Thomas Goodrich is an author that focuses most of his writings about the American Civil War. This book “Black Flag Guerrilla Warfare on the Western Border, 1861-1865” depicts some of the most violent guerrilla fighting that took place along the Kansas and Missouri border. He is very objective about presenting this sinister side of the Civil War. Mr. Goodrich’s book portrays the horrific death, destruction, merciless killings, rapes, and the millions of dollars worth of property seized or destroyed by the guerrillas on both the Union and Confederate side. This book tells about the brutality of what happened to men when they surrendered. They were told they would be treated as prisoners of war only to be executed, and their bodies mutilated by the guerrillas. It is written from first hand accounts of what went on from information collected through newspaper articles, diaries, and letters written by the eye-witnesses themselves, townspeople, family members, slaves, northern jayhawkers and pro-south bushwhackers. “Black Flag” concentrates on several of the Kansas jayhawkers and the Rebel guerrillas loyal to their cause. The brutality of the way both sides killed one another and mutilated the bodies of their victims is unbelievable.
Two of the most notorious savages were jayhawkers’ Charles “Doc” Jennison and James Lane. They would invade houses and farms in their path and shoot the men and older boys and have their way with the women and girls, destroy or steal anything in their path. Lane shattered the town of Osceola, Missouri, shot the men, and burned down most of the town. It suffered over a million dollars worth of damage and Lane’s gang even destroyed belongings of citizens that were pro-union.
On the confede...
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...heir loyalty to the Confederates.
This was one of the few civil war books that did not center on either Ulysses Grant or Robert Lee. It told a story about the Jayhawker and pro-South Bushwhacker guerrillas, who by the end of the civil war were just plain outlaws and would kill and rob anyone from the Union or the Confederate side. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about this part of the war. This book can be shocking at times, violent and very descriptive of what the innocent citizens had to endure.
The book concludes with a newspaper article from the Liberty, Missouri, Tribune dated ten months after the Civil War ended. It states that Clay County Savings Bank was robbed and the bank clerk was killed. As eighteen-year-old Jesse James career as a rebel bushwhacker guerrilla ended, his new career as a bank robber was just beginning.
...as nice to know what the book was talking about when it mentioned places, people, and battles like Cold Harbor, the Battle of Manassas, the Wilderness, Sergeant Evans, General Grant, “Bobby Lee”, etc. I liked the way the author ended the book, the fact that both his friend, Hank, and his father died, made it more realistic. If I were in his shoes, I probably would’ve run away to the army also. It’s sad how their barn house was burned by the Confederates. He must’ve thought there to be a lot of glory in the war to have run away instead of do chores at the farm. I’m sure a lot of young men at that time wanted to be a part of the war just like Jem and Hank. I admire how Jem loved his father so much, and wanted to follow him to the war. He didn’t want to only go into the war for the glory like his friend Hank, but he believed that the slaves should be set free. His family had their share of slaves, but in the book they were treated well. The details of Jem’s daily life as a soldier are interwoven with vivid depictions of actual battles and historical figures in this taut, fast-paced story. And that’s what I like about this book. It brings alive the realities of war and its aftermath.
Stephen W. Sears’ Landscape Turned Red is an account of political and military plans. Especially General Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign as well as the Battle of Antietam. Sears frames his work around the pending support of Great Britain and France to the Confederate cause due to cotton. Landscape Turned Red covers the battle of Antietam. It offers a vivid account of both armies, the soldiers and officers, and the bloody campaign. It analyzes the impact of Antietam on the Civil War as a whole. Sears' use of diaries, dispatches, and letters recreate the Battle of Antietam. You experience the battle not only from its leaders but also by its soldiers, both Union and Confederate. Sears attempts to examine the tactical moves of both Lee and General George McClellan. He also talks about the foolish decisions that troubled both the Federal and Confederate forces. Sears' use of traits, political pursuits, and tactical preferences, explain the thoughts of many. Some of these include President Lincoln, General Halleck and General McClellan, and their subordinates. Stephen Ward Sears is an American historian specializing in the American Civil War. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and an attendant to a journalism seminar at Radcliffe-Harvard. As an author he has concentrated on the military history of the American Civil War. Such as the battles and leaders of the Army of the Potomac. He was an editor for the Educational Department at American Heritage Publishing Company. American Heritage Publishing two of his ten books.
How is the conflict in the story affected by the civil war? In the story Jayhawker by Patricia Beatty, a action story, the conflict is where Elijah Tulley is pulled to the fact where his father was killed and he wants his revenge. He goes as a Jayhawker to fight the bushwackers and he is put into a situation of war. He would have to go as a spy as a bushwhacker to understand. This is a affected by the civil war because one side wants slaves and the other doesn’t want slaves. They believe for freedom, so they will want to fight each other for one right.
The book takes you day by day through John Wilkes Booth escape after killing Abraham Lincoln. Throughout the book Booth seems to get away with a lot. Many people help him throughout his journey of escaping without knowing what he has done.
