Newcomer Steven E. Condon''s breakthrough analysis and novel presentation of one of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson''s most celebrated Civil War victories, Second Manassas (a.k.a. Second Bull Run), is full of surprises. The list includes a mistaken mountain, a warning that never was, and John Pope''s supposed real plan for entrapping Stonewall Jackson-a plan that Condon claims could have worked, had it only been implemented as Pope had ordered it. No, "The Court-Martial of General John Pope" is not alternate history. And, no, the many startling insights and new discoveries within this book are not fictions, even though they are presented inside the framework of a fictional trial taking place in the afterlife.It seems that the much maligned Union general John Pope has demanded a trial in order to once and for all clear his military reputation from 150 years of accumulated slights, slanders, and misconceptions. And who is defending Pope in the Valhalla Courthouse? None other than that peerless American defense attorney Clarence Darrow.The packed courtroom blazes with electricity and occasionally thunders in outrage as the wily Darrow pulls one white rabbit after another out of his well-stocked magician''s hat in a performance that rivals his very best. But Darrow has his work cut out for him as he faces a tribunal as daunting as any that ever sat in judgment at Nuremberg, packed as it is with the ablest generals of history; ranging across the centuries from Alexander the Great to America''s George S. Patton, these masters of the military art have-like all others-long considered Pope to be a laughingstock. Equally entertaining are the events outside the courtroom as twice each day three noted members of the press corps-including Mark Twain and Nellie Bly-furiously debate among themselves the merits of Darrow''s long string of revelations. Readers can enjoy the excitement of courtroom drama as they thrill to some of the most startling discoveries in Civil War history in recent times and discover one of the fiercest but least known rivalries in American history.This is because "Court-Martial" boasts as one of its centerpieces a rivalry that Condon reveals to be one of the most fascinating in American history: the fierce competition between Union General John Pope, the darling of the radical Republicans, and Union General George McClellan, the military standard bearer of the conservative Democratic Party and later Abraham Lincoln''s Democratic opponent for President in 1864. Condon''s book convincingly demonstrates for perhaps the first time the true depth and terrible impact of this fateful rivalry.President Obama''s June 2010 removal of General Stanley McChrystal from command of American forces in Afghanistan was not the first case of a US commander-in-chief experiencing a strained relationship with one of his senior generals while in the midst of waging a difficult war. Harry Truman had his share of troubles with the imperious Douglas MacArthur in the Korean War. And before both these Presidents, Abraham Lincoln suffered the misfortune of being saddled with the vain, contemptuous, and overly cautious George McClellan.But whereas both Truman and Obama were decisive in ridding themselves of their troublesome general, Lincoln was not. Although privately favoring the replacement of McClellan with Pope, the President did not want to anger the Democrats by openly removing McClellan from command. So instead he attempted to surreptitiously feed McClellan''s army bit by bit to Pope, an act of political equivocation that led him down a twisting path that ultimately left Lincoln feeling, in his own words, "controlled" by "circumstances" and stranded in a situation "with no remedy at present." This state of affairs proved disastrous for Pope and perhaps for the Union as well, as Condon demonstrates.Competing with the Pope-McClellan rivalry for attention is the drama of the controversy that spurred one of the most celebrated and politically volatile court cases of the latter half of the 19th Century, the fifteen-year conflict between John Pope and the general officer who was court-martialed and drummed out of the army for not giving Pope his full support at Second Manassas-Major General Fitz John Porter, noted friend and protégé of George McClellan. Darrow hammers away as mercilessly at McClellan and Porter as he does at Confederate icon Stonewall Jackson, often times igniting in the audience a maelstrom of fury that occasionally threatens to shut down the trial.Condon''s book provides a wealth of evidence detailed in over 300 end notes. Although this list includes some important new finds, much of Condon''s evidence surprisingly comes from that picked over old gold field "War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies". This hundred-volume collection of thick black, gold embossed books published by the U.S. government in the 1880''s is crammed full of thousands of military telegrams, dispatches, and post battle reports, forming what many consider to be the "bible" of Civil War historians. Yet Condon manages to find new and sometimes radically different insights in telegrams previously cited by many Civil War writers before him.Some historians and Civil War aficionados will object to Condon''s placement of his new evidence and his new interpretations of old evidence inside a dramatic fictional story instead of placing it within the traditional setting of a purely non-fictional military campaign study. In his defense Condon points to the extreme degree to which John Pope''s military reputation has been unintentionally misrepresented and the 150 years for which this has gone on. He argues that in order to shake the public''s long frozen opinion of John Pope free from its icebound state, the setting of a trial and the skills of an advocate of the caliber of Clarence Darrow were required. According to Condon, John Pope was "court-martialed" after the Second Manassas Campaign, but the trial took place in the courtroom of history rather than before a military tribunal. His new book represents Pope''s second day in court-something that has been a long time in coming. To those who consider this placement of fact in the context of dramatic fiction to be unfortunate, Condon hopes nevertheless that they will still enjoy his tale.

