Synopses & Reviews
In the spring of 1862, Federal troops under the command of General George B. McClellan launched what was to be a coordinated, two-pronged attack on Richmond in the hope of taking the Confederate capital and bringing a quick end to the Civil War. The Confederate high command tasked Stonewall Jackson with diverting critical Union resources from this drive, a mission Jackson fulfilled by repeatedly defeating much larger enemy forces. His victories elevated him to near iconic status in both the North and the South and signaled a long war ahead. One of the most intriguing and storied episodes of the Civil War, the Valley Campaign has heretofore only been related from the Confederate point of view. With
Shenandoah 1862, Peter Cozzens dramatically and conclusively corrects this shortcoming, giving equal attention to both Union and Confederate perspectives.
Based on a multitude of primary sources, Cozzens's groundbreaking work offers new interpretations of the campaign and the reasons for Jackson's success. Cozzens also demonstrates instances in which the mythology that has come to shroud the campaign has masked errors on Jackson's part. In addition, Shenandoah 1862 provides the first detailed appraisal of Union leadership in the Valley Campaign, with some surprising conclusions.
Moving seamlessly between tactical details and analysis of strategic significance, Cozzens presents the first balanced, comprehensive account of a campaign that has long been romanticized but never fully understood.
Review
"A welcome, much-needed addition to Civil War campaign studies; valuable to scholars and enthusiasts alike. Highly recommended. "
-Choice
Review
"A fresh look at the 1862 Valley Campaign. . . . Provides a fair discussion of the command and operational issues facing both sides . . . by far the best book . . . on the 1862 Valley Campaign."
-Journal of America's Military Past
Review
"A fresh look at the 1862 Valley Campaign. . . . Provides a fair discussion of the command and operational issues facing both sides . . . by far the best book . . . on the 1862 Valley Campaign."
-Journal of America's Military Past
Review
"A welcome, much-needed addition to Civil War campaign studies; valuable to scholars and enthusiasts alike. Highly recommended. "
-Choice
Review
"Cozzens is . . . a master of Civil War military history at tactical and operational levels. He deploys a large body of unfamiliar primary material in this detailed analysis of a campaign less one-sided than the accepted view that it represented Union blundering and the triumph of Confederate planning and execution, signaling the emergence of one of history's great generals, Stonewall Jackson."
-Publishers Weekly
Review
"An incredibly learned and absorbing exercise of history, the best single work on any Civil War campaign to appear in many, many decades."
-Open Letters
Review
"A magnificent, well-documented study of one of the most important campaigns of the Civil War."
-Washington Times
Review
"A fresh look at the 1862 Valley Campaign. . . . Provides a fair discussion of the command and operational issues facing both sides . . . by far the best book . . . on the 1862 Valley Campaign."
-Journal of America's Military Past
Review
"A fuller, more accurate, and more nuanced understanding of what happened and why. . . . The best overall study of the 1862 Valley Campaign published to date."
-North Carolina Historical Review
Review
"A real challenger for the title of best campaign study. . . . Cozzens' lively style combines first person accounts with his considerable skill as a storyteller."
-James Durney, Independent Book Reviewer
Review
"A compelling chronological and bilateral narrative of the entire campaign from March to June 1862. Using primary source materials from both sides, Cozzens offers new interpretations of the campaign and of Stonewall Jackson's legendary success, which was not nearly as brilliant as it appeared but was as much the result of Union failure as the triumph of Southern arms. . . . Jackson's errors are covered here, as are those of a succession of Union commanders, all really learning their trade in these early stages of the war. Sure to become the standard work on the campaign, this book is strongly recommended."
-Library Journal
Review
"Cozzens approaches the campaign as a whole, ignoring the exclusively pro-Confederate bias and fragmented approach that has tainted previous histories of the campaign. He also employs a dazzling array of primary resources to analyze the campaign from a balanced point of view."
--Journal of Southern History
Review
"Thought provoking. . . . [Cozzens] sets out to correct the record in the first balanced treatment of an iconic campaign in an iconic war. . . . Civil War buffs will gobble up this hefty volume and historians will dive in to agree or disagree with Cozzen's cogent analysis. . . . It doesn't get much better than Peter Cozzens with his trademark combination of solid research swept along by 'you were there' immediacy."
-Tennessee Advocate
Review
"Cozzens succeeds at recounting a version of this story which offers a more balanced, if not more complete, narrative of the campaign. . . . Cozzens' conclusions are well bolstered, his prose is clever and accessible to any public or academic audience, and common sense would dictate that
Shenandoah 1862 will remain a relevant, if not definitive, look at Jackson and the Valley Campaign for years to come."
