Soldiering in the Army of Northern Virginia

Soldiering in the Army of Northern Virginia
Author: Joseph T. Glatthaar
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2011
Genre: History
ISBN: 0807834920

In this sophisticated quantitative study, Joseph T. Glatthaar provides a comprehensive narrative and statistical analysis of many key aspects of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Serving as a companion to Glatthaar's General Lee's Army

General Lee's Army

General Lee's Army
Author: Joseph Glatthaar
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 626
Release: 2009-03-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 1416596976

A history of the Confederate troops under Robert E. Lee presents portraits of soldiers from all walks of life, offers insight into how the Confederacy conducted key operations, and reveals how closely the South came to winning the war.

Major General Robert E Rodes of the Army of Northern Virginia

Major General Robert E Rodes of the Army of Northern Virginia
Author: Darrell Collins
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Total Pages: 505
Release: 2008-06-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1611210097

FINALIST FOR BIOGRAPHY, 2008, ARMY HISTORICAL FOUNDATION DISTINGUISHED BOOK AWARD WINNER, 2009, THE DOUGLAS SOUTHALL FREEMAN AWARD FOR BEST BOOK ON SOUTHERN HISTORY Jedediah Hotchkiss, Stonewall Jackson’s renowned mapmaker, expressed the feelings of many contemporaries when he declared that Robert Rodes was the best division commander in the Army of Northern Virginia. This well-deserved accolade is all the more remarkable considering that Rodes, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and a prewar railroad engineer, was one of a very few officers in Lee’s army to rise so high without the benefit of a West Point education. Major General Robert E. Rodes of the Army of Northern Virginia: A Biography, is the first deeply researched scholarly biography on this remarkable Confederate officer. From First Manassas in 1861 to Third Winchester in 1864, Rodes served in all the great battles and campaigns of the legendary Army of Northern Virginia. He quickly earned a reputation as a courageous and inspiring leader who delivered hard-hitting attacks and rock steady defensive efforts. His greatest moment came at Chancellorsville in the spring of 1863, when he spearheaded Stonewall Jackson’s famous flank attack that crushed the left wing of General Hooker’s Army of the Potomac. Rodes began the conflict with a deep yearning for recognition and glory, coupled with an indifferent attitude toward religion and salvation. When he was killed at the height of his glorious career at Third Winchester on September 19, 1864, a trove of prayer books and testaments were found on his corpse. Based upon exhaustive new research, Darrell Collins’s new biography breathes life into a heretofore largely overlooked Southern soldier. Although Rodes’ widow consigned his personal papers to the flames after the war, Collins has uncovered a substantial amount of firsthand information to complete this compelling portrait of one of Robert E. Lee’s most dependable field generals. Darrell L. Collins is the author of several books on the Civil War, including General William Averell’s Salem Raid: Breaking the Knoxville Supply Line (1999) and Jackson’s Valley Campaign: The Battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic (The Virginia Civil War Battles and Leaders Series, 1993). A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Darrell and his wife Judith recently relocated to Conifer, Colorado.

Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee

Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee
Author: Larry J. Daniel
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2018-08-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1469620561

In Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee Larry Daniel offers a view from the trenches of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. his book is not the story of the commanders, but rather shows in intimate detail what the war in the western theater was like for the enlisted men. Daniel argues that the unity of the Army of Tennessee--unlike that of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia--can be understood only by viewing the army from the bottom up rather than the top down. The western army had neither strong leadership nor battlefield victories to sustain it, yet it maintained its cohesiveness. The "glue" that kept the men in the ranks included fear of punishment, a well-timed religious revival that stressed commitment and sacrifice, and a sense of comradeship developed through the common experience of serving under losing generals. The soldiers here tell the story in their own rich words, for Daniel quotes from an impressive variety of sources, drawing upon his reading of the letters and diaries of more than 350 soldiers as well as scores of postwar memoirs. They write about rations, ordnance, medical care, punishments, the hardships of extensive campaigning, morale, and battle. While eastern and western soldiers were more alike than different, Daniel says, there were certain subtle variances. Western troops were less disciplined, a bit rougher, and less troubled by class divisions than their eastern counterparts. Daniel concludes that shared suffering and a belief in the ability to overcome adversity bonded the soldiers of the Army of Tennessee into a resilient fighting force.

Lee's Miserables

Lee's Miserables
Author: J. Tracy Power
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2015-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1469620413

Never did so large a proportion of the American population leave home for an extended period and produce such a detailed record of its experiences in the form of correspondence, diaries, and other papers as during the Civil War. Based on research in more than 1,200 wartime letters and diaries by more than 400 Confederate officers and enlisted men, this book offers a compelling social history of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during its final year, from May 1864 to April 1865. Organized in a chronological framework, the book uses the words of the soldiers themselves to provide a view of the army's experiences in camp, on the march, in combat, and under siege--from the battles in the Wilderness to the final retreat to Appomattox. It sheds new light on such questions as the state of morale in the army, the causes of desertion, ties between the army and the home front, the debate over arming black men in the Confederacy, and the causes of Confederate defeat. Remarkably rich and detailed, Lee's Miserables offers a fresh look at one of the most-studied Civil War armies.

Why Confederates Fought

Why Confederates Fought
Author: Aaron Sheehan-Dean
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2009-11-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 080788765X

In the first comprehensive study of the experience of Virginia soldiers and their families in the Civil War, Aaron Sheehan-Dean captures the inner world of the rank-and-file. Utilizing new statistical evidence and first-person narratives, Sheehan-Dean explores how Virginia soldiers--even those who were nonslaveholders--adapted their vision of the war's purpose to remain committed Confederates. Sheehan-Dean challenges earlier arguments that middle- and lower-class southerners gradually withdrew their support for the Confederacy because their class interests were not being met. Instead he argues that Virginia soldiers continued to be motivated by the profound emotional connection between military service and the protection of home and family, even as the war dragged on. The experience of fighting, explains Sheehan-Dean, redefined southern manhood and family relations, established the basis for postwar race and class relations, and transformed the shape of Virginia itself. He concludes that Virginians' experience of the Civil War offers important lessons about the reasons we fight wars and the ways that those reasons can change over time.

Richard S. Ewell

Richard S. Ewell
Author: Donald Pfanz
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 686
Release: 1998
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780807823897

Biography.

A Small But Spartan Band

A Small But Spartan Band
Author: Zack C. Waters
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2013-11-05
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0817357742

A comprehensive study of the Florida Brigade, which served under Robert E. Lee in the famed Army of Northern Virginia.

A Southern Soldier's Letters Home

A Southern Soldier's Letters Home
Author: Samuel Augustus Burney
Publisher: Mercer University Press
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2002
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780865548169

Samuel A. Burney, born in April 1840, was the son of Thomas Jefferson Burney and Julia Shields Burney. He graduated from Mercer University (then at Penfield, Georgia) in 1860. He joined the Panola Guards, an infantry component of Thomas R. R. Cobb's Georgia Legion, in July 1861. For the next four years he served in the Army of Northern Virginia both in Virginia and in Tennessee. Burney was wounded at Chancellorsville in May 1863, and as a result of his wound he was placed in disability in March 1864 and served the remainder of the war on commissary duty in southwest Georgia. After the war, Burney returned to Mercer's school of theology, was ordained into the Baptist ministry, and served as pastor of several churches in Morgan County. He was pastor of the Madison Baptist Church until shortly before his death in 1896. These letters of a college graduate written to his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Shepherd Burney are lyrical and beautifully written. Burney describes battles, camp life, theology, and the day-to-day dreariness of life in the army. This is an astounding collection of letters for anyone interested in the Civil War, or the South.