Fallen Leaders: Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the Historians of Emerging Civil War (Emerging Civil War Anniversary Series)

About this book

Fallen Leaders: Favorite Stories and Fresh Perspectives from the Historians at Emerging Civil War recounts the fall of some of the most famous infamous and underappreciated commanders from both the North and South. The Civil War took as many as 720 000 lives and maimed hundreds of thousands more. The fallen included outstanding leaders on both sides from a U.S. president all the way down the ranks to beloved regimental commanders. Abraham Lincoln Stonewall Jackson and John Reynolds remain well-known and even legendary. Others like Confederate cavalry commander Earl Van Dorn remain locked in infamy. The deaths of army commanders Albert Sidney Johnston and James McPherson and regimental leader Col. Elmer Ellsworth (the first Union officer killed) left more questions than answers about unfulfilled potential and lost opportunities. Thousands more have faded into historical obscurity. Others fell not from death or wounds but because of their own missteps or misdeeds their reputations ruined forever. Theirs are falls from grace. This collection of essays by a host of writers brings together the best scholarship from Emerging Civil Wars blog symposia and podcast all of which have been revised updated and footnoted. The collection also contains several original pieces written exclusively for Emerging Civil Wars 10th Anniversary Series. Expect new angles on familiar stories about high-profile figures. Meet leaders whose stories you might not know but whose losses were felt as deeply personal tragedies by those around them. This collection sheds new light and insight on some of the most significant casualties of the conflict: the fallen leaders whose deaths injuries and disgraces changed the Civil War.