Bücher von William Marvel

Ambrose Burnside, the Union general, was a major player on the Civil War stage from the first clash at Bull Run until the final summer of the war. He led a corps or army during most of this time and played important roles in various theaters of the war. But until now, he has been remembered mostly for his distinctive side-whiskers that gave us the term "e;sideburns"e; and as an incompetent leader who threw away thousands of lives in the bloody battle of Fredericksburg.In a biography focusing on the Civil War years, William Marvel reveals a more capable Burnside who managed to acquit himself creditably as a man and a soldier. Along the Carolina coast in 1862, Burnside won victories that catapulted him to fame. In that same year, he commanded a corps at Antietam and the Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg. In East Tennessee in the summer and fall of 1863, he captured Knoxville, thereby fulfilling one of Lincoln's fondest dreams. Back in Virginia during the spring and summer of 1864, he once again led a corps at the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg. But after the fiasco of the Crater he was denied another assignment, and he resigned from the army the day that Lincoln was assassinated.Marvel challenges the traditional evaluation of Burnside as a nice man who failed badly as a general. Marvel's extensive research indicates that Burnside was often the scapegoat of his superiors and his junior officers and that William B. Franklin deserves a large share of the blame for the Federal defeat at Fredericksburg. He suggests that Burnside's Tennessee campaign of 1863 contained much praiseworthy effort and shows during the Overland campaign from the Wilderness to Petersburg, and at the battle of the Crater, Burnside consistently suffered slights from junior officers who were confident that they could get away with almost any slur against "e;Old Burn."e; Although Burnside's performance included an occasional lapse, Marvel argues that he deserved far better treatment than he has received from his peers and subsequently from historians.

This groundbreaking work of history investigates the mystery of how the Civil War began, reconsidering the big question: Was it inevitable? William Marvel vividly depicts President Lincoln's tumultuous first year in office, from his inauguration through the rising crisis of secession and the first several months of the war. Drawing on original sources, Marvel suggests that Lincoln not only missed opportunities to avoid conflict with the South but actually fanned the flames of war. Then he wittingly violated the Constitution in his effort to preserve the Union.With a keen eye for the telling detail -- on the battlefield as well as in the White House -- William Marvel delivers a satisfying revisionist history of Lincoln and the early days of the Civil War.

Edwin M. Stanton (1814-1869), one of the nineteenth century's most impressive legal and political minds, wielded enormous influence and power as Lincoln's Secretary of War during most of the Civil War and under Johnson during the early years of Reconstruction. William Marvel offers a detailed reexamination of Stanton's life, career, and legacy.

Draws on original documents, diaries, and letters composed as the US Civil War unfolded to produce a clear and credible portrait of everyday life in Appomattox, as well as examining the galvanizing events of April 1865. The also scrutinizes Appomattox the national symbol, exposing and explaining some of the cherished myths surrounding the surrender there.

On June 19, 1864, the Confederate cruiser Alabama and the USS Kearsarge faced off in the English Channel outside the French port of Cherbourg. About an hour after the Alabama fired the first shot, it began to sink, and its crew was forced to wave the white flag of surrender. This title offers the stories of these two celebrated Civil War warships.

Few events in Civil War history have generated such deliberate myth-making as the retreat that ended at Appomattox. This book aims to show that during the final week of the war in Virginia, Lee's troops were more numerous yet far less faithful to their cause than has been suggested.

Between February 1864 and April 1865, 41,000 Union prisoners of war were taken to the stockade at Anderson Station, Georgia, where nearly 13,000 of them died. The author contends that virulent disease and severe shortages of vegetables, medical supplies, and other necessities combined to create a crisis beyond the captors' control.