Bedford Public Library

Armies of deliverance, a new history of the Civil War, Elizabeth R. Varon

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 435-487) and index

mapsillustrations

index present

non fiction

Armies of deliverance

bibliography

1042076722

Elizabeth R. Varon

a new history of the Civil War

Loyal Americans marched off to war in 1861 not to conquer the South but to liberate it. So argues the author in this book, a sweeping narrative of the Civil War and a bold new interpretation of Union and Confederate war aims. Northerners imagined the war as a crusade to deliver the Southern masses from slaveholder domination and to bring democracy, prosperity, and education to the region. As the war escalated, Lincoln and his allies built the case that emancipation would secure military victory and benefit the North and South alike. The theme of deliverance was essential in mobilizing a Unionist coalition of Northerners and anti-Confederate Southerners. Confederates, fighting to establish an independent slaveholding republic, were determined to preempt, discredit, and silence Yankee appeals to the Southern masses. In their quest for political unity Confederates relentlessly played up two themes: Northern barbarity and Southern victimization. Casting the Union army as ruthless conquerors, Confederates argued that the emancipation of blacks was synonymous with the subjugation of the white South. Interweaving military and social history, the author shows that everyday acts on the ground - from the flight of slaves, to protests against the draft, the plundering of civilian homes, and civilian defiance of military occupation - reverberated at the highest levels of government. The author also offers new perspectives on major battles, illuminating how soldiers and civilians alike coped with the physical and emotional toll of the war as it grew into a massive humanitarian crisis. The union's politics of deliverance helped it to win the war. But such appeals failed to convince Confederates to accept peace on the victor's terms, ultimately sowing the seeds of postwar discord

Introduction: "We are fighting for them" -- March of redemption: First Bull Run to Fort Donelson -- Ripe for the harvest: to Shiloh -- Sacred soil: Virginia in the summer of 1862 -- The perils of occupation -- Countdown to Jubilee: Lincoln's Hundred Days -- The Emancipation Proclamation -- Fire in the rear: to Chancellorsville -- Under a scorching sun: the summer of 1863 -- Rallying point: Lincoln's ten percent plan -- Is this hell? Fort Pillow to Atlanta -- Campaign season: the election of 1864 -- Malice toward none: the Union triumphant -- Conclusion: "Deliver us from such a Moses": Andrew Johnson and the legacy of the Civil War

New history of the Civil War