Crossroads
of Freedom: Antietam
by James M.
McPherson
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The
Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17,
1862, was the bloodiest single day in American
history, with more than 6,000 soldiers killed
- four times the number lost on D-Day, and twice
the fatalities of the September 11th terrorist
attacks. In Crossroads of Freedom, America's
most eminent Civil War historian, James M. McPherson,
paints an account of this pivotal battle, the
events that led up to it, and its aftermath.
Book
Description
Book
Description
The Battle of Antietam, fought on September
17, 1862, was the bloodiest single day in American
history, with more than 6,000 soldiers killed--four
times the number lost on D-Day, and twice the
number killed in the September 11th terrorist
attacks. In Crossroads of Freedom, America's
most eminent Civil War historian, James M. McPherson,
paints a masterful account of this pivotal battle,
the events that led up to it, and its aftermath.
As McPherson shows, by September 1862 the survival
of the United States was in doubt. The Union
had suffered a string of defeats, and Robert
E. Lee's army was in Maryland, poised to threaten
Washington. The British government was openly
talking of recognizing the Confederacy and brokering
a peace between North and South. Northern armies
and voters were demoralized. And Lincoln had
shelved his proposed edict of emancipation months
before, waiting for a victory that had not come--that
some thought would never come. Both Confederate
and Union troops knew the war was at a crossroads,
that they were marching toward a decisive battle.
It came along the ridges and in the woods and
cornfields between Antietam Creek and the Potomac
River. Valor, misjudgment, and astonishing coincidence
all played a role in the outcome. McPherson
vividly describes a day of savage fighting in
locales that became forever famous--The Cornfield,
the Dunkard Church, the West Woods, and Bloody
Lane. Lee's battered army escaped to fight another
day, but Antietam was a critical victory for
the Union. It restored morale in the North and
kept Lincoln's party in control of Congress.
It crushed Confederate hopes of British intervention.
And it freed Lincoln to deliver the Emancipation
Proclamation, which instantly changed the character
of the war. McPherson brilliantly weaves these
strands of diplomatic, political, and military
history into a compact, swift-moving narrative
that shows why America's bloodiest day is, indeed,
a turning point in our history.
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Editorial
Reviews
From
Publishers Weekly
Contributing
significantly to Oxford's new academic
series Pivotal Moments in American History
and to the literature on the Civil War,
McPherson convincingly establishes the
Battle of Antietam as the conflict's pivotal
moment militarily, politically and morally.
His depiction of the spring 1862 Confederacy
shows it reeling under blockade while
the North was learning how to practice
"hard war."
Yet McPherson tracks Robert E. Lee in
the Seven Days' Battles and the Second
Manassas campaign, placing him, by September,
in Maryland and threatening Washington.
Foreign nations were poised to recognize
the Confederacy, and Lincoln had postponed
his plans to liberate its slaves. With
an election coming in November, demoralized
Northern voters were in position to give
control of Congress to a Democratic party
with a vocal peace wing. The Union general
George B. McClellan never took a risk
he could avoid; on September 17, at Antietam,
he failed to commit his full force, yet
managed to get a defeated, demoralized
army to the field at the end of the single
bloodiest day in American history: over
6,000 men from both sides dead. Before
the battle, McPherson carefully demonstrates
(with the aid of 30 duotones and seven
maps), the Civil War's outcome had been
disputable. In Antietam's aftermath, Lincoln
issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
France and Britain discreetly backed away
from recognition. The Republicans kept
control of Congress and of most state
governments. The war was now the Union's
to lose.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information,
Inc.
From
Library Journal
An appropriate selection for the publisher's
"Pivotal Moments in American History"
series, this pithy monograph by McPherson
(history, Princeton; Battle Cry of Freedom)
argues that the bloody clash at Antietam
on September 17, 1862, in which over 6000
Union and Rebel troops perished, would
ultimately determine the outcome of the
Civil War. Earlier in the year, Lincoln's
armies appeared near victory with such
successful western campaigns as Shiloh
and Forts Henry and Donelson and the surrender
of New Orleans and Memphis. However, during
the summer months, the pendulum of battle
swung toward the Confederacy, culminating
in the Army of the Potomac's drubbing
in the Seven Days Battles and the enemy's
drive into Maryland. McPherson brings
alive Gen. George McClellan's overtaking
of "Bobby" Lee near the village
of Sharpsburg, thereby checking his invasion
of the North. The Federal victory at Antietam,
limited as McPherson concedes it was,
blunted Lee's momentum, eclipsed the likelihood
that foreign countries would recognize
the Confederacy, reversed a disastrous
plunge in the morale of Northern troops
and civilians, and afforded Lincoln the
chance to issue his long-awaited proclamation
of emancipation. A fine study; recommended
for the classroom and all libraries. John
Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs.,
Cleveland
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information,
Inc.
Amazon.com
The bloodiest day in United States history
was September 17, 1862, when, during the
Civil War battle at Antietam, close to
6,500 soldiers were killed or mortally
wounded and another 15,000 were seriously
wounded. Moreover, James M. McPherson
states in his concise chronicle of the
event Crossroads of Freedom, it may well
have been the pivotal moment of the war
and possibly of the young republic itself.
The South, after a series of setbacks
in the spring of 1862, had reversed the
war's momentum during the summer, and
was on not only on the "brink of
military victory" but about to achieve
diplomatic recognition by European nations,
most notably England and France. Though
the bulk of his book concerns itself with
the details--and incredible carnage--of
the battle itself, McPherson raises it
above typical military histories by placing
it in its socio-political context: The
victory prodded Abraham Lincoln to announce
his "preliminary" Emancipation
Proclamation, freeing slaves. England
and France deferred their economic alliance
with the battered secessionists. Most
importantly, it kept Lincoln's party,
the Republicans, in control of Congress.
McPherson's account is accessible, elegant,
and economical. --H. O'Billovich |
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