Victors in Blue: How Union Generals Fought the Confederates, Battled Each Other, and Won the Civil War

by Albert Castel, Brooks Simpson

Overview

Make no mistake, the Confederacy had the will and valor to fight. But the Union had the manpower, the money, the materiel, and, most important, the generals. Although the South had arguably the best commander in the Civil War in Robert E. Lee, the North's full house beat their one-of-a-kind. Flawed individually, the Union's top officers nevertheless proved collectively superior across a diverse array of battlefields and ultimately produced a victory for the Union.

Now acclaimed author Albert Castel brings his inimitable style, insight, and wit to a new reconsideration of these generals. With the assistance of Brooks Simpson, another leading light in this field, Castel has produced a remarkable capstone volume to a distinguished career. In it, he reassesses how battles and campaigns forged a decisive Northern victory, reevaluates the generalship of the victors, and lays bare the sometimes vicious rivalries among the Union generals and their effect on the war.

From Shiloh to the Shenandoah, Chickamauga to Chattanooga, Castel provides fresh accounts of how the Union commanders—especially Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, and Meade but also Halleck, Schofield, and Rosecrans—outmaneuvered and outfought their Confederate opponents. He asks of each why he won: Was it through superior skill, strength of arms, enemy blunders, or sheer chance? What were his objectives and how did he realize them? Did he accomplish more or less than could be expected under the circumstances? And if less, what could he have done to achieve more—and why did he not do it? Castel also sheds new light on the war within the war: the intense rivalries in the upper ranks, complicated by the presence in the army of high-ranking non-West Pointers with political wagons attached to the stars on their shoulders.

A decade in the writing, Victors in Blue brims with novel, even outrageous interpretations that are sure to stir debate. As certain as the Union achieved victory, it will inform, provoke, and enliven sesquicentennial discussions of the Civil War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780700621415
Publisher:	University Press of Kansas
Publication date:	11/20/2015
Series:	Modern War Studies
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	374
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Albert Castel was the author of numerous books, including the Lincoln Prize-winning Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864; Tom Taylor's Civil War; and Civil War Kansas: Reaping the Whirlwind. Brooks D. Simpson is professor of history at Arizona State University and the author of Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph over Adversity, 1822-1865; Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868; and The Reconstruction Presidents.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Illustrations

Preface

Prologue: On Judging Civil War Generals

1. Rosecrans in West Virginia: A Tale of a Goose, a Dog, and a Fox

2. Grant in Missouri and Tennessee: A Tale of How a Nobody Became a Somebody

3. Grant, Halleck, and a Failure to Communicate

4. Grant at Shiloh: How to Win by Not Losing

5. Grant Advances by Staying Put

6. Nobody at Antietam

7. Grant and Rosecrans at Luka and Corinth: The Birth of a Rivalry

8. Rosecrans at Stones River: How a New Disaster Became a Much-Needed Union Victory

9. Meade at Gettysburg: How to Win by Staying Put

10. Grant Victorious at Vicksburg: How to Win By Causing Your Enemies to Defeat Themselves

11. Rosecrans Takes Chattanooga and Grant Takes a Fall

12. Rosecrans and Thomas at Chickamauga: The Fortunes and Misfortunes of War

13. Grant at Chattanooga: How to Win a Battle Contrary to Plan

14. While Grant Fails to Defeat Lee, Sherman Invades Georgia: Circling around to Move Forward

15. Grant Remains Stymied, Sherman Takes Atlanta: Decision in the West

16. Sheridan in the Shenandoah

17. Sherman Marches to the Sea, Schofield Repulses Hood, and Thomas Vanquishes Hood at Nashville

18. Death Blows: Grant, Sheridan, and Sherman Win the War, but the Union Generals Fight On

Epilogue: The Victors in Blue—Who and Why

Notes

Index

Editorial Reviews

"Castel is at his best in providing concise interpretations of his subjects’ strengths and weaknesses, offering balanced portraits."—Army History

"The quality of generalship remained a critical factor, and Castel offers a five-point summary of his method of assessing generalship, which is itself a useful analytical tool for students of the Civil War.—Civil War Monitor

“Castel’s work is extremely well written and entertaining. It is one of those rare books that can be enjoyed by the novice and yet still offer a great deal to the professional.”—Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

"An important read for anyone interested in the Civil War."—New York Military Affairs Symposium Review

"A valuable addition to anyone’s Civil War library and a treat to read. Mr. Castel argues persuasively that in the Civil War, the Union generals often found the greatest success when they were able to break free of the often contradictory micromanaging of Washington and he maintains his focus on what happened at the nexus when the first modern industrial war collided with modern mass politics; where winning at the election polls was as critical as a blind charge on a battlefield."—Washington Times

"This is a book that Civil War scholars and buffs will much enjoy reading."—John F. Marszalek in Civil War News

"The generals who most contributed to the Union war effort are examined critically, the war winning campaigns are discussed at a high level, and the author shows how a little bad luck can take a general from a potential war winner to a forgotten man in a backwater assignment. This book is written in an accessible format for readers of all stripes and should appeal to a wide range of Civil War students. Victors in Blue does what many readers enjoy in ranking the war winners and their contributions. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the military and political aspects of the Civil War."—TOCWOC—A Civil War Blog

"Castel is at his best in providing concise interpretations of his subjects’ strengths and weaknesses, offering balanced portraits."—Army History

“Stimulating and controversial, Victors in Blue provides a pleasing narrative that is at once a clear overview of the war’s military operations and a fascinating examination of its great commanders.”—Steven E. Woodworth, author of This Great Struggle: America’s Civil War

“A succinct account, by an accomplished historian known for his common sense and perceptive insight, that provides an outstanding view of the leading Union generals amid the high drama of our Civil War.”—Wiley Sword, author of Confederacy’s Last Hurrah: Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville

“Insightfully written with eloquence and wit, Victors in Blue is a pleasure to read.”—William C. Davis, author of Lincoln’s Men and Jefferson Davis

From the Publisher