-H-Net Reviews
Review
"Peter Cozzens' superb history of events in the Shenandoah Valley provides much greater depth and analysis than any study preceding it, and in the process enhances our larger understanding of the Civil War in the East. . . . Cozzens' artful narrative effectively mines both civilian and military perspectives. . . . This is a first-rate piece of research, well argued and engagingly presented. One can safely say that the history of the 1862 Shenandoah Valley campaign has been written for this generation."
-Military History of the West
Review
"The definitive history of the Valley Campaign."
-Army Magazine
About the Author
Peter Cozzens is an independent scholar and Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Department of State. He is author or editor of nine highly acclaimed Civil War books, including The Darkest Days of the War: The Battles of Iuka and Corinth (from the University of North Carolina Press).
Table of Contents
"Succeeds masterfully. . . . No work on the Valley Campaign has delved more often and more deeply into primary sources. . . . Historical reporting at its best. . . . Cozzens' research is above reproach."
-Louisiana History "Utilizing his extensive collection of sources, the author paints for the reader an excellent description of the region in which the campaign took place. . . . Cozzens' book, both in its research and scope, will certainly surpass Robert G. Tanner's impressive Stonewall in the Valley as the standard work on the 1862 Valley Campaign."
-The Historian "Cozzens succeeds at recounting a version of this story which offers a more balanced, if not more complete, narrative of the campaign. . . . Cozzens' conclusions are well bolstered, his prose is clever and accessible to any public or academic audience, and common sense would dictate that Shenandoah 1862 will remain a relevant, if not definitive, look at Jackson and the Valley Campaign for years to come."
-H-Net Reviews "Cozzens approaches the campaign as a whole, ignoring the exclusively pro-Confederate bias and fragmented approach that has tainted previous histories of the campaign. He also employs a dazzling array of primary resources to analyze the campaign from a balanced point of view."
-Journal of Southern History "Able research presented in a careful, accurate, and critical manner. . . . Will become a 'must-have' . . . for any serious student interested in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862."
-H-Net Reviews "As campaign literature, this book stands out as a superlative narrative. The sentence structure is succinct, the prose is scintillating, the characters and their environment are vividly portrayed and developed, and the chronology of the campaign is well-placed in chapters bookended by distinct and memorable introductions and conclusions. . . . Stand[s] out as the definitive work on the campaign."
-Virginia Magazine of History and Biography "Well-written, informative, and entertaining. . . . An important new work giving the Northern perspective while at the same time taking a critical look at Jackson. . . . Highly recommended."
-TOCWOC A Civil War Blog "A welcome, much-needed addition to Civil War campaign studies; valuable to scholars and enthusiasts alike. Highly recommended. "
-Choice "A fuller, more accurate, and more nuanced understanding of what happened and why. . . . The best overall study of the 1862 Valley Campaign published to date."
-North Carolina Historical Review "A real challenger for the title of best campaign study. . . . Cozzens' lively style combines first person accounts with his considerable skill as a storyteller."
-James Durney, Independent Book Reviewer "A must read for those who want to develop a more complete understanding of this essential campaign in Civil War history."
-Southern Historian "A fresh look at the 1862 Valley Campaign. . . . Provides a fair discussion of the command and operational issues facing both sides . . . by far the best book . . . on the 1862 Valley Campaign."
-Journal of America's Military Past "Thought provoking. . . . [Cozzens] sets out to correct the record in the first balanced treatment of an iconic campaign in an iconic war. . . . Civil War buffs will gobble up this hefty volume and historians will dive in to agree or disagree with Cozzen's cogent analysis. . . . It doesn't get much better than Peter Cozzens with his trademark combination of solid research swept along by 'you were there' immediacy."
-Tennessee Advocate "Cozzens is . . . a master of Civil War military history at tactical and operational levels. He deploys a large body of unfamiliar primary material in this detailed analysis of a campaign less one-sided than the accepted view that it represented Union blundering and the triumph of Confederate planning and execution, signaling the emergence of one of history's great generals, Stonewall Jackson."
-Publishers Weekly "An incredibly learned and absorbing exercise of history, the best single work on any Civil War campaign to appear in many, many decades."
-Open Letters "A compelling chronological and bilateral narrative of the entire campaign from March to June 1862. Using primary source materials from both sides, Cozzens offers new interpretations of the campaign and of Stonewall Jackson's legendary success, which was not nearly as brilliant as it appeared but was as much the result of Union failure as the triumph of Southern arms. . . . Jackson's errors are covered here, as are those of a succession of Union commanders, all really learning their trade in these early stages of the war. Sure to become the standard work on the campaign, this book is strongly recommended."
-Library Journal "A magnificent, well-documented study of one of the most important campaigns of the Civil War."
-Washington Times