Jefferson Davis in Blue: The Life of Sherman's Relentless Warrior (History Book Club Selection) |
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Jefferson Davis in Blue: The Life of Sherman's Relentless Warrior (History Book Club Selection)
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by Nathaniel Cheairs, Jr. Hughes and Gordon D. Whitney
Sales Rank: 732160
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List Price: $56.95
$41.57
At Amazon
on 6-19-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 544 pages
Published by: Louisiana State University Press June 2002
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0807127779
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0807127773
Book Dimensions:
9.3 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
Weighs: 2.3 pounds
Book Description
Besides his illustrious name, Jefferson Columbus Davis, who fought for the Union, is best known for two appalling actions: the September 1862 murder of General William "Bull" Nelson- his former commanding officer-and the abandonment of hundreds of African American refugees to the mercy of the Confederate cavalry at Ebenezer Creek during Sherman's march through Georgia in 1864. Not surprisingly, historians have generally dismissed Davis (1828-1879) as a reckless assassin, a racist, a journeyman soldier at best, and an embarrassment to the Lincoln war effort. But as Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes, Jr., and Gordon D. Whitney demonstrate in the first biography of the unredeemed general, such smoke of notoriety obscures the real story of a complex military leader.
Through careful research and absorbing prose, Hughes and Whitney bring order to the muddle of contradictions that was Davis's life and offer an impartial profile of the soldier and the man. They describe his distinguished service in the Mexican War and at Fort Sumter, and his rapid advancement to general officer. Although Davis's sensational killing of Nelson-for which he was never tried-undoubtedly damaged his career, the authors show that he was venerated by professional military men even as he was vilified by civilians. They also follow Davis into his postwar career, first as a commissioner with the Freedmen's Bureau and then as an influential commander in territorial Alaska.
With this study, Hughes and Whitney shatter the collective memory of "Jef" Davis as a grim, destructive child of war and replace it with a more rounded portrait of an energetic, faithful patriot who must be remembered for his splendid contributions as well as his startling failures.
About The Author
Gordon D. Whitney is past president of the Chicago and Louisville Civil War Round Tables. A retired firefighter, he lives in Madison, Indiana.
Reader Reviews
This is a biography of an obscure figure from the American Civil War who had a famous name. Jefferson Columbus Davis was no relation to the Confederate president, and stayed loyal to the Union, rising the the rank of brevet Major General. He's probably best known as the culprit in the murder of William Nelson, another Union army general, in 1862. There was, however, more to Jefferson C. Davis than that, as this admirable biography shows. ... Jefferson C. Davis was from Indiana. He enlisted in the army young, and participated in the battle of Buena Vista as a private in his Indiana volunteer regiment, distinguishing himself so much that he was considered for an appointment to West Point. When that fell through, Davis was directly enlisted in the regular army as a second lieutenant of artillery, and spent the years between the Mexican war and Fort Sumter studying and learning to be a soldier. He was part of the garrison of Fort Sumter, and this notoriety positioned him for a brigade command of Indiana state troops. He led them through the battle of Pea Ridge, and never looked back, concluding the war in command of the Fourteenth Corps during the March through the Carolinas, and during the battle of Bentonville. After the war, he was Alaska's first military district commander, and briefly fought the Modocs on the California-Oregon border. The authors do a wonderful job of bringing Davis, and his many contradictions, to life. He was a demanding soldier, and a hard taskmaster, but he appears to have generally been a fair and decent person. There is the one incident where he shot Nelson dead, but the authors lay out the course of events, and frankly the whole thing sounds provoked. Nelson was disliked by a lot of people, apparently, to the point that when he was shot, there weren't very many calls for his killer to be brought to justice. The whole thing is laid out in considerable detail. And where Davis emerges as a surprise is in his competence as a soldier. Though his troops were routed at both Stones River and Chickamauga, at Pea Ridge it was Davis who stopped Louis Hebert's attack on the Union left, and at Jonesboro it was Davis who broke the Confederate front. At Bentonville he again held off the main Confederate assault, though with some help. Frankly I was surprised: he turns out to have been a pretty good general, and generally well-liked by the troops, even though he *never* praised anyone for anything, and apparently thought bravery nothing extraordinary. In his defense, he was brave himself. There is one shortcoming in this book. There is a lack of maps to illustrate the text. The authors try to detail battlefield maneuvers from Buena Vista to Bentonville, with no tactical maps at all, and only three general area maps, none of which are particularly helpful. Only one of the maps even deals with the Civil War. This unfortunately makes the text a bit hard to follow at times. Other than that, I would highly recommend this book for the Civil War scholar. It's definitely worth the money.
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Jefferson Davis in Blue: The Life of Sherman's Relentless Warrior (History Book Club Selection)
Available from Amazon
Price: $41.57
Updated on 6-19-2008.
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