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Hello Everyone,

Welcome all to the nineteenth week of the History Book Club's brand spanking new Military Series. We at the History Book Club are pretty excited about this offering and the many more which will follow. The first offering in the new MILITARY SERIES is a wonderful group selected book: Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson.

The week's reading assignment is:

Week Nineteen - June 18th - June 24th -> Chapters TWENTY TWO and TWENTY THREE p. 666 - 717

We will open up a thread for each week's reading. Please make sure to post in the particular thread dedicated to those specific chapters and page numbers to avoid spoilers. We will also open up supplemental threads as we did for other books.

This book was officially kicked off on February 13th. We look forward to your participation. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powell's and other noted on line booksellers do have copies of the book and shipment can be expedited. The book can also be obtained easily at your local library, or on your Kindle/Nook. This weekly thread will be opened up either during the weekend before or on the first day of discussion.

There is no rush and we are thrilled to have you join us. It is never too late to get started and/or to post.

Welcome,

~Bryan


TO ALWAYS SEE ALL WEEKS' THREADS SELECT VIEW ALL

Battle Cry of Freedom The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson

REMEMBER NO SPOILERS ON THE WEEKLY NON SPOILER THREADS

Notes

It is always a tremendous help when you quote specifically from the book itself and reference the chapter and page numbers when responding. The text itself helps folks know what you are referencing and makes things clear.

Citations

If an author or book is mentioned other than the book and author being discussed, citations must be included according to our guidelines. Also, when citing other sources, please provide credit where credit is due and/or the link. There is no need to re-cite the author and the book we are discussing however. For citations, add always the book cover, the author's photo when available and always the author's link.

If you need help - here is a thread called the Mechanics of the Board which will show you how:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

Glossary

Remember there is a glossary thread where ancillary information is placed by the moderator. This is also a thread where additional information can be placed by the group members regarding the subject matter being discussed.

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

Bibliography

There is a Bibliography where books cited in the text are posted with proper citations and reviews. We also post the books that the author may have used in his research or in his notes. Please also feel free to add to the Bibliography thread any related books, etc with proper citations or other books either non fiction or historical fiction that relate to the subject matter of the book itself. No self promotion, please.

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

James M. McPherson

Chapter Overviews and Summaries

Chapter Twenty Two: Johnny Reb's Chattanooga Blues

As Lee's army slipped away, out west, the Rosecrans and his Union army moved against Chattanooga. General Buell of the Army of the Ohio was on his left. Buell took Knoxville without firing a shot. Bragg abandoned Chattanooga for the Union Army. However, Davis ordered Bragg to attack. In the battle of Chickamauga, Bragg beat Rosecrans. Grant took command and in November beat Bragg in the Battle of Chattanooga. In this battle, General Thomas made a important attack on the Confederate center.

Overseas, the British closed down the Confederate operation to build "Liard ram" ships. James Bulloch moved the program to France, but the French shut him down. In the fall ellections, with Gettysburg and wins in the west, the Republicans did well.

Chapter Twenty Three: When This Cruel War is Over

In the South, anti-Davis criticism increased. Dissenters like William Holden of North Carolina and Joseph Brown of Georgia were openly talking about gaining independence through negotiations.

In the North, Congress and Lincoln began to figure out Reconstruction. Lincoln said people could take a loyalty oath to get amnesty, and once 10% of the 1860 population did so, the state could form a state government. However, if the state became a territory, it was under Congressional control. Some Radical Republicans wanted a clean out the ruling elite. Lincoln was looking to use the "republican form of government" clause in Article 4 to intervene in Southern states. In Louisiana, a new constitution and government were forming. General Banks ordered a ban on slavery and new elections to write a new constitution. In Arkansas, a new government and constitution were also being hammered out.

Congress argued over the black vote, free labor, and whether to have a law banning slavery or a constitutional amendment. They passed a Reconstruction bill, but Linclon vetoed it. He wanted a constitutional ban on slavery and did not want to wait until the war was over to begin to make changes in states.

Meanwhile, Lincoln was facing challenges to his nomination. Samuel Chase wanted the nomination, but Lincoln's friends killed his plans. The Radical Republican Party nominated Charles Fremont. Lincoln won the nomination and Andrew Johnson won the vice presidency nomination to bring in War Democrats and southern unionists to the Republican ticket.

Can you understand Davis being upset with Bragg for pulling out of Chattanooga? Do you get a sense Bragg could have been more aggressive and successful?

