Overview

During the battle of Gettysburg, as Union troops along Cemetery Ridge rebuffed Pickett's Charge, they were heard to shout, ""Give them Fredericksburg!"" Their cries reverberated from a clash that, although fought some six months earlier, clearly loomed large in the minds of Civil War soldiers. Fought on December 13, 1862, the battle of Fredericksburg ended in a stunning defeat for the Union. Confederate general Robert E. Lee suffered roughly 5,000 casualties but inflicted more than twice that many losses--nearly 13,000--on his opponent, General Ambrose Burnside. As news of the Union loss traveled north, it spread a wave of public despair that extended all the way to President Lincoln. In the beleaguered Confederacy, the southern victory bolstered flagging hopes, as Lee and his men began to take on an aura of invincibility. George Rable offers a gripping account of the battle of Fredericksburg and places the campaign within its broader political, social, and military context. Blending battlefield and home front history, he not only addresses questions of strategy and tactics but also explores material conditions in camp, the rhythms and disruptions of military life, and the enduring effects of the carnage on survivors--both civilian and military--on both sides.

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9781469605043

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Reviews

"""A surprisingly easy read because Rable never assumes the reader already knows about army life.""--""Washington Post"" ""An excellent book: extensively researched, clearly written, judiciously interpreted. From war front to home front, from newspaper office to the halls of Congress, Rable fuses the 'old' and 'new' military histories to relate more about what Fredericksburg meant than we have ever known before.""--""Journal of Southern History"" ""Exhaustively researched and very well written, ""Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!"" is the definitive history of the battle. Buffs and scholars who may wish to discount Fredericksburg's significance will have to acknowledge the strong arguments Rable presents. The book deserves to be in everyone's Civil War library.""--""Journal of American History"" ""Rable's recounting of the campaign deserves special notice, now more than ever, because it conveys much more than simply a tale of combat. . . . What Rable succeeds in doing, in spectacular fashion, is to offer us an intensely human account of a single campaign. . . . He has drawn upon the large literature on this subject and grounded it in a specific context. . . . The result is the most detailed study to date about a soldier's experience grounded in a single battle.""--""H-Civil War"" ""Skillfully done. . . . The pace of the story is fast . . . much like the battle itself. . . . One of the most interesting renditions of any battle.""--""Civil War News"""

A surprisingly easy read because Rable never assumes the reader already knows about army life. -- Washington Post An excellent book: extensively researched, clearly written, judiciously interpreted. From war front to home front, from newspaper office to the halls of Congress, Rable fuses the 'old' and 'new' military histories to relate more about what Fredericksburg meant than we have ever known before. -- Journal of Southern History Exhaustively researched and very well written, Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! is the definitive history of the battle. Buffs and scholars who may wish to discount Fredericksburg's significance will have to acknowledge the strong arguments Rable presents. The book deserves to be in everyone's Civil War library. -- Journal of American History Rable's recounting of the campaign deserves special notice, now more than ever, because it conveys much more than simply a tale of combat. . . . What Rable succeeds in doing, in spectacular fashion, is to offer us an intensely human account of a single campaign. . . . He has drawn upon the large literature on this subject and grounded it in a specific context. . . . The result is the most detailed study to date about a soldier's experience grounded in a single battle. -- H-Civil War Skillfully done. . . . The pace of the story is fast . . . much like the battle itself. . . . One of the most interesting renditions of any battle. -- Civil War News

""A surprisingly easy read because Rable never assumes the reader already knows about army life.""--""Washington Post"" ""An excellent book: extensively researched, clearly written, judiciously interpreted. From war front to home front, from newspaper office to the halls of Congress, Rable fuses the 'old' and 'new' military histories to relate more about what Fredericksburg meant than we have ever known before.""--""Journal of Southern History"" ""Exhaustively researched and very well written, ""Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!"" is the definitive history of the battle. Buffs and scholars who may wish to discount Fredericksburg's significance will have to acknowledge the strong arguments Rable presents. The book deserves to be in everyone's Civil War library.""--""Journal of American History"" ""Rable's recounting of the campaign deserves special notice, now more than ever, because it conveys much more than simply a tale of combat. . . . What Rable succeeds in doing, in spectacular fashion, is to offer us an intensely human account of a single campaign. . . . He has drawn upon the large literature on this subject and grounded it in a specific context. . . . The result is the most detailed study to date about a soldier's experience grounded in a single battle.""--""H-Civil War"" ""Skillfully done. . . . The pace of the story is fast . . . much like the battle itself. . . . One of the most interesting renditions of any battle.""--""Civil War News""

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