How the South could have won the Civil War : the fatal errors that led to Confederate defeat / Bevin Alexander.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Alexander, Bevin

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Confederate States of America. Army.

Military art and science.

History.

Generals.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns.

United States.

Generals--Confederate States of America--History.

Confederate States of America. Army--Drill and tactics--History.

Confederate States of America.

Strategy--History--19th century.

Strategy.

Command of troops--History--19th century.

Command of troops.

Military art and science--Confederate States of America--History.

Physical Description:

337 pages : maps ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Crown Publishers, [2007]

Summary:

Conventional wisdom holds that the South's defeat was inevitable. Yet military historian Alexander's new look at the Civil War documents how a Confederate victory could have come about--and how close it came to happening. Moving beyond theoretical conjectures to explore actual plans that Confederate generals proposed and the tactics ultimately adopted in the war's key battles, he shows why there is nothing inevitable about military victory, even for a state with overwhelming strength, and provides a startling account of how a relatively small number of tactical and strategic mistakes cost the South the war--and changed the course of history.--From publisher description.

Contents:

No victory is inevitable

"There stands Jackson like a stone wall"

A new kind of war

The Shenandoah Valley campaign

The Seven Days

The sweep behind Pope

Second Manassas

The lost order

Antietam

Fredericksburg

Chancellorsville

Gettysburg

Appomattox.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [316]-319) and index.

ISBN:

9780307345998

0307345998

OCLC:

104861227

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description