U.S. Civil War - Confederate Soldiers - Military Biography, Virginia - State & Local History, Historical Biography - United States - 19th Century, Confederate States of America - General & Miscellaneous, United States Civil War - Individual Battles & Camp
Log in to track your reading progress.
Overview
While studies of the Civil War generally credit Robert E. Lee with military expertise, historian Bevin Alexander argues that Stonewall Jackson was a superior strategist who could have won the war for the South: Had Lee accepted Jackson's plan for an invasion of the North, the South might have surprised and dismayed the Union forces into defeat. Using primary sources, Bevin Alexander reconstructs the battles that demonstrate Jackson's brilliance as a commander, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, where he tragically met his demise. Detailed maps accompany this controversial account of a pivotal moment in American history.Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Alexander ( Korea: The First War We Lost ) debuts as a Civil War historian by asserting that Stonewall Jackson, rather than Robert E. Lee, possessed the strategic insight that might have won Confederate independence. Jackson initially advocated striking at the Union's will by invading the North; when neither Lee nor Jefferson Davis accepted this concept, Jackson concentrated on plans to destroy the Union army. Here too he was repeatedly frustrated, according to Alexander, by Lee's limited strategic insight and tendency to accept pitched battles whose losses the Confederacy could not afford. Only at Chancellorsville in 1863 did Lee accede to Jackson's bold plan, which might have annihilated the Army of the Potomac had Jackson not been mortally wounded. Alexander's critique of Lee, and his belief that decisive battles were possible under Civil War conditions, are debatable. Nevertheless this revisionist analysis merits the attention of Civil War students. (Nov.)Library Journal
A detailed analysis of the battles and correspondence of Stonewall Jackson leads Alexander to conclude that Jackson's strategic overview was superior to that of Robert E. Lee and would have led to fewer Southern casualties and to the possibility (on at least three occasions) of the total destruction of the Northern Army of the Potomac. He views Lee as a conservative, timid, and nearsighted military leader. This is not a comprehensive biography (for such see Byron Farwell's Stonewall: A Biography, LJ 9/1/92) but a ``what if'' book analyzing the strategic opinions and views of Stonewall Jackson--a smoothly written, well-researched text offering a new perspective on the Civil War's leading tactical genius. Recommended for military collections.-- Richard Nowicki, Emerson Vocational H.S., Buffalo, N.Y.Booknews
Alexander challenges the reverence accorded Lee, arguing that Jackson was a superior strategist. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Book Details
Published
December 1, 1992
Publisher
New York : Holt, 1992.
Pages
384
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780805018301