There were many reasons that the Civil War broke out. There were differences in the politics, society, and economies of the North and South. Each side had their own reasons for fighting in the war and for not being willing to compromise. The North felt they needed to hold the Union together and end the institution of slavery, while the South felt their rights were being encroached upon and secession was the only way for them to be free. Through the book I was able to see a variety of viewpoints and examine the battle of Gettysburg from individual perspectives. The Civil War was a low point in American history but many valuable lessons came from the war as well. You can see the importance of compromise and gain an appreciation for those that held our country together.
The American Civil War is one of the biggest turning points in American history. It marks a point of major separation in beliefs from the North and the South and yet somehow ends in a major unification that is now called the United States of America. It still to date remains the bloodiest war in American History. The book “This Republic of Suffering, death and the American Civil War” by Drew Gilpin Faust better explains the change in thought from the American people that developed from the unexpected mass loss in soldiers that devastated the American people. Throughout this review the reader will better understand the methods and theory of this book, the sources used, the main argument of the book, the major supporting arguments, and what the
His book is insightful, thoroughly-researched, and well-written. He delved deeply into the post-massacre reports produced by Congress and the U.S. Army, as well as the verbatim testimony recorded by the Freedmen 's Bureau from over 200 eye-witnesses. The first half of the book deals well with the complicated social, economic, and political background leading up to the initial clash on the Bayou Bridge. The book 's second half explores the violence in chronological detail and reviews the aftermath with an eye toward the political repercussions. Stephen Ash 's book is a short read, only 196 pages of text, followed by 79 pages of notes, bibliography and index. I recommend A Massacre in Memphis: The Race Riot That Shook the Nation One Year After the Civil War to Civil War enthusiasts or any reader interested in a long-range perspective on the racial cauldron that is American history. 2016 marks the sesquicentennial of the Memphis pogrom. And Karr was
James McPherson once of the best and best American Preeminent Civil War Historian. He wrote the book to talk about the differences of each side North and South of the war. He wants to show that even after the behind the scenes explain the war, he talks about how the soldiers have changed as the war continues, also he talks about how the government takes a huge impact on the War also. One governmental police that took a huge impact on the war was Emancipation Proclamation.
The book begins with an in-depth explanation of what happened in the latter stages of the Civil War. Major battles like Sayler’s Creek, High Bridge and Richmond are described through detailed language. For instance, at High Bridge, “Each man wages his own individual battle with a ferocity only a life-and-death situation can bring. Bullets pierce eyes. Screams and curses fill the air. The grassy plain runs blood red.” (page 61). All of these iconic Civil War battles led up to the Confederate surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse and the inescapable rebuilding of a new nation Abraham Lincoln had to deal with. Next, John Wilkes Booth is introduced and his pro-Confederate motives are made clear. His conspiracy to kill the president is described and his co-conspirators like Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt who also attempted to kill Secretary of State Seward a...
Marrin, Albert. Unconditional Surrender: U.S. Grant and the Civil War. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. Print.
Heidler, David Stephen, and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: a
The book ‘For Cause and Comrades’ is a journey to comprehend why the soldiers in the Civil War fought, why they fought so passionately, and why they fought for the long period of time. Men were pulling guns against other men who they had known their whole lives. McPherson’s main source of evidence was the many letters from the soldiers writing to home. One of the many significant influences was how the men fought to prove their masculinity and courage. To fight would prove they were a man to their community and country. Fighting also had to do with a duty to their family. Ideology was also a major motivating factor; each side thought they were fighting for their liberty. The soldier’s reputations were created and demolished on the battlefield, where men who showed the most courage were the most honored. Religion also played an important role because the second Great Awakening had just occurred. Their religion caused the men who thought of themselves as saved to be fearless of death, “Religion was the only thing that kept this soldier going; even in the trenches…” (McPherson, p. 76) R...
In James McPherson’s novel, What They Fought For, a variety of Civil War soldier documents are examined to show the diverse personal beliefs and motives for being involved in the war. McPherson’s sample, “is biased toward genuine fighting soldiers” (McPherson, 17) meaning he discusses what the ordinary soldier fought for. The Confederacy was often viewed as the favorable side because their life style relied on the war; Confederates surrounded their lives with practices like slavery and agriculture, and these practices were at stake during the war. On the other hand, Northerners fought to keep the country together. Although the Civil War was brutal, McPherson presents his research to show the dedication and patriotism of the soldiers that fought and died for a cause.
In the historical narrative Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War, Nicholas Leman gives readers an insight into the gruesome and savage acts that took place in the mid-1870s and eventually led to the end of the Reconstruction era in the southern states. Before the engaging narrative officially begins, Lemann gives a 29-page introduction to the setting and provides background information about the time period. With Republican Ulysses S. Grant as President of the United States of America and Republican Adelbert Ames, as the Governor of Mississippi, the narrative is set in a town owned by William Calhoun in the city of Colfax, Louisiana. As a formal military commander, Ames ensured a
The author is graphic in his detail of the people and the places of importance during this time in history. The book is written more from a Northern point of view and so I didn’t get quite the same perspective of the Southern side but still learned more than I knew before.