One of the darkest days in United States history since Valley Forge was August 30, 1862. On this date the Confederate army smashed the United States army at Manassas, on the outskirts of Washington. To many, including the president and press, it appeared that Washington was all but lost. The defeat was all the more galling because it was inflicted by a numerically inferior and inadequately equipped Confederate force. Someone, it was assumed, had to be responsible. Union commander Major General John Pope blamed the loss on charismatic and popular Major General Fitz-John Porter, whom he charged with disobedience of orders and shameful conduct before the enemy. A court-martial found him guilty. But was Porter really guilty or did he save the country from an even greater disaster? This book addresses the question of Porter's guilt or innocence, examining the trial and its aftereffects from several perspectives.

During the Civil War, Union and Confederate politicians, military commanders, everyday soldiers, and civilians claimed their approach to the conflict was civilized, in keeping with centuries of military tradition meant to restrain violence and preserve national honor. One hallmark of civilized warfare was a highly ritualized approach to retaliation. This ritual provided a forum to accuse the enemy of excessive behavior, to negotiate redress according to the laws of war, and to appeal to the judgment of other civilized nations. As the war progressed, Northerners and Southerners feared they were losing their essential identity as civilized, and the attention to retaliation grew more intense. When Black soldiers joined the Union army in campaigns in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, raiding plantations and liberating enslaved people, Confederates argued the war had become a servile insurrection. And when Confederates massacred Black troops after battle, killed white Union foragers after capture, and used prisoners of war as human shields, Federals thought their enemy raised the black flag and embraced savagery. Blending military and cultural history, Lorien Foote's rich and insightful book sheds light on how Americans fought over what it meant to be civilized and who should be extended the protections of a civilized world.

Ambitious and outspoken, John Pope was one of the most controversial figures to hold high command during the Civil War, Reconstruction, and in the American West. General John Pope: A Life for the Nation is the first full biography of this much maligned figure who played crucial roles in both the Eastern and the Western Theaters of the Civil War. Renowned Civil War scholar Peter Cozzens has mined Pope's own memoirs and a wealth of other primary sources to provide a complete picture of this gifted strategist. Uncovering new information about Pope's pre- and postwar career and his path to power, Cozzens delineates the political environment that surrounded Pope and provided the context for his actions. Cozzens examines Pope's early career first as commander of the Army of the Mississippi and then as leader of a hastily formed Army of Virginia against Robert E. Lee. After his famous defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run, Pope was sent to the frontier. There he held important commands on the western plains over the next twenty-four years, all the while struggling to clear his reputation of the events at Second Bull Run. A principal architect of the Red River War, which broke the resistance of the Southern Plains Indians, Pope espoused humanitarian treatment of subjugated tribes and was recognized as one of the army's leading authorities on Indian affairs. In place of the simplistic caricature that has satisfied most historians, Cozzens has crafted an accurate, humane, balanced portrait of a complex man involved with the most complex issues of his day. A monumental work on a long-neglected figure, General John Pope offers a fresh look at a key nineteenth-century military leader as well as the most detailed analysis available of Federal leadership during the Second Bull Run campaign.

Born into a distinguished military family, Fitz John Porter (1822-1901) was educated at West Point and breveted for bravery in the war with Mexico. Already a well-respected officer at the outset of the Civil War, as a general in the Union army he became a favorite of George B. McClellan, who chose him to command the Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Porter and his troops fought heroically and well at Gaines's Mill and Malvern Hill. His devotion to the Union cause seemed unquestionable until fellow Union generals John Pope and Irvin McDowell blamed him for their own battlefield failures at Second Bull Run. As a confidant of the Democrat and limited-war proponent McClellan, Porter found himself targeted by Radical Republicans intent on turning the conflict to the cause of emancipation. He made the perfect scapegoat, and a court-martial packed with compliant officers dismissed him for disobedience of orders and misconduct before the enemy. Porter tenaciously pursued vindication after the war, and in 1879 an army commission finally reviewed his case, completely exonerating him. Obstinately partisan resistance from old Republican enemies still denied him even nominal reinstatement for six more years. This revealing new biography by William Marvel cuts through received wisdom to show Fitz John Porter as he was: a respected commander whose distinguished career was ruined by political machinations within Lincoln's administration. Marvel lifts the cloud that shadowed Porter over the last four decades of his life, exposing the spiteful Radical Republicans who refused to restore his rank long after his exoneration and never restored his benefits. Reexamining the relevant primary evidence from the full arc of Porter's life and career, Marvel offers significant insights into the intersections of politics, war, and memory.

Suppose that George Armstrong Custer did not die at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Suppose that, instead, he was found close to death at the scene of the defeat and was brought to trial for his actions. With a masterful blend of fact and fiction, The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer tells us what might have happened at that trial as it brings to life the most exciting period in the history of the American West. About the Author Douglas C. Jones served in the U.S. Army until his retirement in 1968. He has taught at the University of Wisconsin.