America's Civil War

Such is the continuing volume of work on the Civil War that we are regularly in need of an authoritative and accessible brief synthesis to keep us up to date with this endlessly fascinating subject. Brooks Simpson meets that need for the 1990s in America's Civil War, a wonderful feat of compression in which he addresses all the great issues of the war in 200 pages of clear and readable prose. Rightly, he puts the military history of the conflict at the center of the picture, but he excels in relating the drama of the war itself to the politics of both Union and Confederacy, to the stresses and strains-and opportunities-of the home front, and to the great issues of emancipation and reconstruction. This book is a fine achievement, and it will be invaluable not only to students but to many other readers-and even Civil War specialists will benefit from its fresh insights.-Peter J. Parish, Cambridge University

Foreword VII
Preface and Acknowledgments XII
Introduction: On Understanding the Civil War 1
Chapter One: Secession and the First Shot 7
Secession 9
The First Shot 21
Chapter Two: War Begins 24
Mobilizing For Conflict 25
War Aims 31
The First Battles 37
The European Response 45
Chapter Three: The Limited War 49
Forts Henry and Donelson 50
Shiloh 53
Rebels Resurgents in Virginia 57
Confederate Escalation 66
Chapter Four: War Becomes Revolution 70
Toward Emancipation 71
Confederate Counteroffensives: Lee Moves North 80
Confederate Counteroffensives: Perryville, Iuka, and Corinth 87
Emancipation and Elections 89
Union Battlefield Standoffs and Rebuffs 94
Chapter Five: Gambles Won and Lost 100
Chancellorsville 101
Vicksburg and Gettysburg 105
Chickamauga and Chattanooga 114
The Impact of Emancipation 120
Chapter Six: The Home Front 130
The Folks Back Home 131
The Northern Economy and War Effort 137
The Southern Economy and War Effort 141
Politics and Society: The North 145
Politics and Society: The South 152
Wartime Reconstruction: Early Steps 157
Chapter Seven: The Campaigns of 1864 162
Grant's Grand Design 163
The Wilderness Campaigns 166
The Atlanta Campaign 175
Lincoln's Bid for Reelection 177
Victory on the Battlefield and at the Ballot Box 183
Chapter Eight: Victory and Defeat 188
Sherman's March to the Sea 189
Fort Fisher and the March through the Carolinas 194
Emancipation, Reconstruction, and Peace Proposals 197
From Richmond to Appomattox 201
Foundations for Peace 206
Conclusion: Why the Union Won 213
Bibliographical Essay 221
Index 233
Maps: Major Campaigns of the Civil War 35
Campaigns in the West, February to April 1862 52
The Peninsula Campaign 1862 64
Campaigns in Virginia and Maryland, August to December 1862 82
War in the East, 1863 103
The Vicksburg Campaign, April to July 1863 108
Grant vs. Lee 168
Campaigns in the West, 1864-65 190