A Great Civil War:  A Military And Political History, 1861-1865, by Russell F. Weigley

It just so happens that the political and military aspects of the Civil War (and just about any other subject) happen to be my own favorite aspects of history, so this book had a lot of things going for it from the start, including being written by a wonderful historian.  For the most part, this book delivers, even though the author is rather sarcastic and seems to be holding the Civil War armies to levels of operational excellence that neither army achieved very well.  This book is really biting and sarcastic, and sometimes that is quite entertaining, but the author’s snarky edgelord tendencies do not always come off well.  What comes off much better is the poignant discussion of the author’s own family connection with the Civil War, a connection that many of us share who are Americans and who have family members whose deaths or injuries in the Civil War had massive effects on surviving relatives.  This book is at its best when it is at its most humane, showing compassion for the people caught up in war, which probably accounts for the author’s irritation at the politicians who screwed things up so badly.

This sizable work of more than 450 pages is divided into thirteen large chapters that go in a chronological fashion from the prelude to the war to its conclusion.  The author begins with a list of maps and a note on style before beginning with an introduction that poses the question of why Americans fought the Civil War at all.  After that the author discusses the period from secession to the start of the war (1) and then discusses the formation of battle lines up to Bull Run (2).  There is a discussion of the grasping for strategy and purpose through the end of 1861 (3) and then a discussion of the bloodshed and indecision that took place at the beginning of 1862 (4).  After that the author looks at the Southern attempts to gain the initiative that ended at Perryville, Corinth, and Antietam (5) before looking at the relationship between liberty and war (6).  There is a discussion of armies and societies in the period between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville (7) as well as a discussion of three seasons of battle including Gettysburg and the victory at Vicksburg and ending at Chattanooga (8).  After that the author looks at the horizon of the postwar world that was shaping up in politics (9) and the tension between traditional politics and modern war in 1864 (10).  Finally, the author closes with a discussion of the suspense and then resolution in victories at Atlanta, the Shenandoah Valley, and Mobile (11), the relentlessness of Sherman’s war against Southern morale (12), and the surrenders that ended the Civil War in Union victory (13), after which there are notes, notes on maps, a bibliography, and an index.

Ultimately, this book is written well by someone who clearly knows his history and wants to convey both the massive importance of the war in Virginia as well as the larger political and military scope of the war.  Among the insights the author brings to bear is the ambivalence of Southern nationalism and a perception of the weakness of the South in being somewhat half-hearted about its desire to separate from the North.  The author is unsparing about the flaws of politicians and military leaders on both sides as well as the importance of operational and strategic thinking in successful military conflicts and the high price of failure on both sides that can be found here.  The author also manages to integrate the political and military aspects of the war and show how these concerns overlapped with each other and influenced each other in turn, giving more understanding about Lincoln’s own delicate balancing act in seeking victory while also trying to hold together a coalition of largely racist Northern whites along with border Southerners who could not be pressed too hard on slavery and radicals who wanted to use the conflict to push massive and unpopular social change, all of which it was important to keep together.  The book’s integration of war and politics makes for insightful and thoughtful reading that is easy to recommend to readers.