|
 Edited
by Gary Gallagher, The Antietam Campaign is a collection
of ten groundbreaking essays belonging to the elite group
of books that clearly examine this complex confrontation
and its ramifications. These ten essays, by an excellent
group of Civil War scholars, explore a wide range of issues
including the campaign, the battle, and the peripheral events
that impacted the outcome.
Gallagher first
illustrates the background of the campaign, showing the Southern
people as proud and confident, and who viewed the Army of
Northern Virginia as the savior of their nation. Brooks D.
Simpson describes the savior of the North--Major General
George McClellan--as a hesitant leader, paralyzed by indecision.
His hesitation in pursuing the Rebels resulted in a war that
could have ended two and a half years earlier.
William Blair looks
at the “hosts” of the battle, a divided Maryland
populace who enticed the Confederates to “save” them,
but then snubbed the Rebels in the attempt. Keith S. Bohannon
introduces the poorly fed and supplied Rebel army. This contrasts
with Scott Hartwig’s review of the Army of the Potomac,
80,000 strong, but not nearly as effective as their scrawny
opponents. Lesley J. Gordon examines the 16th Connecticut
Infantry, an inexperienced unit that suffered a 20% casualty
rate. The survivors tried to redeem their name well into
the 20th century.
Robert E.L. Krick
tries to redeem JEB Stuart and his calvary’s image,
an image tarnished by Stuart’s independent forays into
the North as Lee desperately awaited his help. Krick also
describes the action at Bloody Lane with wrenching narrative
force. He reminds us that history often turns on the personalities
of a few. Peter S. Carmichael analyzes the battle’s
aftermath and the role of William Nelson Pendleton, Lee’s
chief of artillery. Why did Lee suffer Pendleton’s incompetence
for so long? Politics is the answer.
Carol Reardon discusses
why the battle still is studied. She tells us that in preparing
for World War I, Antietam provided insights into logistics,
inter-unit cooperation, and the importance of tactical ingenuity.
The memories of the hills and fields of Antietam were then
carried into the trenches of France and Germany.
With the casual
elegance, the firm analysis, and the crystal clarity only
the finest professors possess, the contributors to Gallagher’s
anthology have presented a fine book. The Antietam Campaign is
invaluable to anyone intrigued by the battle, its architects,
or its place in the tragic and epic history of the Civil
War.
Fernando
Ortiz, Jr. is
an independent journalist and Civil War scholar. He is
also a member of the staff of Louisiana State University’s
web site, The United States Civil War Center at http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/.
|
Learning Links
The
Antietam Campaign by
Gary W. Gallagher, Univ of North Carolina Pr,
May 1999
Confederate
General J.E.B. Stuart.
His calvary were the eyes of Lee's army, until Stuart's death at Yellow Tavern.
Confederate
General William Nelson Pendleton.
West
Point Graduate, Episcopal minister,
and head of Lee's Artillery at Antietam.
|
|
