Donnybrook: The Battle of Bull Run, 1861 - Hardcover

Detzer, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0151008892 ISBN 13: 9780151008896

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004

Synopsis

In April 1861, Confederate artillery blasted Fort Sumter into surrender. Within weeks, the Confederacy had established its capital at Richmond. On May 24, Lincoln ordered troops across the Potomac into Virginia, only a few miles from the Confederate military base near the hamlet of Manassas. A great battle was inevitable; whether this would end the war, as many expected, was the only question. On July 21, near a stream called Bull Run, the two forces fought from early morning until after dark in the first great battle of the Civil War. America would never be quite the same.

Donnybrook is the first major history of Bull Run to detail the battle from its origins through its aftermath. Using copious and remarkably detailed primary source material-including the recollections of hundreds of average soldiers-David Detzer has created an epic account of a defining moment in American history.

About this title

Book Description:

Published in hardcover by Harcourt, 2004, 0-15-100889-2

From the Inside Flap:

"In the first months of the Civil War, few Americans understood how ugly the war would become, few had any sense of what an actual battlefield would be like. They would get their first important lesson in July 1861, when a great Union army and a major Confederate force clashed near a Virginia stream called Bull Run."

In April 1861, Confederate artillery blasted Fort Sumter into surrender. Within weeks, the Confederacy established its capital at Richmond. On May 24, Lincoln ordered troops across the Potomac into Virginia, only a few miles from the Confederate military base near the hamlet of Manassas. A great battle was inevitable; whether this would end the war, as many expected, was the only question. On July 21, near a stream called Bull Run, the two forces fought from early morning until after dark in the first great battle of the Civil War. America would never be quite the same.

The 1st Battle of Bull Run introduced citizens of this country to the draft, the effects of heavy artillery, and the emotional violence of fighting your neighbor for an uncertain cause. It tested the character of men who would later dominate recollection: Stonewall Jackson, James Longstreet, Irvin McDowell, William T. Sherman. In the wake of the battle, the Union was forced to reconsider its strength and searched within its ranks for a scapegoat. David Detzer is the first historian to analyze the resulting Joint Committee on the Conduct of the Present War and thus the first to exonerate General Robert Patterson.

Donnybrook is the first major history of Bull Run to detail the battle from its origins through its aftermath; not since William C. Davis' study of the battle, written decades ago, has a historian approached this linchpin battle with such force, insight, and fresh energy. Using copious and remarkably detailed primary source material-including the recollections of hundreds of average soldiers-David Detzer has created an epic account of a defining moment in American history.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0151008892
• ISBN 13: 9780151008896
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 490