How Robert E. Lee Lost the Civil War (review)

l68CIVIL war history comparison to what would happen in 1 864, so enraged Robert E. Lee at the time that he demanded that Pope be "suppressed." After his defeat at Second Bull Run, Pope, although engaging in further controversies with McClellan and Fitz John Porter (whom Pope was able to have court-martialed and dismissed for failing to obey orders at Second Bull Run), also exercised command over the largest department in the country. After the war, like so many other generals, Pope wrote his memoirs, but unlike so many other generals, he wrote them in serial form, mostly for the Union veterans' magazine National Tribune. Now after many years, Peter Cozzens and Robert I. Girardi have collected the various pieces Pope wrote for National Tribune and published them in book form. Although best known for his defeat at Second Bull Run, Pope's Civil War service was quite varied, and he had compiled a very respectable record in the West. His recollections about the early days in the West are really the strength of the book, and his comments and observations about Missouri in particular are very insightful and worth noting. Also noteworthy are his observations about the abilities of a number of generals on both sides, as well as his comments on the deficiencies ofWest Point as an educational institution. His portraits of various personalities in the war are very engaging, and his writing is quite pleasant, although typically florid at times (as exampled by the word "fugacious"). Cozzens and Girardi have wisely kept the editing touch light and let Pope speak for himself. Oddly, where the book is weakest is on the Second Bull Run campaign. While the chapter on Cedar Mountain is reasonably good, the chapter of Second Bull Run assumes that one is familiar with Pope's article on the battle in Battles and Leaders. The editors might possibly have improved the work by including a heavily edited version of Pope's lengthy article in Battles and Leaders to give it some better context. The book also could have used another map, especially of Missouri. These flaws aside, this is in the end a work worth reading. Pope's comments are of interest, especially for students of the Civil War in the West. R. L. DiNardo Quantico, Virginia How RobertE. LeeLost the CivilWar. By Edward H. Bonekemperm, (Fredricksburg, Virginia: Sergeant Kirkland's Press, 1997. Pp. 248. $29.95.) As perhaps befits a lawyer writing history, Edward Bonekemper constructs a clear case for the prosecution in arraigning Robert E. Lee in the court of historicaljustice . Bonekemper cannotbe faulted fortimidity: his brief "squarely plac[es] on [Lee] responsibility for the defeat of the Confederates in a war they should have won" (11). Bonekemper's case against Lee is not unrecognizable. The South, he argues, ought to have conserved its resources and outlasted Lincoln by undermining BOOK REVIEWSI69 divided Union morale. In tactics and in strategy Lee was too aggressive, too audacious. On the battlefield, he trusted too much to his lieutenants, drawing up plans that were either too complex or ineffective and then issuing orders that were either too vague or too discretionary. As Virginia's general, Lee sapped the West rather than reinforcing it. Finally, Lee unconscionably continued the war for many months after it was lost, in a "senseless continuation ofthe slaughter" (16). The bulk of Bonekemper's book is devoted to a straightforward analysis of Lee's strategy, campaigns, and battles, showing in each instance where Lee failed. His victories, such as those on the Peninsula in 1 862 and at Chancellorsville the next year, all were pyrrhic, as they came at such a high cost in irreplaceable men; and his defeats, especially Gettysburg, of course, were disasters caused by hyper-aggressiveness and poor tactics. Off on the wrong foot, Lee could not win when he won and could only compound defeat when he lost. Left unanalyzed are the blunders ofopposition as well those ofother Confederate generals, the vicissitudes of all battles, the decisions made by Jefferson Davis and other politicians, Confederate logistical shortcomings, and most importantly , the values and culture out ofwhich Lee came. As Gary Gallagher has demonstrated recently in The Confederate...