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katestineBefore we went to Gettysburg, one of my smartest cow orkers recommended Shelby Foote's Stars in the Their Courses. I barely finished The Killer Angels in time, so I never got to it, but when I was prepping for our trip to Fredericksburg/Chancellorsville, I thought Foote's The Longest Journey might be a good overview of the campaigns in the area. It wasn't. Foote jumps from venue to venue, telling you what this general was doing in Mississippi and that one was doing in Virginia and... The prose is beautiful but I couldn't form a good picture in my head of what was going on. Not sure if this is because it is one ninth of a looooong set or bc I just don't have enough background knowledge on the Civil War. I suppose I'm still up for a book about the area, although maybe someday Jon and I should just go on a little Civil War tour. Also, I think I grokked Fredericksburg enough - which is a shame bc it's the one half marathon that month that's on my radar that isn't sold out or a flight away - but I still don't have a great sense of Chancellorsville, let alone the Wilderness or Spotsylvania battles.
In contrast, James McPherson's War on the Waters was the perfect book for me. Jon enjoyed his Battle Cry of Freedom and mid-nineteenth century naval warfare is just close enough to Age of Sail that my readings in that area helped. I liked how every chapter was about some major engagement or campaign, with a bit of the interim history, and I liked that the book was only as long as it needed to be. After reading the book, I understood the importance of North Carolina's coast in the Civil War.
There were things I didn't like. McPherson introduces far too many names, which is confusing when you're listening and trying to figure out if you need to remember the name or just what happened in an anecdote. This is particularly hard bc McPherson frequently quotes personal letters to relate what happened. He also spends a lot of time discussing the legal issues of the Civil War: e.g. how Abraham Lincoln danced around the question of the South's belligerent status, the legality of the blockade, and how Union diplomats blocked the sale of warships to the South. Despite Julian's best efforts, I still don't grok the distinctions between letters of marque, privateers, etc.
I don't remember McPherson's explanation of why he focused on accounts from the North for his source materials; it was legit, but it meant there were details missing and the story felt skewed. He frequently quotes Union naval officials, but rarely Confederate naval officials, even though he frequently claims the South was more innovative. I'd've liked more explanation of that innovation, since he describes the Dahlgren guns everyone was using (Dolgren's first front-line command was attacking Charleston) and spends a chapter on ironclads without describing the South's contribution on that front.
I also still don't understand why New Orleans fell so easily, other than Farragut was da bomb jiggedy. McPherson explains in the introduction that at the start of the war, the North had (almost) all the ships, but a substantial portion of the sailors went with the South, so they ended up recruiting from the merchant marine. Under the circumstances, I would've expected the South to staff everything they had that floats with experienced, overqualified officers who would kick the butt of any jumped-up merchant captain. Instead, if memory serves, New Orleans, the biggest port in the CSA, was defended by a flotilla of civilians. What?? Maybe i've read too much Patrick O'Brian, but I'd think a bunch of Jack Aubreys in some small sloops could capture a bunch of large prizes and start turning the tides.
I wish I could remember at this point which individual reminded me of Sonja Hemphill, but there were multiple incidents that reminded me of the Honor Harrington books. Does anyone know if David Weber has actually stated that he drew inspiration from that war? Obviously I noticed the French Revolution bits (Rob S. Pierre made that hard to miss) and I know David Drake's Cinnabar books are an Aubrey-Maturin pastiche. I've always assumed the early Posleen books were a re-fighting of the Civil War (complete with cannibalistic, mechanized villains; "aw shucks" heroic defenders; a heroic win at Fredericksburg; and alien carpetbaggers). With LMB's life on the Mississippi series, you'd think the Baen authors write nothing but Southern history.
In contrast, James McPherson's War on the Waters was the perfect book for me. Jon enjoyed his Battle Cry of Freedom and mid-nineteenth century naval warfare is just close enough to Age of Sail that my readings in that area helped. I liked how every chapter was about some major engagement or campaign, with a bit of the interim history, and I liked that the book was only as long as it needed to be. After reading the book, I understood the importance of North Carolina's coast in the Civil War.
There were things I didn't like. McPherson introduces far too many names, which is confusing when you're listening and trying to figure out if you need to remember the name or just what happened in an anecdote. This is particularly hard bc McPherson frequently quotes personal letters to relate what happened. He also spends a lot of time discussing the legal issues of the Civil War: e.g. how Abraham Lincoln danced around the question of the South's belligerent status, the legality of the blockade, and how Union diplomats blocked the sale of warships to the South. Despite Julian's best efforts, I still don't grok the distinctions between letters of marque, privateers, etc.
I don't remember McPherson's explanation of why he focused on accounts from the North for his source materials; it was legit, but it meant there were details missing and the story felt skewed. He frequently quotes Union naval officials, but rarely Confederate naval officials, even though he frequently claims the South was more innovative. I'd've liked more explanation of that innovation, since he describes the Dahlgren guns everyone was using (Dolgren's first front-line command was attacking Charleston) and spends a chapter on ironclads without describing the South's contribution on that front.
I also still don't understand why New Orleans fell so easily, other than Farragut was da bomb jiggedy. McPherson explains in the introduction that at the start of the war, the North had (almost) all the ships, but a substantial portion of the sailors went with the South, so they ended up recruiting from the merchant marine. Under the circumstances, I would've expected the South to staff everything they had that floats with experienced, overqualified officers who would kick the butt of any jumped-up merchant captain. Instead, if memory serves, New Orleans, the biggest port in the CSA, was defended by a flotilla of civilians. What?? Maybe i've read too much Patrick O'Brian, but I'd think a bunch of Jack Aubreys in some small sloops could capture a bunch of large prizes and start turning the tides.
I wish I could remember at this point which individual reminded me of Sonja Hemphill, but there were multiple incidents that reminded me of the Honor Harrington books. Does anyone know if David Weber has actually stated that he drew inspiration from that war? Obviously I noticed the French Revolution bits (Rob S. Pierre made that hard to miss) and I know David Drake's Cinnabar books are an Aubrey-Maturin pastiche. I've always assumed the early Posleen books were a re-fighting of the Civil War (complete with cannibalistic, mechanized villains; "aw shucks" heroic defenders; a heroic win at Fredericksburg; and alien carpetbaggers). With LMB's life on the Mississippi series, you'd think the Baen authors write nothing but Southern history.