To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign by Stephen W. Sears
McClellan goes on the offensive in Spring 1862.
Just downloaded the Substack app so I could read Jim Summer’s latest. Any suggestions of other substacks (is that what I should call them?) to subscribe to?
To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign by Stephen W. Sears
McClellan goes on the offensive in Spring 1862.
Bob Green
"River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile" by Candice Millard.
Took me a while to get into it but not enjoying it quite a bit. Loved her "River of Doubt" about T Roosevelt.
SoCal
I finished To The Gates of Richmond yesterday and highly recommend it to anyone interested in Civil War history. I learned a lot about the Peninsula Campaign plus the book reinforced knowledge already possessed.
A few quick comments:
1. The book contains very good battle maps which aid in understanding troop movements.
2. General Lee had an excellent plan to trap the Union Army in a pincer at the Battle of Glendale on Day Six of the Seven Days but poor communications resulted in lack of coordination in executing the plan.
3. With a competent Commanding General, the Union Army would have captured Richmond in 1862. McClellan was not competent. This I already knew.
Bob Green
I have been a big fan of the historical novels of Bernard Cornwell and have read over twenty of them. His 4 novels named The Starbuck Chronicles put into play the beginnings of the American Civil War through Antietam. Nathan Starbuck is described in "Rebel" as a Copperhead, the title of the 2nd novel of the series. Starbuck grew up in Mass. went to Yale Divinity School and his father is an abolitionist minister. Yet he serves as a junior officer in a newly formed Virginia regiment. The series begins with a tar and feathering. This series is really good especially the first 2. Cornwell's descriptions of Richmond are vivid, especially those of the brothel. Cornwell researched the battles before writing them in the mid nineties When I was a Park Ranger at Antietam in the late sixties the first part of the battle Cornfield/Dunkard Church wasn't thoroughly platted. Cornwell profusely thanks the MD Historical Society for doing this just before he wrote the last novel. Rebel Copperhead Battle Flag The Bloody Ground.
Lessons by Ian McEwan is most excellent.
Next up for me is another Civil War book, Conquering The Valley: Stonewall Jackson At Port Republic by Robert K. Krick. This campaign immediately preceded the Peninsula Campaign covered in my last read. The Peninsula Campaign was not Stonewall Jackson’s finest hour and a common explanation is he was physically exhausted due to his actions in the Shenandoah Valley so I am looking forward to learning more about Jackson’s successes in the Valley.
Bob Green
Just finished this one. Wow. I have lived in NC my entire life and had never heard of this event until just a couple years ago. In the post slavery south after the civil war, freed slaves had begun to thrive in Wilmington NC making it the most integrated city in the south. African Americans occupied many elected positions and other prominent posts in the city until the Jim Crow south had had enough and a large group of white supremacists decided to put an end to it. It is an explosive tale that takes you through what happened in the city leading up to the coup, which by the way is still to this day the only successful government takeover in our county's history. A violent, bloody, sad day in our state and nation's history that isn't very well known. I would highly recommend it.
"The future ain't what it used to be."
I’ve been working on book 5 (of 9) of The Expanse. Not as weighty as most of the other selections here, but for bedtime reading, it’s great. The TV series on Amazon Prime is a little different, but still entertaining, as well.
I read three books on vacation.
Hell and Back, Craig Johnson's latest Longmire book. Really bizarre, but a great read as always.
Wiley Cash's first book, A Land More Kind than Home. NC mountains in the 80s and religious beliefs taken to the extreme.
And Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline. Little discussed history of orphaned children from NYC sent out west for "adoption."
For something more uplifting, I am now reading The Church of Baseball by Ron Shelton about the making of Bull Durham.