America's Civil War

Such is the continuing volume of work on the Civil War that we are regularly in need of an authoritative and accessible brief synthesis to keep us up to date with this endlessly fascinating subject. Brooks Simpson meets that need for the 1990s in America's Civil War, a wonderful feat of compression in which he addresses all the great issues of the war in 200 pages of clear and readable prose. Rightly, he puts the military history of the conflict at the center of the picture, but he excels in relating the drama of the war itself to the politics of both Union and Confederacy, to the stresses and strains-and opportunities-of the home front, and to the great issues of emancipation and reconstruction. This book is a fine achievement, and it will be invaluable not only to students but to many other readers-and even Civil War specialists will benefit from its fresh insights.–Peter J. Parish, Cambridge University

Includes bibliographical references (p. [221]-232) and index.

Foreword VII

Preface and Acknowledgments XII

Introduction: On Understanding the Civil War 1

Chapter One: Secession and the First Shot 7

Secession 9

The First Shot 21

Chapter Two: War Begins 24

Mobilizing For Conflict 25

War Aims 31

The First Battles 37

The European Response 45

Chapter Three: The Limited War 49

Forts Henry and Donelson 50

Shiloh 53

Rebels Resurgents in Virginia 57

Confederate Escalation 66

Chapter Four: War Becomes Revolution 70

Toward Emancipation 71

Confederate Counteroffensives: Lee Moves North 80

Confederate Counteroffensives: Perryville, Iuka, and Corinth 87

Emancipation and Elections 89

Union Battlefield Standoffs and Rebuffs 94

Chapter Five: Gambles Won and Lost 100

Chancellorsville 101

Vicksburg and Gettysburg 105

Chickamauga and Chattanooga 114

The Impact of Emancipation 120

Chapter Six: The Home Front 130

The Folks Back Home 131

The Northern Economy and War Effort 137

The Southern Economy and War Effort 141

Politics and Society: The North 145

Politics and Society: The South 152

Wartime Reconstruction: Early Steps 157

Chapter Seven: The Campaigns of 1864 162

Grant’s Grand Design 163

The Wilderness Campaigns 166

The Atlanta Campaign 175

Lincoln’s Bid for Reelection 177

Victory on the Battlefield and at the Ballot Box 183

Chapter Eight: Victory and Defeat 188

Sherman’s March to the Sea 189

Fort Fisher and the March through the Carolinas 194

Emancipation, Reconstruction, and Peace Proposals 197

From Richmond to Appomattox 201

Foundations for Peace 206

Conclusion: Why the Union Won 213

Bibliographical Essay 221

Index 233

Maps: Major Campaigns of the Civil War 35

Campaigns in the West, February to April 1862 52

The Peninsula Campaign 1862 64

Campaigns in Virginia and Maryland, August to December 1862 82

War in the East, 1863 103

The Vicksburg Campaign, April to July 1863 108

Grant vs. Lee 168

Campaigns in the West, 1864-65 190