Desperate Engagement: How a Little-Known Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C., and Changed American History

Marc Leepson, critically acclaimed author of Flag: An American Biography, examines the Battle of Monocacy---a crucial and singular moment in the Civil War---with his trademark historical detail and enlivening voice

The Battle of Monocacy, which took place four miles south of Frederick, Maryland on a blisteringly hot day in 1864, was a full-field engagement between some 12,000 battle-hardened Confederate troops led by the controversial Jubal Anderson Early, and some 5,800 Union troops, many o...