Civil War A to Z: The Complete Handbook of America's Bloodiest Conflict - Softcover
With hundreds of entries, as well as photographs, drawings, and a handy time line of events–The Civil War A to Z encompasses everything about that historic conflict . . . from Appomattox to Zouaves.
Who or what are “Zouaves,” you may ask? They were members of certain volunteer regiments from both the North and the South. That’s just one example of the scope and depth of The Civil War A to Z. This encyclopedic, illustrated reference of the war between the States features facts both familiar and engagingly new in an easy-to-follow alphabetical format, this handy reference belongs in every Civil War library.
Near an informative entry on “Robert E. Lee,” you’ll find startling revelations about “Lincoln’s In-laws”–four of whom actually fought for the Confederacy. Not far from the battle of “Shiloh” are “Sutlers,” profiteers who trailed along with armies, hawking all kinds of (sometimes shoddy) stuff. And right around “weapons” sits “General Stand Watie,” the only American Indian to achieve the rank of general with the Confederacy.
In short, this wonderful one-volume account ranges from the basic to the bizarre, from secession to spies to all kinds of swords, creating a complete picture of the war from the first shot to final surrender. No Civil War enthusiast or simple student of history will want to be without this indispensable and entertaining guide to one of America’s most pivotal, endlessly fascinating events.
Who or what are “Zouaves,” you may ask? They were members of certain volunteer regiments from both the North and the South. That’s just one example of the scope and depth of The Civil War A to Z. This encyclopedic, illustrated reference of the war between the States features facts both familiar and engagingly new in an easy-to-follow alphabetical format, this handy reference belongs in every Civil War library.
Near an informative entry on “Robert E. Lee,” you’ll find startling revelations about “Lincoln’s In-laws”–four of whom actually fought for the Confederacy. Not far from the battle of “Shiloh” are “Sutlers,” profiteers who trailed along with armies, hawking all kinds of (sometimes shoddy) stuff. And right around “weapons” sits “General Stand Watie,” the only American Indian to achieve the rank of general with the Confederacy.
In short, this wonderful one-volume account ranges from the basic to the bizarre, from secession to spies to all kinds of swords, creating a complete picture of the war from the first shot to final surrender. No Civil War enthusiast or simple student of history will want to be without this indispensable and entertaining guide to one of America’s most pivotal, endlessly fascinating events.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Clifford L. Linedecker is a former daily newspaper journalist and investigative reporter with 18 years of experience at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Rochester Times-Union, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, and several other Indiana newspapers. He is the author of numerous true crime titles, including The Man Who Killed Boys, Night Stalker, Killer Kids, Blood in the Sand, and Deadly White Female.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:
A
Abatis
One of the most formidable obstacles laid around defensive positions during the war, abatis were tangles of trees and large limbs carefully arranged with the branches pointed toward the attackers. Small branches and leaves were stripped away to prevent their use as cover for the enemy. Remaining branches were sharpened at the ends, and larger chunks were often covered with earth, staked to the ground, or nailed to cross-beams to inhibit efforts to dismantle the obstacles.
Abercrombie, Brigadier General John Joseph, U.S.
A West Pointer, Abercrombie served as a captain in Florida's Seminole Wars, before he was brevetted as a major for gallant conduct at the Battle of Okeechobee. After frontier duty and fighting in the Mexican War, where he was wounded at Monterrey and again cited for gallantry, he was brevetted to lieutenant colonel. During the Civil War he fought at Falling Waters during the Shenandoah Campaign and served through the Peninsular Campaign as a brigadier general of volunteers. Abercrombie was wounded at Fair Oaks and fought at Malvern Hill, then participated in several skirmishes during the retreat to Harrison's Landing. During 1862 and 1863 he was engaged in the defense of Washington. He later served at Fredericksburg and fought against Hampton's Legion. Abercrombie was brevetted brigadier general at the end of the conflict.
