Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief

Lincoln's On The Job Training

February 12, 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. Consequently, over the next year and a half, the average bookstore browser will be buried underneath an avalanche of new books on the most written about figure in all of American history.

¿Tried By War: Abraham Lincoln As Commander In Chief,¿ by James M. McPherson, noted Civil War historian & the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University, is among the newest in the crop of the Lincoln Bicentennial titles.

In ¿Tried By War¿ Dr. McPherson highlights how Abraham Lincoln came to understand and define the largely undefined role of commander in chief. He takes us through each phase of Lincoln¿s development into the role: from first deferring to General Winfield Scott, then to prodding George B. McClellan into action. After studying military tactics, Lincoln felt confident enough and wondered if he might borrow the army when McClellan fell ill with typhoid fever. In the end McClellan was a disappointment to Lincoln, as were Henry Halleck, Don Carlos Buell, John Pope, Ambrose Burnside, Joseph Hooker, William Rosecrans and George Meade. Through each successive general Lincoln learned and grew into the role of commander in chief, not largely because he wanted to, but because he had to. Finally, with Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman & Philip Sheridan, Lincoln found generals who understood the defeat of the Confederate armies and not the surrender of Richmond, the Confederate capital, would bring the rebellion to an end.

Sadly there is little, if anything, new in fact or interpretation in this book. Dr. McPherson seems to have relied on the tried and true. Most of the content between the covers of ¿Tried By War¿ can be found in a number of other books on Lincoln.

The Lincoln-McClellan relationship is complicated, and one worthy of a book of its own. Dr. McPherson seems to have ¿cherry picked¿ every negative word and action of McClellan¿s for inclusion in his book. To be fair, McClellan has served up these quotes and snubs toward Lincoln (not to mention his overestimates of Confederate troop strength, his constant pleas for more men and his apparent lack of will to send the Army of the Potomac into battle) on a silver platter for historians. But I think Dr. McPherson¿s diagnosis of McClellan¿s ¿messiah complex¿ goes a bit too far.

If anything, at 270 pages of text, the book is too short. It is a great survey of Lincoln as commander in chief, but an in depth review of the facts and analysis of them it is not. On its merits, the book it well researched, and well written. Dr. McPherson¿s narrative flows effortlessly from topic to topic and is easily read. Though ¿Tried By War¿ may not be the book for the well read student of the Civil War it would serve as a great introduction for some one just developing their interest in the subject.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Good Supplement for other Civil War Histories

I read Battle Cry of Freedom a few months ago and found it to be possibly the best one volume history of the Civil War out there. The only problem was that I put it down wishing I knew a little more about Lincoln's role. Tried by War served this purpose well.

Those who wrote reviews saying that McPherson didn't build up suspense have a point, but that was not the author's goal. If you want to understand the battles read another book; the battles themselves are not an important part of this book's thesis, the consequences were.

I put down this book feeling I had a better understanding of Lincoln's role in managing the most important war in this country's history. And with that, McPherson did his job.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

If you are a history buff the book is very well done.

The book presents the war from the perspective of Lincoln as the Commander in Chief. Therfore, if you are a war battle buff this book will leave something to be desired. However, if the politcis and political implications put upon the President by the Congress, People and the Generals themselves and Lincoln's handling of these trials - the book is excellant reading!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

It reads almost like a novel! I hated to put it down. I was sorry when I finished it.

James McPherson has the uncanny ability to put you right into history, and feel the pulls and tugs of the contemporary issues of the Civil War times. Lincoln is my favorite history subject, and McPherson is my favorite historical nonfiction writer. He doesn't just give lists of dates and battles, but gets you into the heads of the movers and shakers, and the common soldiers. And he does this without fictionalizing anything. He uses the actual words and diaries of 19th century people, and contemporary observations of their friends and colleagues, and seamlessly blends it all into a very readable narrative. The extent of his knowledge and research are awesome, and he's a good writer, too! I highly recommend this book, and I'm buying it for gifts to the history buffs in my own family.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Very Well Done

This book is very interesting and written from a unique perspective. It also has some very interesting and informative source material. No matter how much you think you know about Lincoln this book proves that there is always more to learn. Unlike a lot of history related books it is not dry and moves along at fairly good pace. No question about it McPherson is a pro and this book is well worth your time.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Another great work by the leading Civil War historian of our time.

Extremely well researched. As a retired military senior officer, I found it to be very thorough and enlightening.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

SLOW SHIPPING ON THIS BOOK you will wait for it

Don't believe Barnes and Noble's "usually ships in 24 hours." I ordered mine and it didn't even enter shipping until a week later. How long before it gets here remains to be seen.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Book showed Lincoln's incompetence as C in C.

The book mainly repeats what has been written about Lincoln and his relationship with his generals . There is too much time spent on McClellan. What would have been interesting was any new information of why Lincoln allowed McClellan to ignore orders at , for example, Second Manassas allowing McClellan to actually sabotage his own side. McClellan was obviously mentally ill with probable bipolar disorder which exhibited itself in his incredible grandiosity which had no basis in reality. McClellan should not only have been relieved after Pope suffered his defeat but should have face a court martial and even been given the penalty traitors usually received. If anything , this book showed how incompetent Lincoln was in dealing with McClellan. To repeatedly givea control of the army to a totally incompetent, insubordinate general whose actions bordered on treason showed the opposite of MacPherson's thesis . When McClellan refused to assist Pope , Lincoln should have said if "you do not move by tommorrow , you will be relieved of command. If you attempt to retain command you will be shot for treason.

Another factor is there were generals who were much better than McClellan such Phillip Kearny who was killed at Second Manassas. He was well-known to the regular army and after the Battles of the 7 days in front of Richmond , Kearny should have been given command. Lincoln should have investigated McClellan conduct during the seven days which were all union victories except for one battle. He would have found McClellan was incredibly incompetent, a coward, and he should be separated from the US Army permanently.

Another area which I have never understood was giving commands of entire armies to Butler , and Banks. There must have been some other way of retaining their support for the war without giving them such responsibilities for which they had absolutely no qualifications. The book quotes Halleck which is as accurate a statement as any in the Civil War "Giving commands of whole armies to men like Banks and Butler is little short of murder". Bullseye What would Banks do if he didn't have command of an entire army? Become a copperhead? I doubt it. Lincoln showed more poor judgement in allowing these 2 to have any command for long into the war. The book actually proves Lincoln was not a military genius or genius in any way.

0 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Anyone That Says "It Reads Like A Novel" Is A Moron

Tried by war was a nice attempt to look at Lincoln from a new perspective. McPherson does a nice job on focusing on how Lincoln changed the role of the President during a time of war. What were lacking in this book were tension and any resemblance of an ending. McPherson does not build any tension before going into the battles of the war; Vicksburg and Gettysburg are not developed at all. Due to the lack of tension, you read this book and think "oh, Grant just forced Vicksburg to surrender...Lincoln is happy...that¿s nice." I understand that McPherson wanted to maintain his focus on the role of Lincoln in military affairs, but these stories are incredible, and so intriguing that the reader would appreciate the role of Lincoln even more if there was better development.
My only other complaint about this book is the ending. You finish the last chapter and cannot believe that is how the book ends. There is no climax, there is no summary of what Lincoln was able to do, there was no reflection on how the role of Commander-In-Chief changed after Lincoln's assassination...There was no mention of Lincoln's assassination! My only guess is that McPherson got bored and decided to stop writing instead of finishing the book.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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