Independence and Why Their Efforts Failed The first six months of 1862 provided a string of Federal victories in the West at Mill Springs, Fort Donelson, Pea Ridge, Island Number 10, and Shiloh. In May, New Orleans fell, and Union General George McClellan's army was so close to the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, that the troops could set their watches by the city's church bells. But then the unexpected happened. In June, Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia pushed McClellan's much larger army back to the James River. In Europe, Confederate diplomats sought international recognition for the Confederate States of America, which was made even more attractive now that a shortage of cotton made the powerful textile interests anxious to end the war. Further tipping the balance, in July, the Confederacy secretly ordered two of the latest ironclad ships from England's famous Laird Shipyard--the same yard that built the commerce raider Alabama. These steam-powered ironclads would be far superior to anything in the Federal navy. While the "high tide" of the Confederacy is often identifed as Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the most opportune time for the Confederacy vanished seven months earlier, coinciding with President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 and the failure of the secessionist states to be recognized as a sovereign nation. As Philip Leigh explains in his engrossing new book, The Confederacy at Flood Tide: The Political and Military Ascension, June to December 1862, on every battlefront and in the governmental halls of Europe, the Confederate effort reached its furthest extent during the second half of 1862. But with the president's proclamation, battlefield reverses, Europe's decision to reject Confederate diplomatic overtures, and Britian's decision to halt the sale of the ironclads, the opportunity for Confederate success ended. The Confederacy would recede, and the great battles of 1863 and 1864 only marked the Southerners' tenacity and stubborn belief in a lost cause.