Abolition
Religious fundamentalists in the North were convinced that slavery was a national evil, and they became the primary force that founded and shaped the abolitionist movement. In the South most whites considered abolitionists uninformed meddlers, who were attacking their lifestyle and economy. As the abolitionist movement took firm root, the American Anti-Slavery Society grew to more than 1,000 chapters and a membership of more than 250,000. Inevitably, the heated debate and partisan rancor led to bloodshed on both sides of the issue. Passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 and publication two years later of Harriet Beecher Stowe's melodramatic but scathing attack on slavery Uncle Tom's Cabin helped fan the flames of the growing enmity between the largely proslavery forces in the South and the abolitionists in the North. (See: Douglas, Frederick; Dred Scott Decision; and Stowe, Harriet Beecher.)
Adams, Brigadier General John, CS
The son of Irish immigrants, Adams graduated from West Point and served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War. Brevetted for gallantry and meritorious conduct during the Battle of Santa Cruz de Rossales, he was commissioned first lieutenant in 1851 and promoted to captain five years later. Adams was serving at Fort Crook, California, when he resigned his U.S. Army commission and traveled to Tennessee to fight for the South. He was a captain of cavalry when he was placed in command at Memphis. In May 1862 he was promoted to colonel and in December became a brigadier general. When Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman died in 1863, Adams assumed command of his Mississippi infantry brigade, fought under General Joseph E. Johnston at Vicksburg, and served with Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk in Mississippi. Transferred to the Confederate Army of Tennessee, Adams served with General John B. Hood after the fall of Atlanta, in the Nashville Campaign, and briefly with General Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry. Adams was leading his regiment in an attack against Union troops at the Battle of Franklin on November 39, 1864, when he was killed.
Adams, Brigadier General
William Wirt, CS
A brother of General Daniel Weisinger Adams, William was a veteran of the Army of the Republic of Texas and a former Mississippi state legislator when he turned down an offer by President Davis to serve as the Confederacy's new postmaster general. Instead, Adams raised the 1st Mississippi Cavalry, and as the regiment's colonel he led it in battle in Mississippi and Tennessee. He was promoted to brigadier general for his performance at Vicksburg. Late in 1864, his brigade was attached to General Nathan Bedford Forrest's corps and served there throughout the remainder of the conflict. After the war he served as a state revenue agent and postmaster of Jackson, Mississippi, before he was shot to death by a newspaper editor he had quarreled with.
Admiral
Congress created the title of flag officer in 1857, but it wasn't until five years later, while the Civil War was raging, that the first American use of the admiral rank was authorized. (The same act also restored the title of commodore.) The first American naval officer to be named to the new rank was Admiral David G. Farragut. (See: Farragut, Admiral David Glasgow, USN.)
African Repatriation
Both President Lincoln and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, toyed with the idea of repatriating the slaves to Africa. (See: Stowe, Harriet Beecher.)
Age of Soldiers, Average
The average age of Union soldiers was in the midtwenties. Most Billy Yanks ranged in age from 18 to 45, although some boys not yet in their teens managed to enlist. A few old men in their sixties or seventies also served, if only briefly, before their age and infirmities caught up with them. Confederate records are missing or incomplete, but the ages of Johnny Rebs are known to have been in the same general range as those of their foe. (See: Clem, Major General John Lincoln, U.S.)
Air-To-Ground Communication
Information about enemy strength and troop movements was relayed from the air to friendly forces on the ground for the first time during the Civil War. Aeronauts communicated intelligence through telegraph wires attached to the baskets on hot air balloons. (See: Balloons, Hot Air; and Telegraph.)
Alabama, CSS
The most notoriously successful commerce raider of the war, the CSS Alabama, sailed the globe, gorging itself on spoils from the Union's merchant fleet. Captain Raphael Semmes was hobbled by an international crew that included more mercenary adventurers than Southerners, and their reluctance to submit to strong discipline created problems during engagements with enemy warships. During a 22-month, 75,000-mile voyage touching in ports in Asia, Africa, South America, North America, the Caribbean, and Europe the Alabama nevertheless captured 65 Union merchantmen, including 52 that were burned. By June 1864, the Alabama's boilers were burned out, her seams were splitting, and she was badly in need of repair. Captain Semmes sailed his ship to Cherbourg, France, sent 38 prisoners ashore, and requested permission from authorities to put the ship in dry dock. (See: Alabama, CSS, and Kearsarge, USS, Battle of; Semmes, Captain Raphael, CSN; and Winslow, Rear Admiral John A., USN.)
