Now for the Contest tells the story of the Civil War at sea in the context of three campaigns: the blockade of the southern coast, the raiding of Union commerce, and the projection of power ashore. The Civil War at sea was profoundly influenced by innovation and asymmetry both sides embraced innovation, but differences in their resources and their strategic objectives pushed them down different paths. At its peak the Union navy boasted over fifty thousand men and nearly seven hundred ships. The Confederate navy was far smaller, never exceeding some five thousand men, and it numbered...

And Keep Moving On is the first book to see the Virginia campaign of spring 1864 as Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee saw it: a single, massive operation stretching hundreds of miles. The story of the campaign is also the story of the demise of two great armies. The scale of casualties and human suffering that the campaign inflicted makes it unique in U.S. history. Mark Grimsley's study, however, is not just another battle book. Grimsley places the campaign in the political context of the 1864 presidential election; appraises the motivation of soldiers; appreciates the impact of the North's...

"The fall of Atlanta in September 1864 was an important strategic and psychological victory for the war-weary North, virtually assuring that the Union would win the Civil War while assisting Lincoln in his reelection efforts. This concise volume by McMurry . . . closely examines this significant military campaign, places the struggle in its social and political contexts, and includes useful topical appendices and a bibliographical essay. Given its brevity, focus, and the author's unique insights, this readable and well-documented volume will be welcomed by Civil War enthusiasts and scholars...

Much of the Civil War west of the Mississippi was a war of waiting for action, of foraging already stripped land for an army that supposedly could provision itself, and of disease in camp, while trying to hold out against Union pressure. There were none of the major engagements that characterized the conflict farther east. Instead, small units of Confederate cavalry and infantry skirmished with Federal forces in Arkansas, Missouri, and Louisiana, trying to hold the western Confederacy together. The many units of Texans who joined this fight had a second objective--to keep the enemy out of...

This collection of essays represents the best recent history written on Civil War activity in Arkansas. It illuminates the complexity of such issues as guerrilla warfare, Union army policies, and the struggles between white and black civilians and soldiers, and also shows that the war years were a time of great change and personal conflict for the citizens of the state, despite the absence of great battles or armies. All the essays, which have been previously published in scholarly journals, have been revised to reflect recent scholarship in the field. Each selection explores a military or...

Confederate cavalry operating in the Trans-Mississippi during the Civil War has received little scholarly attention, partially because of the paucity of written resources that survived the conflict.
While there are a few published letter collections and a handful of memoirs, little is known of the troopers' daily activities. With the publication of the order book of Parsons's Brigade, a compilation of the original daily orders preserved by members of the brigade following the Civil War, the story of these horsemen comes to light.
The Texans were on the move daily, skirmishing or...

From the first Georgians to march north to fight under Robert E. Lee, through the Battle of Chickamauga, the Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea, and the awful conditions of Andersonville, Anne J. Bailey and Walter J. Fraser, Jr., have compiled 260 photographs, four maps, and related documents that detail the physical and spiritual suffering of soldiers, slaves, and civilians in their fight for their country, land, and their own freedom. Centering on the common soldier, Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Georgia in the Civil War, the fifth volume in the University of Arkansas...