Lincoln's Lieutenants: The High Command of the Army of the Potomac

by Stephen W. Sears

Overview

A multilayered group biography of the Civil War commanders who led the Army of the Potomac: “a staggering work . . . by a masterly historian” (Kirkus, starred review).

The high command of the Army of the Potomac was a changeable, often dysfunctional band of brothers, going through the fires of war under seven commanding generals in three years, until Grant came east in 1864. The men in charge all too frequently appeared to be fighting against the administration in Washington instead of for it, increasingly cast as political pawns facing down a vindictive congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War.

President Lincoln oversaw, argued with, and finally tamed his unruly team of lieutenants as the eastern army was stabilized by an unsung supporting cast of corps, division, and brigade generals. With characteristic style and insight, Stephen Sears brings these courageous, determined officers, who rose through the ranks and led from the front, to life and legend. 

“A masterful synthesis . . . A narrative about amazing courage and astonishing gutlessness . . . It explains why Union movements worked and, more often, didn’t work in clear-eyed explanatory prose that’s vivid and direct.” —Chicago Tribune

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544826250
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/18/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	901
Sales rank:	257,472
File size:	114 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

STEPHEN W. SEARS is the author of many award-winning books on the Civil War, including Gettysburg and Landscape Turned Red. A former editor at American Heritage, he lives in Connecticut.,

Table of Contents

Introduction viii

1 "Civil War Seems Inevitable…" 1

2 An Army for Battle 30

3 A New Army, a New Era 79

4 Quiet Along the Potomac 105

5 Grand Army, Grand Campaign 132

6 Toward the Gates of Richmond 177

7 The Seven Days 229

8 Summer of Discontent 275

9 "Little Mac Is Back!" 329

10 Wednesday, Bloody Wednesday 368

11 "An Auger Too Dull to Take Hold" 411

12 Trial on the Rappahannock 437

13 Joe Hooker in Command 467

14 Pennsylvania Showdown 519

15 A Contest of Little Purpose 579

16 "…There Is to Be No Turning Back" 620

17 To James River 660

18 Long Road to Appomattox 710

Epilogue 760

Acknowledgments 767

Notes 768

Bibliography 846

Illustration Credits 859

Index 860

Editorial Reviews

A masterful synthesis...a narrative about amazing courage and astonishing gutlessness…It explains why Union movements worked and, more often, didn't work in clear-eyed explanatory prose that's vivid and direct.” —Chicago Tribune   “A monumental group biography…reminds us that the outcome of the war was not a foregone conclusion.” —The Wall Street Journal “Massive, elegant study...a staggering work of research by a masterly historian.” —Kirkus, STARRED —

From the Publisher

03/01/2017
Recommended for Civil War buffs, especially those interested in the personalities that led the army and how they shaped the direction of the war.--Chad E. Statler, Lakeland Comm. Coll., Kirtland, OH

Library Journal

★ 2017-02-21
From "Old Fuss and Feathers" Winfield Scott to Ulysses S. Grant, the succession of Northern generals during the Civil War receives a thorough scouring in this massive, elegant study.Eminent Civil War historian Sears (Gettysburg, 2004, etc.) sifts through the archives to track how the Army of President Abraham Lincoln took some years and numerous setbacks finally to get its act together until final victory. The initial period before and after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter was marked by indecision and unpreparedness on the part of the new administration as well as that of the Union Army, led by the aging Mexican-American War hero Scott. His initial alarming memorandum to appease the secessionists by giving up Sumter and Fort Pickens did not bode well for smooth relations with the new president. As Scott was too obese and infirm to lead battle, Irvin McDowell led the attack at Bull Run, which ended in a Union rout and caused Scott to be replaced by the "stubbornly uncooperative" George McClellan. The Union Army gained its new name, Army of the Potomac, and the officers were reorganized. However, McClellan's rocky stint lasted only until November 1862, after the dilatory, stagnant move toward Richmond and the bloody Battle of Antietam, which prompted Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, derided arrogantly by McClellan. Exasperated by McClellan's "over-cautiousness," Lincoln subsequently endured the "darkling doldrums" of generals John Pope, Ambrose Burnside, and Joseph Hooker before finding a fighting match in George Meade and U.S. Grant. Indeed, writes Sears, "the high command that closed the war in April 1865 was a world apart from the high command that opened the war." The author wades through dense research not only chronicling the military maneuvers of the war, but also the intensive political intrigues surrounding the high command. Sears lists 20 generals who were "dead and gone serving the Army of the Potomac" by the time of the surrender at Appomattox. A staggering work of research by a masterly historian.

Kirkus Reviews