Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief
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Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief Hardcover – October 7, 2014
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Editorial Reviews
Review
The Washington Post:
“[A] fine study of Davis’s military leadership….To this day it is difficult for many Americans to view Davis with dispassion, but McPherson has made a noble attempt to do so….Davis himself does not make that easy.”
Christian Science Monitor:
“Open minds are in short supply today, so it is refreshing that Civil War scholar and Pulitzer-winning author James M. McPherson has taken a fresh look at a subject with which is he eminently familiar: the life and times of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. With more than a dozen books about America’s greatest crucible to his credit, the 78-year-old author is still challenging past postulations.”
North South Magazine:
“Superb... McPherson succeeds admirably in recreating the world of 1861-1865 as seen through the eyes of a Southern nationalist and ardent defender of the established social order, and provides readers with a more balanced view of Davis than that handed down by many of his contemporaries."
History Book Club:
“The first work to discretely consider Davis as head of his armies and navy... Crisply written, thoughtfully considered, and ultimately persuasive, Embattled Rebel is McPherson and biography at their best.”
“[A] fine study of Davis’s military leadership….To this day it is difficult for many Americans to view Davis with dispassion, but McPherson has made a noble attempt to do so….Davis himself does not make that easy.”
Christian Science Monitor:
“Open minds are in short supply today, so it is refreshing that Civil War scholar and Pulitzer-winning author James M. McPherson has taken a fresh look at a subject with which is he eminently familiar: the life and times of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. With more than a dozen books about America’s greatest crucible to his credit, the 78-year-old author is still challenging past postulations.”
North South Magazine:
“Superb... McPherson succeeds admirably in recreating the world of 1861-1865 as seen through the eyes of a Southern nationalist and ardent defender of the established social order, and provides readers with a more balanced view of Davis than that handed down by many of his contemporaries."
History Book Club:
“The first work to discretely consider Davis as head of his armies and navy... Crisply written, thoughtfully considered, and ultimately persuasive, Embattled Rebel is McPherson and biography at their best.”
About the Author
James M. McPherson is the George Henry Davis ’86 Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University. He is the bestselling author of numerous books on the Civil War, including Battle Cry of Freedom, which won the Pulitzer Prize, Tried by War, and For Cause and Comrades, both of which won the Lincoln Prize.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By
Arthur Digbee
VINE VOICE on September 13, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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I enjoy McPherson’s histories, and I enjoyed this one too. Still, it was a bit of a disappointment. The concept is great - seeing the Civil War through the eyes of Jefferson Davis, as a way of evaluating his performance as commander-in-chief. In execution, unfortunately, it was too often just another retelling of the Civil War. McPherson does that well, seeing the big picture and narrating it well. But we’ve seen such a narrative many times before.
He might have done two things to help us see Davis better. First, McPherson could have explored the political environment in greater depth. McPherson shows us the internal politics of the Confederate Army in detail but gives much less attention to the Confederate legislatures and especially the state governors. Second, I would have liked to see more discussion in the abstract of the grand strategy choices that Davis faced. McPherson explains why Davis chose an “offensive-defensive” strategy, but other options appear only in a few pages at the end.
McPherson’s overall evaluation of Davis is fair-minded. He rightly criticizes how Davis handled personnel matters in the army, but tends to think that he did pretty well otherwise. The book is certainly worth a read for people interested in the Civil War. I'd probably give it four stars from an unknown author, but from McPherson I expected more.
He might have done two things to help us see Davis better. First, McPherson could have explored the political environment in greater depth. McPherson shows us the internal politics of the Confederate Army in detail but gives much less attention to the Confederate legislatures and especially the state governors. Second, I would have liked to see more discussion in the abstract of the grand strategy choices that Davis faced. McPherson explains why Davis chose an “offensive-defensive” strategy, but other options appear only in a few pages at the end.
McPherson’s overall evaluation of Davis is fair-minded. He rightly criticizes how Davis handled personnel matters in the army, but tends to think that he did pretty well otherwise. The book is certainly worth a read for people interested in the Civil War. I'd probably give it four stars from an unknown author, but from McPherson I expected more.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By
CGScammell
TOP 1000 REVIEWER on October 2, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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I have read several of James McPherson's works and even met him at a Barnes and Noble event in Princeton, NJ, where he teaches history. His works are engaging and easily read by anyone, because he presents the full picture and includes social history of non-combatants. His award-winning "Battle Cry for Freedom" kept me up all night because I couldn't stop reading.
This book is another fast read. McPherson's goal here was to show how Jefferson Davis made several crucial mistakes early in the Civil War that cause him to lose support from many politicians and generals. As a West Point Graduate and veteran of the Mexican-American War, he fought or studied alongside many of the other generals of the Civil War. His first error was appointing generals under him who all were West Point graduates. His second mistake was giving them ranks that were not the equivalent of the Union Army. He fought a long and bitter personal battle with Brigadier General P.G.T Beauregard, and then later with Brigadier General Joseph Johnston. Both generals carried on their personal feuds toward Davis via passive-aggressive actions: both generals often did not keep Davis informed of their maneuvers, their personal strength, or tactics. This frustrated Davis and, according to McPherson, caused much physical and emotional grief for Davis early in the war.
