Confederate Tide Rising: Robert E. Lee and the Making of Southern Strategy, 1861-1862"Confederate Tide Rising is one of the most significant evaluations of Civil War strategy to be published in the past fifty years. It contributes critically to our understanding of the war, and it will influence the course of Civil War scholarship for decades to comes. I cannot overemphasize the importance of this book."--Richard J. Sommers, U.S. Army Military History Institute In this reexamination of Confederate war aims, Joseph L. Harsh analyzes the military policy and grand strategy adopted by Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis in the first two years of the Civil War. Recent critics of Lee have depicted him as a general of tactical brilliance, but one who lacked strategic vision. He has been accused of squandering meager military resources in vain pursuit of decisive victories during his first year in field command. Critics of Davis claim he went too far in adopting a "perimeter" policy which attempted to defend every square mile of Southern territory, scattering Confederate resources too thinly. Harsh argues, to the contrary, that Davis and Lee's policies allowed the Confederacy to survive longer than it otherwise could have and were the policies best designed to win Southern independence. |
Contents
5 | |
11 | |
17 | |
21 | |
31 | |
The Start of Phase Three AprilMay 1862 | 40 |
It would change the character of the war The Ascent of Lee to June 1 1862 | 47 |
Lees Running Start | 48 |
The Crisis Crests August 59 | 115 |
Richmond was never so safe Lee Evolves a Border Strategy August 926 1862 | 119 |
The Rapidan Stall August 152O | 124 |
The Rappahannock Waltz August 2124 | 129 |
Lee Plots a Wider Turn August 24 | 134 |
The Turning Movement Launched August 2526 | 139 |
If we expect to reap advantage Lee Pursues Total Victory August 2731 1862 | 145 |
Jackson the Raider August 2627 | 146 |
Every Victory Should Bring Us Nearer | 53 |
Easy Fighting and Heavy Victories | 60 |
They Ought Always to Be Turned | 67 |
How do we get at those people? Lees Strategy in the Seven Days Campaign June 1July 2 1862 | 74 |
Lee Concentrates His Army | 81 |
Lee Wrestles with Grand Tactics June 424 | 85 |
The Seven Days June 25July 2 | 89 |
The enemy is congregating about us Lee in Strategic Stalemate July 2August 9 1862 | 98 |
Concentration and Estrays | 100 |
Strategy July 613 | 105 |
Lee Marches in Place July 14August 4 | 110 |
Jackson the Aggressor August 28 | 152 |
Lee Hesitates August 29 | 155 |
Combat Finds Lee August SO | 158 |
Lee Returns to Maneuver to Finish August 31 | 163 |
The war was thus transfer red from interior to frontier The Chantilly Fumble September 1 1862 | 170 |
A Working Definition of Strategy | 175 |
Notes | 209 |
Select Bibliography | 255 |
267 | |