Alabama, CSS, and Kearsarge, USS, Battle of
It was like a picnic for the French who crowded Cherbourg in June 1864 to watch the fun and root for the Rebels when the Alabama sailed out of the harbor to do battle with the Kearsarge. But it soon became hellish aboard the Alabama. Commanded by Captain John A. Winslow, the Kearsarge had sailed 300 miles from the Dutch coast in response to an alert from the U.S. minister in Paris and a bold challenge from Semmes delivered through the Confederate agent in Cherbourg to show up for a fight. It was an uneven battle, even though the Alabama drew first blood with a salvo of broadsides that disabled a gun crew. A third or more of the Confederate shells that struck the enemy ship failed to explode, and the Kearsarge began raking the Alabama with 11-inch shells that blew sailors to pieces, ripped away cannon, and tore gaping holes in the sides and superstructure. Injured in the right hand, Semmes was afraid his ship was about to sink when he ordered his executive officer, First Lieutenant John McIntosh Kell, to steer for the coast. It was too late, and when Kell told his superior that the stricken ship couldn't last another ten minutes, Semmes ordered him to haul down the colors. Winslow was suspicious and called for one more ghastly broadside before the Alabama ran up a white flag and boats from the Kearsarge and nearby civilian craft began picking up survivors and the dead. Captain Semmes and Lieutenant Kell were rescued by an English steam yacht, hidden from the Union sailors, and released in England. The notorious Confederate raider slipped beneath the waves at 12:24 p.m., just 90 minutes after the battle began. The Alabama suffered 43 casualties, about half deaths during battle or from drowning. One sailor aboard the Kearsarge died, and two were wounded. (See: Alabama, CSS; Semmes, Captain Raphael, CSN; and Winslow, Rear Admiral John A., USN.)
Albemarle, CSS
The Confederate ram was threatening the Union blockade in Albemarle Sound, North Carolina, in October 1864 when navy lieutenant William B. Cushing led a handpicked squad of Yankee volunteers up the Roanoke River in a 30-foot launch to sink the Southern ironside with a spar torpedo. Confederate sentries spotted the boat and opened fire at about 3:00 a.m., but Cushing crashed it over a log barrier, lowered the spar, pushed the torpedo under the ship, and pulled a lanyard to trigger an explosion. Both the ironclad and the launch were sunk, and Cushing was one of only two Union sallors who escaped capture or death. (See: Plymouth, Battle of; and Spar Torpedoes.)
Alcatraz
Several hundred captured Confederates were held at the fort and prison in San Francisco Bay.
Alexander, Brigadier General Edward Porter, CS
An engineer and expert artillerist, Alexander was a West Pointer who campaigned with the U.S. Army in the Utah Territory before resigning his commission to fight for the Confederacy. He served as a signal officer under General Beauregard at First Bull Run, fought with Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville, was chief of artillery for General James Longstreet, and participated in the Battle of Gettysburg and the Siege of Knoxville. In 1864 Alexander was promoted to brigadier general, becoming one of only three Confederate generals who were artillery officers. Alexander fought at Spotsylvania and Col...
Abatis
One of the most formidable obstacles laid around defensive positions during the war, abatis were tangles of trees and large limbs carefully arranged with the branches pointed toward the attackers. Small branches and leaves were stripped away to prevent their use as cover for the enemy. Remaining branches were sharpened at the ends, and larger chunks were often covered with earth, staked to the ground, or nailed to cross-beams to inhibit efforts to dismantle the obstacles.
Abercrombie, Brigadier General John Joseph, U.S.
A West Pointer, Abercrombie served as a captain in Florida's Seminole Wars, before he was brevetted as a major for gallant conduct at the Battle of Okeechobee. After frontier duty and fighting in the Mexican War, where he was wounded at Monterrey and again cited for gallantry, he was brevetted to lieutenant colonel. During the Civil War he fought at Falling Waters during the Shenandoah Campaign and served through the Peninsular Campaign as a brigadier general of volunteers. Abercrombie was wounded at Fair Oaks and fought at Malvern Hill, then participated in several skirmishes during the retreat to Harrison's Landing. During 1862 and 1863 he was engaged in the defense of Washington. He later served at Fredericksburg and fought against Hampton's Legion. Abercrombie was brevetted brigadier general at the end of the conflict.
