This is a study of the Chancellorsville and Vicksburg Campaigns, day by day. I posted this same review on Amazon.
Lowry writes well. He succinctly describes McClernand's political/military ambitions and how Lincoln and Halleck used them. Lowry also uses a lot of letters and orders written by the principals. I've read other accounts that say Grierson's Union cavalry raid didn't have much effect on the Confederate command. The letters and orders reproduced here indicate that Pemberton was beside himself and gave the cavalry raid almost as much weight as Grant's army looming across the Mississippi. At worst the Union cavalry were an embarrassment, an irritation while Grant and his army would crush Pemberton and hamstring the Confederacy.
It became clear that Pemberton deserved the contempt his soldiers had for him after this campaign. His marches and counter-marches revealed his indecision to the troops. Jefferson Davis still wanted to use him after he was exchanged but southern troops refused to serve under him. This account shows him to have been as poor a commander as the Union's John Pope.
I've read Sear's account of the Chancellorsville campaign and didn't learn all that much more from this. But then that's a high bar. It was most interesting to see how the two campaigns took place at the same time, showing what the principals knew when they made their decisions – or didn't make them. The comparison between the two campaigns is enlightening. In each, a first rate general (Lee, Grant) makes short work of a lesser opponent (Hooker, Pemberton). Hooker was defeated, Pemberton and his army were captured.
The detailed account of Grierson's raid is engrossing. It also shows just how much Hollywood invented for the film "The Horse Soldiers". Not much of a surprise there.
There is an order of battle that covers most of the Union and Confederate forces from the east coast to the Mississippi River, omitting only units in the far west.
I'd give this book 5 stars but I bought the Kindle edition. There are some glitches, no fault of the author. Each chapter starts with a strange typo. The first letter of the new chapter is on one line, the rest of the copy is on the next. I do wish Amazon would clean up the software that transcribes the book into Kindle format. Since footnotes are appended to each chapter, the usual Kindle touch to go to the notes and back doesn't work. On the other hand, this edition avoids some of the other problems I've seen in Kindle books, like the 10th Division being rendered as the loth Division. When you are reading about Eastern Europe, it's hard to be sure what is right. Why should the reader have to guess in the first place? As said before, this error does not happen here, just the weird opening for each chapter and the footnote problem. Still, the book rates 4 stars from me. If you are a history or Civil War buff or a war gamer, this is the book for you.
bases them up.
