Dugard (The Last Voyage of Columbus) offers a fast-paced, colloquially written account of the Mexican War of 1848, constructed around the experiences of the U.S. Army's corps of junior officers. Shaped by the common experience of West Point and tempered by battle, these comrades in arms (including Lee, Grant, Davis and Sherman) matured into the leading generals and statesmen on both sides of the Civil War. Dugard introduces others as well, from Union artilleryman Henry Hunt to Confederate icon Stonewall Jackson, who also learned their craft fighting the Mexicans. At the war's end, commanding general Winfield Scott saluted West Point's graduates as the key to America's victory over Mexico. The image of a band of brothers transformed into enemies by conscience and politics is a familiar trope of the Civil War, but Dugard's spirited narrative animates a group of men whose force of character, professional skill and ability to think outside conventional limits revitalized the sclerotic army. Readers will conclude this book with reinforced awareness of why the Civil War was so long and so bitterly fought: because, as Dugard shows, the contending armies were shaped and led by a remarkably capable-and experienced-body of officers. (May)
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The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848
Narrated by Robertson Dean
Martin DugardUnabridged — 11 hours, 45 minutes
The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848
Narrated by Robertson Dean
Martin DugardUnabridged — 11 hours, 45 minutes
Overview
Nearly all of the Civil War's greatest soldiers-Grant, Lee, Sherman, Davis, and Jackson-were forged in the heat of the Mexican War. This is their story.
The Mexican War has faded from our national memory, but it was a struggle of enormous significance. It was the first US war waged on foreign soil, and it nearly doubled the size of our nation. At this fascinating juncture of American history, a group of young men came together to fight as friends, only years later to fight as enemies.
Full of dramatic battles, daring rescues, secret missions, soaring triumphs, and tragic losses, The Training Ground is history at its finest.
Editorial Reviews
In his newest work, New York Times best-selling author Dugard (The Last Voyage of Columbus: America's Continental Dream and the Mexican War, 1846-1848) gives a straightforward account of the Mexican War, but with a twist. He lets us see the war through the eyes of several young officers-primarily Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee but also George G. Meade, William T. Sherman, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, and others-who would rise to prominence during the Civil War. While Dugard does sketch in the big picture so that the reader is able to understand the course of the Mexican War, his purpose is to provide a richly detailed account of the battles, secret missions, and daring rescues and thus to show how participation in the Mexican War prepared these junior officers for the roles they would later play in the Civil War. Academic libraries will prefer Joseph Wheelan's Invading Mexico, Timothy J. Henderson's A Glorious Defeat, and John C. Pinheiro's Manifest Ambition. This less scholarly book will appeal to lay readers and Civil War buffs and is recommended for all public libraries.
—Stephen H. Peters
Dugard (Chasing Lance: The 2005 Tour de France and Lance Armstrong's Ride of a Lifetime, 2005, etc.) offers an admiring, blow-by-blow account of one of the most shameful wars of aggression in American history. The tight-knit West Point "brotherhood" who served during the Mexican War-which included the illustrious names Grant, Lee, Jackson, Davis, Bragg, Beauregard, Sherman, Pickett, Burnside, Longstreet and Hooker-would meet again in more dire, momentous circumstances during the Civil War. Dugard works backward from Appomattox, 1865-when generals Lee and Grant recognized each other from their stint in Mexico some 18 years before-and follows their dissimilar early military careers from West Point. Lee, an exemplary student who graduated second in his class of 1829, was the gentleman son of the famous Revolutionary War hero. Grant, who graduated in 1843, was a scrappy kid from Ohio who didn't excel in much but horsemanship. (Pickett, in contrast, was the class "goat," graduating last in his class.) The cadets cut their teeth during the Mexican-American conflict, after the Alamo had fallen in 1836, martyring the Texian rebels, who had provoked Mexico into challenging their desire for independence and annexation by the United States. The country was ripe for expansion (Manifest Destiny), and annexation of California and Texas from Mexico, as well as Oregon from Britain, was the game plan for many politicians, led by James K. Polk. General Zachary Taylor commanded the American army marching on Texas, and with him quartermaster Grant, whose letters to his sweetheart Julia Dent back in St. Louis, along with extracts from his later memoirs, help frame the subsequent incursions into Mexico, fromFort Texas and Monterrey to Veracruz and Mexico City. Dugard alternates this narrative with glimpses of Lee's dogged engineering work under General Winfield Scott, and Mississippi Congressman Jefferson Davis's eager volunteer action. Though the Mexican point-of-view receives scant consideration, the book is action-packed and peopled by intriguing characters.
“Canny in its depictions of intriguing, powerful personalities and Machiavellian politics, meticulous in its textured battlefield and logistical descriptions, The Training Ground has the fast-paced feel of a good historical novel, but it’s all well-researched fact.”—American History
"The Training Ground is an interesting, often insightful account of the experiences of U.S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, William T. Sherman and Jefferson Davis during the Mexican War. . . . Worth a read for anyone interested in the Civil War and the development of senior military leadership."—A. A. Nofi, NYMAS Review
"This book gives an interesting sidelight on the Mexican War and a foretaste of the American Civil War."—Stan Moore, Denver Westerners Roundup
"This book gives an interesting sidelight on the Mexican War and a foretaste of the American Civil War."—Stan Moore, Denver Westerners Roundup
— Stan Moore
"The Training Ground is an interesting, often insightful account of the experiences of U.S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, William T. Sherman and Jefferson Davis during the Mexican War. . . . Worth a read for anyone interested in the Civil War and the development of senior military leadership."—A. A. Nofi, NYMAS Review
— A. A. Nofi
The Mexican-American War not only preceded the Civil War, but trained many of the officers who fought in it. The author chronicles the environment, the men, and the battles to win the American Southwest. It is prescient to see how Robert E. Lee's contributions and experiences in Mexico refined his later brilliance as a Confederate general. The story adapts well to audio; the narrator, Robertson Dean, makes it enjoyable and easy to understand with his deep voice and articulate diction. His skillful treatment of the little asides and details, such as the battle with the sand fleas at Veracruz, adds to the impact for the listener. Although Dean's Spanish sounds very "American," the small fluffs don't distract from the excellent narration. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169916942 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 05/14/2008 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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