[Includes over 12 illustrations and 2 maps] The campaign for the control of Vicksburg was one of the most important contests in determining the outcome of the Civil War. As President Abraham Lincoln observed, “Vicksburg is the key. The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.” The struggle for Vicksburg lasted more than a year, and when it was over, the outcome of the Civil War appeared more certain. The centerpiece of the Vicksburg campaign was the Mississippi River, just as the great river is the centerpiece of the North American continent. The Mississippi and its tributaries drain over a million square miles of territory in the United States and Canada. These waterways included twenty thousand miles of navigable water, extending from Montana to Pennsylvania and from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, making possible the large scale settlement of the west. Between 1810 and 1860, the number of whites residing west of the Appalachians swelled from one million to fifteen million, thanks in large part to the availability of navigable waterways. The black population, mostly slaves, grew from two hundred thousand to over two million, concentrated along the Mississippi. The rivers of the Mississippi basin provided an economic outlet for corn and hogs raised in Iowa and Ohio, as well as the sugar and cotton grown on the great plantations of Louisiana and Mississippi. By 1860, railroads were beginning to penetrate the region, but access to these western rivers remained vital to the economy of both the Midwest and the Deep South.

Includes over 30 maps and Illustrations The Staff Ride Handbook for the Vicksburg Campaign, December 1862-July 1863, provides a systematic approach to the analysis of this key Civil War campaign. Part I describes the organization of the Union and Confederate Armies, detailing their weapons, tactics, and logistical, engineer, communications, and medical support. It also includes a description of the U.S. Navy elements that featured so prominently in the campaign. Part II consists of a campaign overview that establishes the context for the individual actions to be studied in the field. Part III consists of a suggested itinerary of sites to visit in order to obtain a concrete view of the campaign in its several phases. For each site, or “stand,” there is a set of travel directions, a discussion of the action that occurred there, and vignettes by participants in the campaign that further explain the action and which also allow the student to sense the human “face of battle.” Part IV provides practical information on conducting a Staff Ride in the Vicksburg area, including sources of assistance and logistical considerations. Appendix A outlines the order of battle for the significant actions in the campaign. Appendix B provides biographical sketches of key participants. Appendix C provides an overview of Medal of Honor conferral in the campaign. An annotated bibliography suggests sources for preliminary study.

Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack – 224 battle plans, campaign maps, and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities. The American Civil War had been raging since 1861. In the eastern theatre of the war, the Confederate forces - under the brilliant leadership of Robert E. Lee - traded blows with a succession of Union commanders and inflicted some severe losses on his enemy. In the period covered by the book—1963—the next commander, to try to wrest the initiative from the Confederates and utilise the numerical superiority of the Union forces, was Maj.-General Hooker. His attempt would founder catastrophically at the battle of Chancellorsville, which in turn might be described as General Lee’s most famous victory. The high-water mark of the Confederate successes was to be at the battle of Gettysburg, with the Union forces under new commander General Meade holding their own and finally gaining the initiative. Although a short book, it is a revealing look at the campaign from an “out-side” point of view free from partisan bias. This book is part of the Special Campaigns series produced around the turn of the 20th century by serving or recently retired British and Indian Army officers. They were principally intended for use by British officers seeking a wider knowledge of military history. Title – The American War of Sucession – 1863 [Illustrated Edition] Sub-Title – Chancellorsville and Gettysburg Series Name – Special Campaigns Series Series Number — 13 Author — Colonel Philip H. Dalbiac (1855-1927)

Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack - 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities. Many historians give William Sherman total credit for the success of the Atlanta Campaign, when in fact it was the success of the Federal team as an institution. Conversely, many blame Joseph Johnston for the Confederate loss in that campaign, when in fact he was only one cog in the Confederate war machine. It was beyond Johnston ‘s ability to adapt if President Jefferson Davis and the rest of the Confederate team failed in fulfilling their duties. More importantly, the Federal team adapted during the middle of the war. In short they were able to transform the way they fought the war. The Confederates in the west were never able to do the same.

Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack – 224 battle plans, campaign maps, and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities. Major Redway picks up his analysis of the actions in the Eastern theatre of the Civil War with his widely acclaimed book on the Fredericksburg campaign of 1862. Goaded by his political master Lincoln, Major-General Burnside assumed the offensive with the Union army in late 1862, planning to use speed and surprise to enable him to defeat the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee. His plan started to fall apart almost immediately as he failed to move with the requisite speed and, faced with choices between vaciliation and bold action, assumed the former. What had started badly was to end disastrously for the Union forces at the Battle of Fredericksburg, as bloody frontal assaults were delivered against entrenched Confederate troops. This book is part of the Special Campaigns series produced around the turn of the 20th century by serving or recently retired British and Indian Army officers. They were intended principally for use by British officers seeking a wider knowledge of military history. Author — Major George William Redway (1859-1934) 224 additional maps have been added.

