Richard McMurry compares the two largest Confederate armies, assessing why Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was more successful than the Army of Tennessee. His bold conclusion is that Lee's army was a better army--not just one with a better high command. "Sheds new light on how the South lost the Civil War.--American Historical Review "McMurry's mastery of the literature is impressive, and his clear and succinct writing style is a pleasure to read. . . . Comparison of the two great rebel armies offers valuable insights into the difficulties of the South's military situation.--Maryland Historian

CONTENTS: Introduction, Jean H. Baker and Charles W. Mitchell “Border State, Border War: Fighting for Freedom and Slavery in Antebellum Maryland,” Richard Bell “Charity Folks and the Ghosts of Slavery in Pre–Civil War Maryland,” Jessica Millward “Confronting Dred Scott: Seeing Citizenship from Baltimore,” Martha S. Jones “‘Maryland Is This Day . . . True to the American Union’: The Election of 1860 and a Winter of Discontent,” Charles W. Mitchell “Baltimore’s Secessionist Moment: Conservatism and Political Networks in the Pratt Street Riot and Its Aftermath,” Frank Towers “Abraham Lincoln, Civil Liberties, and Maryland,” Frank J. Williams “The Fighting Sons of ‘My Maryland’: The Recruitment of Union Regiments in Baltimore, 1861–1865,” Timothy J. Orr “‘What I Witnessed Would Only Make You Sick’: Union Soldiers Confront the Dead at Antietam,” Brian Matthew Jordan “Confederate Invasions of Maryland,” Thomas G. Clemens “Achieving Emancipation in Maryland,” Jonathan W. White “Maryland’s Women at War,” Robert W. Schoeberlein “The Failed Promise of Reconstruction,” Sharita Jacobs Thompson “‘F––k the Confederacy’: The Strange Career of Civil War Memory in Maryland after 1865,” Robert J. Cook

The writer of the following sketch does not attempt, in the space assigned him, to give a complete history of the various commands of Maryland, who for four year did gallant and noble service. A faithful record of their names alone would fill the pages of a volume, and to write a history of their marches and battles, their wounds and suffering, their willing sacrifices, would demand more accurate knowledge, more time and more ability than the author of this sketch can command. He trusts that in this brief history which follows he has been able to show that Maryland did her duty to herself and did it nobly. Gen. Bradley T. Johnson, the gallant organizer and leader of the Maryland Line, distinguished in many of the battles of the army of Virginia, one of the most brilliant regimental and brigade commanders under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, and for a time in command of division, is the author of the military history of Maryland.

In v. 1-11 each state has at end a "Biographical" section; "Additional sketches illustrating the services of officers and privates and patriotic citizens" are appended in v. 2 (Maryland, p. 185-447; West Virginia, p. 139-296) ; in v. 3 (Virginia) p. 693-1295 ; in v. 4 (North Carolina) p. 355-813; in v. 5 (South Carolina) p. 425-931. 1. Curry, J. L. M.; Legal justification of the South in secession. Garrett, W.R.; The South as a factor in the territorial expansion of the United States. Evans, C. A.; The Civil history of the Confederate States.--2. Johnson, B. T.; Maryland. White, Robert; West Virginia.--3. Hotchkiss, Jed; Virginia.--4. Hill, D. H. Jr.; North Carolina.--5. Capers, Ellison; South Carolina.--6. Derry, J. T.; Georgia.--7. Wheeler, Joseph; Alabama. Hooker, C. E.; Mississippi.--8. Porter, J. D.; Tennessee.--9. Johnston, J. S.; Kentucky. Moore, J. C.; Missouri.--10. Dimitry, John; Louisiana. Harrell, J. M.; Arkansas.--11. Roberts, O. M.; Texas. Dickinson, J. J.; Florida.--12. Parker, W. H.; The Confederate States navy. Jones, J. W.; The morale of the Confederate armies. Evans, C. A.; An outline of Confederate military history. Lee, S. D.; The South since the war. Documental and statistical appendix.

Harsh attempts to discover what they believed their responsibilities were and what they tried to accomplish; to evaluate the human and logistical resources at their disposal; and to determine what they knew and when they learned it."--BOOK JACKET.