The other major battle discussed was Chickamauga, a Southern victory which ruined the careers of two generals, Rosecrans and Bragg, and ended with Grant victorious at Chattanooga.įoote continues to use his great narrative style to full effect here. That’s should be enough to tell you how much it enthralled me. I went straight to the end practically without stopping and merely breathing. The beginning for me might have been slow, but from the moment Foote starts to discuss two of the most decisive Union victories, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, I could not stop reading. This one takes up with events following the removal of the American commander, George McClellan, and his replacement by General Burnside in time to start off with the December 1862’s Fredricksburg and ending in the spring of 1864, with Grant taking command of the entire Union Army. The first volume ended after the bloodbath of Antietam in the fall of 1862. As in the first book, here Foote once again presents a detailed analyses of the political climate both in the North and the South, discusses the difficulties and challenges of Lincoln and Davies and how both leaders were able to deal with their respective roles as Commander-in-Chief. Foote's marvelous narrative made this reading a real enjoyment. It was a great read considering all the battles minutely analyzed, and the many actors depicted and portrayed. 2: Fredericksburg to Meridian, the second volume in Shelby Foote’s trilogy. I took me three months to read the almost one thousand pages of The Civil War, Vol.
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