Counter-Thrust

Contents

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pp. vii-

List of Illustrations

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pp. viii-

List of Maps

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pp. ix-x

Preface

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pp. xi-xvi

"Yankees called it Cedar Run; Rebels termed it Cedar Mountain. Confederates used the name Second Manassas; their opponents remembered it as Second Bull Run. Both sides spoke of Chantilly or Ox Hill, while Confederates preferred the name Boonsboro to denote what Federals referred to as South Mountain. Both combatants..."

Acknowledgments

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pp. xvii-xviii

"Special thanks go to Marilyn and Ron Snyder of Annapolis, Maryland, for making available the soldier letter that begins the book. Joseph Rubenfine of West Palm Beach, Florida, similarly provided a copy of the John Wotring diary. National Park Service staff members Jim..."

Series Editors' Introduction

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pp. xix-xxii

"Americans remain fascinated by the Civil War. Movies, television, and video-even computer software-have augmented the ever-expanding list of books on the war. Although it stands to reason that a large portion of recent work concentrates on military aspects of the conflict,..."

1. Summer Impasse

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pp. 1-31

"A union soldier known only as John wrote to his father on July 13, 1862, from a 'Camp near Harrisons Landing' on the Virginia Peninsula. He was well, he said, and hoped the home folks were also. 'Everything is quiet here now,' with 'no firing of cannon and musketry'..."

2. From Tidewater to Cedar Mountain

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pp. 32-64

"George mcclellan spent the two weeks following receipt of HallecK's order trying desperately to avoid evacuating the Peninsula. Privately, he wrote letters excoriating Lincoln and other superiors for stupidity, duplicity, and culpability for what he took to be impending disaster. He dramatically reduced his estimation of enemy strength..."

3. Stonewall and a Virginia Reel

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pp. 65-95

"Clarissa harlowe barton had not intended going into nursing. The daughter of an old New England Indian War veteran, Clara taught school and remained single. She eventually found a niche as a copyist at the Patent Office in Washington. When the war came, she..."

4. Lee and Pope at Second Manassas

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pp. 96-137

"Stonewall Jackson's raiders left Manassas Junction a smoldering pyre by midnight on August 27-28. John Pope now tried to counter the disaster. His previous orders to subordinates to either reinforce the junction or scout toward Thoroughfare Gap had come..."

5. In the Rain at Chantilly

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pp. 138-164

"August 30, 1862, was not a good day for Federal arms. Telegraph wires to Washington hummed with bad news from Bull Run as well as distant Kentucky. Out in the Bluegrass, a scratch force had been pulled together by Maj. Gen. William 'Bull' Nelson to contest Confederate Gen. Edward Kirby Smith's northward movement from..."

6. Maryland, My Maryland

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pp. 165-195

"D. H. Hill's men led the vanguard of Robert E. Lee's army across the Potomac River near Leesburg, Virginia, in column of fours, 'well closed up, shouting, laughing, singing,' with a brass band in front playing 'Maryland, My Maryland.' The early September move was..."

7. South Mountain and Harpers Ferry

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pp. 196-227

"The army of northern virginia evacuated its Monocacy camps on the morning of September 10, taking up the line of march west through Frederick. Possibly seventy thousand to seventy- five thousand would pass through the town in the process. The Confederates left behind few supporters among the populace but did..."

8. The Bridges of the Antietam

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pp. 228-259

"In 1910, Maryland author Helen Ashe Hays wrote about a gentle stream flowing through Washington County, Maryland, 'whose name will be famous as long as America endures, the placid Antietam.' To her, writing long after the bloody events of..."

9. Opportunities Found and Lost

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pp. 259-294

"Autumn had just begun its colorful ritual along the Antietam. But after the battle the forests and fields were scorched and bleak. Orderly Sgt. James A. Wright of the First Minnesota remembered buildings riddled by shot and shell, harvested crops singed by exploding..."

Notes

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pp. 295-328

Bibliographic Essay

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pp. 329-340

Index

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pp. 341-355