Abolition
Religious fundamentalists in the North were convinced that slavery was a national evil, and they became the primary force that founded and shaped the abolitionist movement. In the South most whites considered abolitionists uninformed meddlers, who were attacking their lifestyle and economy. As the abolitionist movement took firm root, the American Anti-Slavery Society grew to more than 1,000 chapters and a membership of more than 250,000. Inevitably, the heated debate and partisan rancor led to bloodshed on both sides of the issue. Passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 and publication two years later of Harriet Beecher Stowe's melodramatic but scathing attack on slavery Uncle Tom's Cabin helped fan the flames of the growing enmity between the largely proslavery forces in the South and the abolitionists in the North. (See: Douglas, Frederick; Dred Scott Decision; and Stowe, Harriet Beecher.)
Adams, Brigadier General John, CS
The son of Irish immigrants, Adams graduated from West Point and served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War. Brevetted for gallantry and meritorious conduct during the Battle of Santa Cruz de Rossales, he was commissioned first lieutenant in 1851 and promoted to captain five years later. Adams was serving at Fort Crook, California, when he resigned his U.S. Army commission and traveled to Tennessee to fight for the South. He was a captain of cavalry when he was placed in command at Memphis. In May 1862 he was promoted to colonel and in December became a brigadier general. When Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman died in 1863, Adams assumed command of his Mississippi infantry brigade, fought under General Joseph E. Johnston at Vicksburg, and served with Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk in Mississippi. Transferred to the Confederate Army of Tennessee, Adams served with General John B. Hood after the fall of Atlanta, in the Nashville Campaign, and briefly with General Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry. Adams was leading his regiment in an attack against Union troops at the Battle of Franklin on November 39, 1864, when he was killed.
Adams, Brigadier General
William Wirt, CS
A brother of General Daniel Weisinger Adams, William was a veteran of the Army of the Republic of Texas and a former Mississippi state legislator when he turned down an offer by President Davis to serve as the Confederacy's new postmaster general. Instead, Adams raised the 1st Mississippi Cavalry, and as the regiment's colonel he led it in battle in Mississippi and Tennessee. He was promoted to brigadier general for his performance at Vicksburg. Late in 1864, his brigade was attached to General Nathan Bedford Forrest's corps and served there throughout the remainder of the conflict. After the war he served as a state revenue agent and postmaster of Jackson, Mississippi, before he was shot to death by a newspaper editor he had quarreled with.
Admiral
Congress created the title of flag officer in 1857, but it wasn't until five years later, while the Civil War was raging, that the first American use of the admiral rank was authorized. (The same act also restored the title of commodore.) The first American naval officer to be named to the new rank was Admiral David G. Farragut. (See: Farragut, Admiral David Glasgow, USN.)
African Repatriation
Both President Lincoln and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, toyed with the idea of repatriating the slaves to Africa. (See: Stowe, Harriet Beecher.)
Age of Soldiers, Average
The average age of Union soldiers was in the midtwenties. Most Billy Yanks ranged in age from 18 to 45, although some boys not yet in their teens managed to enlist. A few old men in their sixties or seventies also served, if only briefly, before their age and infirmities caught up with them. Confederate records are missing or incomplete, but the ages of Johnny Rebs are known to have been in the same general range as those of their foe. (See: Clem, Major General John Lincoln, U.S.)
Air-To-Ground Communication
Information about enemy strength and troop movements was relayed from the air to friendly forces on the ground for the first time during the Civil War. Aeronauts communicated intelligence through telegraph wires attached to the baskets on hot air balloons. (See: Balloons, Hot Air; and Telegraph.)
