Planting the Union flag in Texas : the campaigns of Major General Nathaniel P. Banks in the West / Stephen A. Dupree.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dupree, Stephen A.

Series:

Red River Valley books ; no. 2.

Red River Valley books ; no. 2

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss, 1816-1894.

Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss.

United States. Army--Biography.

United States.

Generals--United States--Biography.

Generals.

Texas--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns.

Texas.

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

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

Physical Description:

1 online resource (316 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Appointed by President Lincoln to command the Gulf Department in November 1862, Nathaniel Prentice Banks was given three assignments, one of which was to occupy some point in Texas. He was told that when he united his army with Grant's, he would assume command of both. Banks, then, had the opportunity to become the leading general in the West--perhaps the most important general in the war. But he squandered what successes he had, never rendezvoused with Grant's army, and ultimately orchestrated some of the greatest military blunders of the war. "Banks's faults as a general," writes author Stephen A. Dupree, "were legion." The originality of Planting the Union Flag in Texas lies not just in the author's description of the battles and campaigns Banks led, nor in his recognition of the character traits that underlay Banks's decisions. Rather, it lies in how Dupree synthesizes his studies of Banks's various actions during his tour of duty in and near Texas to help the reader understand them as a unified campaign. He skillfully weaves together Banks's various attempts to gain Union control of Texas with his other activities and shines the light of Banks's character on the resulting events to help explain both their potential and their shortcomings. In the end, readers will have a holistic understanding of Banks's "appalling" failure to win Texas and may even be led to ask how the post-Civil War era might have been different had he been successful. This fine study will appeal to Civil War buffs and fans of military and Texas history.

Contents:

""Contents""; ""Illustrations""; ""Maps""; ""Preface""; ""Prologue""; ""Ch1 Lincoln�s Political General""; ""Ch2 A New Commander in Louisiana""; ""Ch3 The First Invasion Galveston""; ""Ch4 Irish Bend, Alexandria, and Port Hudson""; ""Ch5 The Second Invasion Sabine Pass""; ""Ch6 The Third Invasion The Great Texas Overland Expedition""; ""Ch7 The Fourth Invasion The Texas Coast""; ""Ch8 Beginning of the Fifth Invasion Halleck�s Red River Expedition""; ""Ch9 The Advance to Alexandria""; ""Ch10 The Advance to Sabine Crossroads""; ""Ch11 The Battles at Sabine Crossroads and Pleasant Grove""

""Ch12 The Battle at Pleasant Hill""""Ch13 The Retreat to Alexandria and the Affair at Monett�s Ferry""; ""Ch14 The Red River Dams""; ""Ch15 The End of the Fifth Invasion""; ""Ch16 A Summation""; ""Appendix""; ""Notes""; ""Bibliography""; ""Index""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-60344-442-4

OCLC:

698589259