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Shenandoah 1862 - Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign

By: University of North Carolina Press, The

Type: Hardcover

Product Line: Historical Books (The University of North Carolina Press)


Product Info

Title
Shenandoah 1862 - Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign
Category
Author
Peter Cozzens
Publish Year
2008
Pages
640
Dimensions
6.5x9.5x2"
NKG Part #
2147831964
Type
Hardcover

Description

This is the first and only comprehensive book on this important campaign. In the spring of 1862, Federal troops under the command of General George B. McClellan launched what was to be a coordinated, two-pronged attack on Richmond in the hope of taking the Confederate capital and bringing a quick end to the Civil War. The Confederate high command assigned Stonewall Jackson to divert critical Union resources from this drive, a mission Jackson fulfilled by repeatedly defeating much larger enemy forces. His victories elevated him to near iconic status in both the North and the South and signaled a long war ahead. One of the most intriguing and storied episodes of the Civil War, the Valley Campaign has heretofore been related only from the Confederate point of view. With ""Shenandoah 1862"", Peter Cozzens dramatically and conclusively corrects this imbalance, giving equal attention to both Union and Confederate perspectives. Based on massive research in primary sources, Cozzens' groundbreaking work offers new interpretations of the campaign and the reasons for Jackson's success. Cozzens also reveals instances in which the mythology that shrouds the campaign today has masked errors on Jackson's part. In addition, ""Shenandoah 1862"" provides the first detailed appraisal of Union leadership in the Valley Campaign, with some surprising conclusions. Moving seamlessly between tactical details and analysis of strategic significance, Cozzens presents the first balanced, comprehensive account of a campaign long romanticized but never fully understood.