A review quoted Robert E. Lee saying of Cleburne, "On a field of battle he shone like a meteor in a clouded sky."
The Virgina Regimental Series is a great read it costs a lot of money but very well worth it.
1. Thomas P. Kettell, Southern Wealth and Northern Profits, University of Alabama Press, 1860. This is a short book on the economic conditions of the country in 1860. It shows how fragile the Northeastern states’ economy was, and how dependent these regions were on Southern productions. It also clearly shows how the tariff system had led the federal government into a very vulnerable dependency on the overseas sales of Southern productions. It is the unbiased description of pending economic collapse by a respected economist of the time.
2. John S. Tilley, Lincoln Takes Command, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1941. This is a carefully researched work on Lincoln's efforts to manage the Federal government before and just after he was inaugurated. It deals extensively with Lincoln's maneuvers between his opposing entities.....his cabinet, his military, the US Constitution, the Congress, and the law.
3. Maury Klein, Days of Defiance, Random House, Ltd, 1999. A clear and extensive history of the events leading up to Ft. Sumter and Pensacola Fl, 1861. A full description of the federal government's movement toward war on the South. It closely follows Tilley’s descriptions, and reveals the true issues of the time.
I would not recommend the ‘mainstream’ authors such as McPherson, who misinterprets the beginning of the war, or Goodwin, who is unable to reveal Lincoln's motivations before the Emancipation Proclamation.
It certainly is a refutation of the idea that the Confederacy was fighting for limited government.
I must say, reading Civil War letters was an incredible experience. It's amazing to think what these men had to go through during this period.
“Quantrill’s War” by Duane Schultz give a view of the darker side of ‘The War’. “Nine April Days” uses first hand accounts to tell the story of the retreat to Appomaticks.
Some books that provide good background on the war:
The Widow of the South—fiction/historical—Battle of Franklin, TN 11/30/64
The Warrior Generals—Combat Leadership in the Civil War by Buell(yes-a relation to Gen. Buell)
Jeff Shaara’s Civil War Battlefields
My Story of the War by Mary A. Livermore. I have the 1887 edition—it is a fascinating first person account of the efforts of the US Sanitary Commission to set up humane field hospitals for soldiers during the Civil War. Mrs. Livermore was quite a celebrity during the War for taking on the powers that were to get aid and comfort to the soldiers. She traveled to the front lines of Vicksburg and other battlefields to make sure aid went where it was supposed to. She also had tow meetings with President Lincoln. She evidently had a iron trap memory and a diary, because her book is fascinating. It was a best seller in 1885-1888 time range, when books about he War Between the States became the rage(for the firat 12-15 years after the war, no one really wanted to talk about it—the wounds were still too raw).
The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant—by General Grant. He finished this book a few weeks before he died in 1885, and it became a best seller.
Remember when you read contemporary accounts, the personal viewpoint of the author is so much in play and it colors the narrative, because it is subjective. The historical perspective of time has not refocussed or embellished the memory of events yet. It is part of what makes these accounts so fascinating.
Happy reading!
The bravery and tenacity of the men who fought the Civil War cannot be denied, no matter what you think of their politics.
Probably the best three books ever written about the Civil War, but they follow the war through Grant's career. Amazing writing, and absolute must reads for understanding the Union side of the conflict.