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Overview
Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson comprised one of the greatest collaborations in American military history. This, the first biography to examine them both, probes the private lives and public careers of these consummate soldiers to find out just what the secret behind their extraordinary success was. They were men of starkly different personalities, but their contrasting characters superbly complemented one another, so that together they fought the Union machine to a standstill. Robert E. Lee, the son of an aristocratic southern family, attended West Point and married a great-granddaughter of Martha Washington. By the Civil War he was already one of the country's greatest generals, a hero of the Mexican War who, ironically, had been offered field command of the Union Army. "Stonewall" Jackson, a devout Calvinist, was a rigid man whose troops more often felt admiration than affection toward him. He met Lee at West Point when he was a cadet and Lee an engineering officer; Jackson was also a veteran of the Mexican War and was to become Lee's strong right arm. They joined forces in the spring of 1862 in the Seven Days battles at Richmond and went on to dazzling victories at Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. Their combined military genius almost won the war, but Jackson's tragic death - mortally wounded by the fire of his own men - spelled the beginning of the end of the Confederacy. Paul Casdorph's extensively researched and sweeping biography brings the legend of these two Southern heroes to life. With sparkling accounts of the Civil War campaigns and an insightful look at the role the Mexican War had in shaping the military thinking of these two men, Lee and Jackson sheds new light and understanding on these remarkable generals and the reasons for their unparalleled success on the battlefield.Examining not only the stunning Civil War confrontations, but the role the Mexican War had in shaping these two great generals, this dual biography of Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson sheds new light and understanding on one of the most successful partnerships in military history. Photos. Maps.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
The symbiosis of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson made the Army of Northern Virginia virtually invincible. Only with Jackson's death at Chancellorsville did the Confederacy's long twilight begin. Casdorph ( Let the Good Times Roll ) argues that his protagonists were ``interconnected'': they had established a basis for mutual trust before the war. Yet the text shows only that Lee and Jackson were aware of each other--hardly a phenomenon given their common matrices as Virginians, soldiers and educators. More serious is the work's lack of analysis. Casdorph relies heavily on memoirs and histories written after Lee and Jackson were already legendary figures. These reconstructions follow the myth; Casdorph follows the reconstructions; and the result is a tautology. Lee and Jackson appear in these pages as ``marble men'' who perform heroically because they are heroes. And what might have been a significant study of a key Civil War command relationship becomes instead just another narrative of the ``gunpowder and magnolias'' variety. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Apr.)Library Journal
This dual biography, the latest addition to the substantial store of books on the two most famous rebel generals, emphasizes the ``interconnectiveness'' of their lives and careers. Like many other generals on both sides, Lee and Jackson crossed paths before the Civil War. It's doubtful, however, that these contacts contributed greatly to their fruitful relationship during 1862-63, despite arguments to that effect here by popular historian Casdorph ( Let the Good Times Roll: Life at Home in America During World War II , LJ 10/15/89). Nonetheless, this narrative, based on a wide variety of printed sources, graphically details their lives and extraordinary mutual success. Together the two leaders were invincible: while Lee could count on his lieutenant's unwavering obedience, Jackson tempered his chief's innate aggressiveness. A useful supplement to full biographies for both specialists and general readers.-- Thomas E. Schott, Office of History, 17th Air Force, Sembach, GermanyBook Details
Published
February 9, 1999
Publisher
Marlowe & Co
Pages
448
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781569249857