Alabama, CSS
The most notoriously successful commerce raider of the war, the CSS Alabama, sailed the globe, gorging itself on spoils from the Union's merchant fleet. Captain Raphael Semmes was hobbled by an international crew that included more mercenary adventurers than Southerners, and their reluctance to submit to strong discipline created problems during engagements with enemy warships. During a 22-month, 75,000-mile voyage touching in ports in Asia, Africa, South America, North America, the Caribbean, and Europe the Alabama nevertheless captured 65 Union merchantmen, including 52 that were burned. By June 1864, the Alabama's boilers were burned out, her seams were splitting, and she was badly in need of repair. Captain Semmes sailed his ship to Cherbourg, France, sent 38 prisoners ashore, and requested permission from authorities to put the ship in dry dock. (See: Alabama, CSS, and Kearsarge, USS, Battle of; Semmes, Captain Raphael, CSN; and Winslow, Rear Admiral John A., USN.)
Alabama, CSS, and Kearsarge, USS, Battle of
It was like a picnic for the French who crowded Cherbourg in June 1864 to watch the fun and root for the Rebels when the Alabama sailed out of the harbor to do battle with the Kearsarge. But it soon became hellish aboard the Alabama. Commanded by Captain John A. Winslow, the Kearsarge had sailed 300 miles from the Dutch coast in response to an alert from the U.S. minister in Paris and a bold challenge from Semmes delivered through the Confederate agent in Cherbourg to show up for a fight. It was an uneven battle, even though the Alabama drew first blood with a salvo of broadsides that disabled a gun crew. A third or more of the Confederate shells that struck the enemy ship failed to explode, and the Kearsarge began raking the Alabama with 11-inch shells that blew sailors to pieces, ripped away cannon, and tore gaping holes in the sides and superstructure. Injured in the right hand, Semmes was afraid his ship was about to sink when he ordered his executive officer, First Lieutenant John McIntosh Kell, to steer for the coast. It was too late, and when Kell told his superior that the stricken ship couldn't last another ten minutes, Semmes ordered him to haul down the colors. Winslow was suspicious and called for one more ghastly broadside before the Alabama ran up a white flag and boats from the Kearsarge and nearby civilian craft began picking up survivors and the dead. Captain Semmes and Lieutenant Kell were rescued by an English steam yacht, hidden from the Union sailors, and released in England. The notorious Confederate raider slipped beneath the waves at 12:24 p.m., just 90 minutes after the battle began. The Alabama suffered 43 casualties, about half deaths during battle or from drowning. One sailor aboard the Kearsarge died, and two were wounded. (See: Alabama, CSS; Semmes, Captain Raphael, CSN; and Winslow, Rear Admiral John A., USN.)
Albemarle, CSS
The Confederate ram was threatening the Union blockade in Albemarle Sound, North Carolina, in October 1864 when navy lieutenant William B. Cushing led a handpicked squad of Yankee volunteers up the Roanoke River in a 30-foot launch to sink the Southern ironside with a spar torpedo. Confederate sentries spotted the boat and opened fire at about 3:00 a.m., but Cushing crashed it over a log barrier, lowered the spar, pushed the torpedo under the ship, and pulled a lanyard to trigger an explosion. Both the ironclad and the launch were sunk, and Cushing was one of only two Union sallors who escaped capture or death. (See: Plymouth, Battle of; and Spar Torpedoes.)
Alcatraz
Several hundred captured Confederates were held at the fort and prison in San Francisco Bay.
Alexander, Brigadier General Edward Porter, CS
An engineer and expert artillerist, Alexander was a West Pointer who campaigned with the U.S. Army in the Utah Territory before resigning his commission to fight for the Confederacy. He served as a signal officer under General Beauregard at First Bull Run, fought with Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville, was chief of artillery for General James Longstreet, and participated in the Battle of Gettysburg and the Siege of Knoxville. In 1864 Alexander was promoted to brigadier general, becoming one of only three Confederate generals who were artillery officers. Alexander fought at Spotsylvania and Col...
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- PublisherBallantine Books
- Publication date2002
- ISBN 10 0345458087
- ISBN 13 9780345458087
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages288
- EditorLindecker Clifford L.
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CIVIL WAR A TO Z: THE COMPLETE H
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