McPherson focuses on the various battles of the Civil War. For those who are fans of the Civil War, this may be a rehash of the war. While McPherson does mention disgruntled Senators losing faith with Davis, most of Davis' decline was due to him not having faith with his generals and his generals in him.Read more ›
This book is another fast read. McPherson's goal here was to show how Jefferson Davis made several crucial mistakes early in the Civil War that cause him to lose support from many politicians and generals. As a West Point Graduate and veteran of the Mexican-American War, he fought or studied alongside many of the other generals of the Civil War. His first error was appointing generals under him who all were West Point graduates. His second mistake was giving them ranks that were not the equivalent of the Union Army. He fought a long and bitter personal battle with Brigadier General P.G.T Beauregard, and then later with Brigadier General Joseph Johnston. Both generals carried on their personal feuds toward Davis via passive-aggressive actions: both generals often did not keep Davis informed of their maneuvers, their personal strength, or tactics. This frustrated Davis and, according to McPherson, caused much physical and emotional grief for Davis early in the war.
McPherson focuses on the various battles of the Civil War. For those who are fans of the Civil War, this may be a rehash of the war. While McPherson does mention disgruntled Senators losing faith with Davis, most of Davis' decline was due to him not having faith with his generals and his generals in him.Read more ›
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By
Daniel Weitz
VINE VOICE on September 5, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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It is always a pleasure to read a book written by James McPhersonBattle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States),Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief; and while this work reveals nothing new; it does have the thoughtful insights of a master historian. Well-written and documented, it has very useful campaign and strategic maps, it is enriched as well with carefully selected illustrations and portraits of the personalities involved; and this is the story of how personalities and strategic concerns interact.
"History Has Not Been Kind to Jefferson Davis" McPherson states, and he maintains that it is not fair to directly compare Davis and Lincoln, as they had different resources, challenges, and personnel. It is in the area of personnel that McPherson seems to center his discussion: Davis was seemingly in constant conflict with many of his generals. This was not so much due to differences in strategy (with the notable exception of Joseph Johnston) but with the mutual hostility caused by Davis' unconcealed support of West Point classmates and other favorites, at the expensive of "high-maintenance" but usually competent personalities like Joe Johnston & Beauregard.
Davis was hampered by ill-health throughout the war that probably impacted his decision making. He suffered primarily from chronic malaria and corneal ulceration that left him partially blind and in great pain.Read more ›
"History Has Not Been Kind to Jefferson Davis" McPherson states, and he maintains that it is not fair to directly compare Davis and Lincoln, as they had different resources, challenges, and personnel. It is in the area of personnel that McPherson seems to center his discussion: Davis was seemingly in constant conflict with many of his generals. This was not so much due to differences in strategy (with the notable exception of Joseph Johnston) but with the mutual hostility caused by Davis' unconcealed support of West Point classmates and other favorites, at the expensive of "high-maintenance" but usually competent personalities like Joe Johnston & Beauregard.
Davis was hampered by ill-health throughout the war that probably impacted his decision making. He suffered primarily from chronic malaria and corneal ulceration that left him partially blind and in great pain.Read more ›
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By
Kcorn
TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on October 9, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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For the sake of full disclosure author James M. McPherson notes early on that his "sympathies lie with the Union side in the Civil War....yet I have sought to transcend my convictions and to understand Jefferson Davis as a product of his time. " He adds that he found Lincoln far "more congenial, interesting and admirable." Even so it is clear that resisted the temptation to let his personal preferences influence him unduly.
The result? McPherson grew far less critical of Davis, evaluating his merits without comparing him to Lincoln, two men who McPherson saw as not even remotely alike. While I wasn't as drawn to this book as others written by McPherson, I often found his analysis of Davis's military leadership as well as his responsibilities as president of the Confederacy to be intriguing and thoughtful.
While McPherson doesn't hesitate to describe the Davis's flaws in detail (egotism, extreme hostility towards specific generals and leaders, etc) he also believes that Davis's poor health significantly affected his personality. He suffered frequent and extremely painful attacks of heartburn, severe headaches, and other health issues. Insomnia plagued his nights.
McPherson repeatedly stresses that Davis was criticized too severely, not only by the the press but even many in the Confederacy. He concludes that while the Confederacy did not win the war Davis was not responsible for losing it. McPherson argues that the Union's stronger finances, skilled military leadership, and crucial battlefield victories were more crucial than any role Davis could play in losing the war.
Ultimately, even when most others in the Confederacy realized that defeat was inevitable, Davis went "from m a state of unreality to one of fantasy.Read more ›
The result? McPherson grew far less critical of Davis, evaluating his merits without comparing him to Lincoln, two men who McPherson saw as not even remotely alike. While I wasn't as drawn to this book as others written by McPherson, I often found his analysis of Davis's military leadership as well as his responsibilities as president of the Confederacy to be intriguing and thoughtful.
While McPherson doesn't hesitate to describe the Davis's flaws in detail (egotism, extreme hostility towards specific generals and leaders, etc) he also believes that Davis's poor health significantly affected his personality. He suffered frequent and extremely painful attacks of heartburn, severe headaches, and other health issues. Insomnia plagued his nights.
McPherson repeatedly stresses that Davis was criticized too severely, not only by the the press but even many in the Confederacy. He concludes that while the Confederacy did not win the war Davis was not responsible for losing it. McPherson argues that the Union's stronger finances, skilled military leadership, and crucial battlefield victories were more crucial than any role Davis could play in losing the war.
Ultimately, even when most others in the Confederacy realized that defeat was inevitable, Davis went "from m a state of unreality to one of fantasy.Read more ›
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