Battle of Chickamauga:



After the Tullahoma Campaign, Rosecrans renewed his offensive, aiming to force the Confederates out of Chattanooga. The three army corps comprising Rosecrans� s army split and set out for Chattanooga by separate routes. In early September, Rosecrans consolidated his forces scattered in Tennessee and Georgia and forced Bragg’s army out of Chattanooga, heading south. The Union troops followed it and brushed with it at Davis� Cross Roads. Bragg was determined to reoccupy Chattanooga and decided to meet a part of Rosecrans’s army, defeat them, and then move back into the city. On the 17th he headed north, intending to meet and beat the XXI Army Corps. As Bragg marched north on the 18th, his cavalry and infantry fought with Union cavalry and mounted infantry which were armed with Spencer repeating rifles. Fighting began in earnest on the morning of the 19th, and Bragg’s men hammered but did not break the Union line. The next day, Bragg continued his assault on the Union line on the left, and in late morning, Rosecrans was informed that he had a gap in his line. In moving units to shore up the supposed gap, Rosencrans created one, and James Longstreet’s men promptly exploited it, driving one-third of the Union army, including Rosecrans himself, from the field. George H. Thomas took over command and began consolidating forces on Horseshoe Ridge and Snodgrass Hill. Although the Rebels launched determined assaults on these forces, they held until after dark. Thomas then led these men from the field leaving it to the Confederates. The Union retired to Chattanooga while the Rebels occupied the surrounding heights.
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Peter Cozzens

Battle of Chattanooga:

From the last days of September through October 1863, Gen. Braxton Bragg’s army laid siege to the Union army under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans at Chattanooga, cutting off its supplies. On October 17, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant received command of the Western armies; he moved to reinforce Chattanooga and replaced Rosecrans with Maj. Gen. George Thomas. A new supply line was soon established. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman arrived with his four divisions in mid-November, and the Federals began offensive operations. On November 23-24, Union forces struck out and captured Orchard Knob and Lookout Mountain. On November 25, Union soldiers assaulted and carried the seemingly impregnable Confederate position on Missionary Ridge. One of the Confederacy’s two major armies was routed. The Federals held Chattanooga, the “Gateway to the Lower South,� which became the supply and logistics base for Sherman’s 1864 Atlanta Campaign.
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Peter Cozzens

It is interesting how Thomas' charge did well compared to Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. Does anyone have any thoughts on why?

It is also interesting out west we have Rosecrans and Bragg who are not eager to engage. In fact, Bragg keeps pulling back until Davis tells him to take a stand!

It is interesting to see how Congress is trying to steer Reconstruction before Lincoln was killed.

It is amazing compared the Congressional leadership of today's Congress, against this book's time frame. A lot has changed in both seats of power.

Wade-Davis Bill:

In Benjamin Wade and Henry Winter Davis, sponsored a bill that provided for the administration of the affairs of southern states by provisional governors until the end of the war. They argued that civil government should only be re-established when half of the male white citizens took an oath of loyalty to the Union. The bill also excluded from amnesty all Confederate civil officers above ministerial rank and military officers ranking colonel or above.

On the 4th May, 1864, the Wade-Davis Bill was passed in the House of Representatives by 73 to 59. It passed the Senate, 18 to 14 on 2nd July, with only one Republican voting against it. However, Abraham Lincoln refused to sign the bill on 4th July and so it failed to become law. Lincoln defended his decision by telling Zachariah Chandler, one of the bill's supporters, that it was a question of time: "this bill was placed before me a few minutes before Congress adjourns. It is a matter of too much importance to be swallowed in that way."Lincoln made a speech on 8th July where he explained that he had rejected the bill because he did not wish "to be inflexibly committed to any single plan of restoration".
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Wade-Davis Manifesto:

On 5 August 1864, Horace Greeley's New York Tribune printed a denunciation of Abraham Lincoln for having vetoed the Wade -Davis Bill. The manifesto condemned the president for usurping Congress's legislative powers by attempting to reconstruct the South by executive orders. Radical Republicans also circulated anonymous calls that Lincoln be replaced with another nominee for president. The manifesto's strident language offended most moderate Republicans and produced a backlash that enhanced Lincoln's image while discrediting Radical Republican leaders.

Full Text:

I forgot that the Radical Republicans were so upset, they formed the Radical Republican Party with John Fremont as a candidate.

I'm impressed by the extent to which McPherson captures the dissent and grumbling on both sides of the conflict. The diversity of opinion is to me one of the most fascinating parts of the book. Politics and squabbling never seem to go away, regardless of what war-time rhetoric might suggest.

No doubt, Jim. And whenever something goes wrong, the squabbling gets worse!

You don't appreciate the rift between Lincoln and the Radicals. It was an evolving relationship and McPherson is good at reminding us about it.

I am coming late but have to agree with Jim that although I knew before that Lincoln had faced challanges by Chase and other Republicans and from McClennan as the Democratic candidate in 1864 I really had no recollection of ever learning that Jefferson Davis has political struggles in the South during the war. - Chapter 23 had the ease of not needing to look at a map with every page for me - much appreciated as a break.

Thanks, Vince. Yes, the parts about Davis and the Confederate government were new to me, as well. It makes you appreciate what Lincoln had to work with.