Overview

In the summer of 1864, the American Civil War had been dragging on for over three years with no end in sight. Things had not gone well for the Union, and the public blamed the president for the stalemate against the Confederacy and for the appalling numbers of killed and wounded. Lincoln was thoroughly convinced that without a favorable change in the trajectory of the war he would have no chance of winning a second term against former Union general George B. McClellan, whom he had previously dismissed as commander of the Army of the Potomac. This vivid, engrossing account of a critical year in American history examines the events of 1864, when the course of American history might have taken a radically different direction. It's no exaggeration to say that if McClellan had won the election, everything would have been different-McClellan and the Democrats planned to end the war immediately, grant the South its independence, and let the Confederacy keep its slaves. What were the crucial factors that in the end swung public sentiment in favor of Lincoln? Johnson focuses on the battlefield campaigns of Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. While Grant was waging a war of attrition with superior manpower against the quick and elusive rebel forces under General Robert E. Lee, Sherman was fighting a protracted battle in Georgia against Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston. But then the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, made a tactical error that would change the whole course of the war. This lively narrative, full of intriguing historical facts, brings to life an important series of episodes in our nation's history. History and Civil War buffs will not want to put down this real-life page-turner.

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9781633886384

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Reviews

A revealing look at the influences, from the battlefield to the halls of government, that shaped a wartime presidency, sweeping the reader along with crisp narrative and a rapid pace. For students of both political and military history, this work is not to be missed. -Michael E. Haskew, author of De Gaulle: Lessons in Leadership from the Defiant General Few things are as dramatic as the distinct parts of this book: Grant, then Sherman, then Grant again, gnawing away at the enemy, while Lincoln's high-wire policy somehow holds his party together. Readers of David Alan Johnson's deft treatment won't want to cut to the chase of the re-election--each chapter follows this daring team of survivors. And Johnson's epilogue on twentieth-century repercussions of the war is an apt lesson for writers and readers alike. -James M. Cornelius, PhD, curator, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

Author Information

David Alan Johnson is the author of ten books, including The Last Weeks of Abraham Lincoln: A Day-by-Day Account of His Personal, Political, and Military Challenges; Yanks in the RAF: The Story of Maverick Pilots and American Volunteers Who Joined Britain’s Fight in WWII; and The Battle of Britain: The American Factor.

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