Army of Potomac: Lincoln's Army Part 1

Rating:
Summary: The story of the Army of Potomac as McClellan's army
Review: "Mr. Lincoln's Army" is the first volume in Bruce Catton's celebrated trilogy chronicling the history of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War, one of the most exciting war narratives in literature. Catton had grown up in Michigan around men who had served in that Army and these books were his attempt "to find out about the things which the veterans never discussed." Catton relies on a host of source material to weave his tales, from autobiographies of Generals McClellan and Howard, to the correspondence of Generals Sedgwick and Meade, to dozens of soldiers' reminiscences and regimental histories, to military histories relating to specific battles, campaign, military tactics and weapons. As you read these books you are always feel that you are dealing with living literature rather than dead history. This is because Catton privileges "The Diary of an Enlisted Man" by Lawrence Van Alstyne and the history of "The 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion" more than he does "McClellan's Own Story."

"Mr. Lincoln's Army" covers the Army of the Potomac from its creation to the Battle of Antietam. Despite the title the central figure in the book is General George B. McClellan, the war's most paradoxical figure who gave this Army the training it needed to become a first rate military unit and who then refused to use the great army he had created. There are 6 sections to the book: (1) "Picture-Book War" actually covers the events in 1862 that led to McClellan being placed back in charge of the Army of the Potomac, setting up a rather ironic perspective for what happens both before and after that decision; (2) "The Young General" provides the background on McClellan and details his formation of the Army; (3) "The Era of Suspicion" covers the ill-fated Peninsula Campaign; (4) "An Army on the March" centers on the Second Battle of Manassas/Bull Run when the Army was under John Pope; (5) "Opportunity Knocks Three Times" begins with the great intelligence coup of the Civil War, the discovery of Lee's Special Order No. 191 and establishes how the upcoming battle was handed to McClellan on a silver plate; (6) "Never Call Retreat" tells the story of how McClellan snatched defeat--or at least a bloody tie--from the jaws of victory.

Bruce Catton's books on the Civil War are eminently readable, and with his History of the Army of the Potomac he finds his perfect level, writing about the men who were the common soldiers as much if not more than he does about the generals and politicians. You certainly get the feeling his heart was in these volumes more than it was in his larger histories of the Civil War. For those who are well versed in the grand details of the war, these books provide a more intimate perspective on those great battles.

Rating:
Summary: The story of the Army of Potomac as McClellan's army
Review: "Mr. Lincoln's Army" is the first volume in Bruce Catton's celebrated trilogy chronicling the history of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War, one of the most exciting war narratives in literature. Catton had grown up in Michigan around men who had served in that Army and these books were his attempt "to find out about the things which the veterans never discussed." Catton relies on a host of source material to weave his tales, from autobiographies of Generals McClellan and Howard, to the correspondence of Generals Sedgwick and Meade, to dozens of soldiers' reminiscences and regimental histories, to military histories relating to specific battles, campaign, military tactics and weapons. As you read these books you are always feel that you are dealing with living literature rather than dead history. This is because Catton privileges "The Diary of an Enlisted Man" by Lawrence Van Alstyne and the history of "The 27th Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion" more than he does "McClellan's Own Story."

"Mr. Lincoln's Army" covers the Army of the Potomac from its creation to the Battle of Antietam. Despite the title the central figure in the book is General George B. McClellan, the war's most paradoxical figure who gave this Army the training it needed to become a first rate military unit and who then refused to use the great army he had created. There are 6 sections to the book: (1) "Picture-Book War" actually covers the events in 1862 that led to McClellan being placed back in charge of the Army of the Potomac, setting up a rather ironic perspective for what happens both before and after that decision; (2) "The Young General" provides the background on McClellan and details his formation of the Army; (3) "The Era of Suspicion" covers the ill-fated Peninsula Campaign; (4) "An Army on the March" centers on the Second Battle of Manassas/Bull Run when the Army was under John Pope; (5) "Opportunity Knocks Three Times" begins with the great intelligence coup of the Civil War, the discovery of Lee's Special Order No. 191 and establishes how the upcoming battle was handed to McClellan on a silver plate; (6) "Never Call Retreat" tells the story of how McClellan snatched defeat--or at least a bloody tie--from the jaws of victory.

Bruce Catton's books on the Civil War are eminently readable, and with his History of the Army of the Potomac he finds his perfect level, writing about the men who were the common soldiers as much if not more than he does about the generals and politicians. You certainly get the feeling his heart was in these volumes more than it was in his larger histories of the Civil War. For those who are well versed in the grand details of the war, these books provide a more intimate perspective on those great battles.