Commanding the Storm: Civil War Battles in the Words of the Generals Who Fought Them

By: John Richard Stephens

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Synopsis: From Beauregard and Custer to Lee and Sherman, twelve commanders from each side vividly describe what they and their men experienced at twelve of the war’s most legendary battles from Fort Sumter to Appomattox Court House in accounts gathered from letters, memoirs, reports, and testimonies. They relate noted incidents and personal triumphs and tragedies while covering strategies and explaining battlefield decisions. Trench warfare at Petersburg and Sherman’s scorched earth policy in Georgia foreshadowed the world wars to come, and technological advancements—such as armored steamships, landmines, and machine guns—literally changed the landscape of war. Submarines and a time bomb even came into play. Informative biographies and headnotes for each battle give parallel statistics at a glance and establish context; sidebars cover notable tactics and technologies, including espionage, aerial reconnaissance, and guerilla warfare; and a concise roll-call outline each commander's life in full after the war. Here, from the men who conducted and controlled it, is an invaluable sourcebook of what happened in the War Between the States and why.