Few generals of the Confederate States Army had such a glittering career as John Brown Gordon, although without any formal military training he rose from captain of a company of Georgia mountineers to the rank of Major-General. He was described by the Robert E. Lee as one of his finest commanders and that his actions were “characterized by splendid audacity”. He was distinguished in many the early battles of the Army of North Viginia; First Bull Run, Malvern Hill; holding the vital “Bloody Lane” at Antietam he was shot five times as he encouraged his men. After a period of recuperation he plunged back into the fray and won further laurels at battles at Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House and the final surrender at Appomattox. His memoirs are justly famous and are an acclaimed classic. “For many years I have been urged to place on record my reminiscences of the war between the States. In undertaking the task now, it is not my purpose to attempt a comprehensive description of that great struggle, nor an elaborate analysis of the momentous interests and issues involved. The time may not have arrived for a full and fair history of that most interesting period in the Republic’s life. The man capable of writing it with entire justice to both sides is perhaps yet unborn. ... I have also recorded in this volume a large number of those characteristic and thrilling incidents which illustrate a unique and hitherto unwritten phase of the war, the story of which should not be lost, because it is luminous with the noblest lessons. Many of these incidents came under my own observation”--Introduction.

Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack – 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities. “John McAllister Schofield began his very successful military career after graduating seventh from the United States Military Academy in 1853. At the outbreak of the war, Schofield first served as mustering officer for the state of Missouri, received the promotion of major of the 1st Missouri Infantry, and served as chief-of-staff under General Nathaniel Lyon at the battle of Wilson’s Creek. In January of 1864, Schofield led the Army of the Ohio during the Atlanta Campaign under William T. Sherman. When Sherman set off on his infamous “March to the Sea,” Schofield and his command were left under George H. Thomas to stop the invasion of Tennessee led by Confederate General John B. Hood. On November 30, 1864, Schofield successfully repulsed John Bell Hood during the battle of Franklin, and effectively crippled Hood’s army. Two weeks later, during the battle of Nashville, General Thomas used Schofield and his XXIII Corps to effectively destroy what was left of Hood’s army. Schofield received a promotion to brigadier in the regular army for his actions at Franklin. Schofield was again moved to fight under Sherman in North Carolina. He captured Wilmington, and fought at the battle of Kinston before meeting up with Sherman on March 23, 1865 in Goldsboro. Working together with Sherman, Schofield led the Department of North Carolina until the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston at Durham Station. For his service, he was brevetted to major general in the regular army. After the war, Schofield went on to become the Secretary of War under President Johnson. He helped with the recommendation of making a naval base a Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and eventually was promoted to lieutenant general.”- CWT

Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack - 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities. General of the Army William Tecumseh Sherman was an extraordinary, controversial and complex individual. His ascension into the pantheon of American great captains was neither preordained nor expected. Wading through an average military career following his graduation from West Point, Sherman resigned his commission and tried his hand in the business and education sectors prior to the breakout of the American Civil War. Returned to active service in 1861, Sherman slogged through the first year of the war and found himself relegated to a recruiting and training billet in St. Louis, Missouri. Grasping the rising star of General of the Army Ulysses S. Grant, Sherman saved himself and elevated his performance to that of greatness. Forever associated with the Battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Chattanooga, Meridian and Atlanta and the Georgia and Carolina Campaigns, Sherman propelled himself from tactical mediocrity to operational brilliance. How did Sherman overcome his lackluster beginnings and transform himself into an inspiring figurehead studied throughout the world for his military accomplishments? By analyzing Sherman’s battles and campaigns from 1862-1865, this paper delves into his transformation by exploring his visualization and understanding of operational art through the lens of current United States Army doctrine.

Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack – 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities. The brutal occupation of Baltimore in 1861 by the Federal troops under Benjamin “Beast” Butler, would be the final straw for many Confederate leaning Marylanders. One such was Harry Gilmor, imprisoned for his political beliefs and his service in the Baltimore County Horse Guards, he was determined to join the Southern forces. As soon as he was released from prison he travelled as fast as possible to join the troops under Colonel Turner Ashby; by March 1862 he was commissioned as a captain of the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry. He set to his task with a passion earning much glory fighting under Jackson in the Valley campaign, even being entrusted with special missions by the great general himself. His military star was on the rise and he began to gain a sterling reputation as a cavalry commander often employed in scouting, raids and ambushes. He was in action at the Battle of Brandy Station, in the Shenandoah Valley and led the famous “Raid Round Baltimore” in 1864. Despite all his cunning and daring the tide of war turned against him and his Confederate comrades and he was captured in February 1865 in Hardy County. As a successful Confederate raider the Federal press had heaped calumnies upon him and his men, so after the war he wrote these memoirs to set the record straight. A dashing read of a famous Confederate cavalry officer.

Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack - 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities. “First published in 1907, Military Memoirs of a Confederate is regarded by many historians as one of the most important and dispassionate first-hand general accounts of the American Civil War. Unlike some other Confederate memoirists, General Edward Porter Alexander had no use for bitter “Lost Cause” theories to explain the South’s defeat. Alexander was willing to objectively evaluate and criticize prominent Confederate officers, including Robert E. Lee. The result is a clear-eyed assessment of the long, bloody conflict that forged a nation. “The memoir opens with Alexander, recently graduated from West Point, heading to Utah to tamp down the hostile actions of Mormons who had refused to receive a territorial governor appointed by President Buchanan. A few years later, Alexander finds himself on the opposite side of a much larger rebellion-this time aligned with Confederates bent on secession from the Union. In the years that follow, he is involved in most of the major battles of the East, including Manassas, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Chickamauga. Alexander describes each battle and battlefield in sharp detail. “Few wartime narratives offer the insight and objectivity of Alexander’s Military Memoirs of a Confederate . Civil war buffs and students of American history have much to learn from this superb personal narrative”-Paperback Edition