Jubal Early's Raid on Washington

About this book

The raid that exposed the Union capitals greatest danger. The definitive description of the last Confederate invasion of the Union in 1864. The Civil War was in its fourth year and the Unions victory was not at all certain. The Lincoln administration seemed weak as the autumn election approached. Lees army remained strong in Virginia while Johnstons forces feinted and dodged in north Georgia to shield Atlanta. The Union army and navy grew in strength but Confederate forces continued to fight tenaciously. Amid an air of stalemate the Confederates planned a bold move to strike at Washington DC and capture or scatter Lincoln and his cabinet. In command of the operation was the colorful and unpredictable Jubal Old Jube Anderson Early brought in to replace the fallen Stonewall Jackson. Less well known than the bloodier Antietam and Gettysburg Earlys campaign Cooling argues had greater significance. In addition to the persnickety bachelor Anderson this account introduces many colorful participants including railroad president John W. Garrett the politically influential Blair family and Elizabeth Aunt Betty Thomas a free Black woman who was said to have saved Lincolns life by shouting at him: Get down you fool! when he came under fire at Fort Stevens. Exciting and comprehensive Civil War scholars and readers will delight in this masterful account.