66 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Brief Overview of an Epic Battle, September 11, 2002
Don't buy James McPherson's "Antietam" expecting a detailed blow-by-blow account of the battle itself. As he showed in his classic account of the entire Civil War, "Battle Cry of Freedom," McPherson is more interested in the political, social and even diplomatic aspects of America's deadliest conflict. The point of the book is to argue that Antietam, not Gettysburg, was the pivital battle of the war. McPhereson makes his argument by describing the events that led up to the battle and demonstrating how it affected what came after.
Antietam, McPherson argues was the moment when the South came the closest to winning diplomatic recognition from the European powers and a resulting negotiated settlement that would have secured its independence. The aftermath of the Union "victory" at Antitam also persuaded Abraham Lincoln to finally issue the Emancipation Proclamation, turning the war once and for all into a battle against slavery.
McPherson is a first rate writer and historian, and his book is well reasearched and highly readable. What it is short on, however, is accounts of the actual fighting, which resulted in the single bloodiest day in American history (far worse than even Pearl Harbor or September 11th). The narrative clocks in at a brief 155 pages, only about a third of which are devoted to the battle. Yet the book is well worth reading despite this flaw.
Overall, a brief historical overview of an epic moment in American history by one of our most distinguished historians.
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38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A New Birth of Freedom and its Cost, September 7, 2002
On September 17, 1862, the Army of the Potomac commanded by General George B. McClellan met the Army of Northern Virgina commanded by Robert E. Lee in the fields near Sharpsburg, Maryland. The result was the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American History and a pivotal moment of the Civil War. The battle ended the Confederacy's first invasion of the North and gave President Lincoln the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
In his short study, "Crossroads of Freedom" Professor McPherson weaves together many strands in discussing the significance of the battle. First, he places the battle against the backdrop of the prior military course of the war, both in the Eastern and the Western Theatres. He points out how Union successes in the early part of 1862 were followed by serious defeats in the Seven Days Battle and Second Manassas with the tide of the war turning to the Confederacy. Although the South would again invade the North culminating in the Battle of Gettysberg, Antietam was a clear check to Southern momentum. It gave the Union the courage, will and political force to fight on.
Second, Professor McPherson emphasizes the role of the European powers -- England and France -- in the Civil War. These nations followed events in America closely and were economically at risk from the loss of Southern cotton for their textile mills. They likely would have recognized the Confederacy if the results of the first invasion of the North had favored the Cofederacy.
Third, and probably most importantly to his theme, Professor McPherson discusses the role of Antietam in the changing character of the Civil War. President Lincoln was opposed to slavery, but his initial war aims did not include freeing the slaves. Rather he wished to hold the Union together. As the War continued, Lincoln became convinced of the necessity of issuing an Emancipation Procamation but believed that he needed a military success to give the Proclamation force and credibility. The victory at Antietam, narrow as it was, and tremendous as was its human cost, gave him that opportunity.
Emancipation was indeed a new birth of freedom. It also, as Professor McPherson points out, changed the character of the War from one with the aim of trying to persuade the South to come back to a state of total War -- which changed the character of a culture and redefined the nature of freedom in the United States.
Professor McPherson's book is part of a series called "Pivotal Moments in American History" whose aim is "to encourage interest in problems of historical contingency." There was a great deal of chance involved in the Battle of Antietam, more so than in most military campaigns. (There were also military blunders on both sides.) During the course of the southern invasion the Union discovered by chance a copy of General Lee's "Special Order No. 179" which had been dropped in a field. Special Order No. 179 detalied Lee's disposition of his troops and gave General McClellan the opportunity to attack in series each detachment of Lee's divided army. This was crucial to the result at Antietam. But McClellan missed the opportuniity to win a decisive victory and bring an end to the War. Human error and chance play a great role in human events. But Professor McPherson might have done well to refer to Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address and compared Lincoln's reflections on the role of providence with the blind chance that led to the Union finding of Special Order No. 179.
There is only a short description of the battle of Antietam itself. The focus of the study is putting the Battle in its historial and political context rather than in a detailed analysis of military moves. Nevertheless, I fouund Professor McPersons's description of the battle (as well as his descriptions of the Seven Days Battle and Second Manassas) easier to follow than more detailed studies I have read. Professor McPherson gives a good annotated bibliography which refers the reader interested in a military study of the battle to more detailed accounts.
This is an excellent study of the Battle of Antietam which places it well in the context of the Civil War and which encourages the reader to reflect on the meaning of the War and of the nature of American freedom.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Masterpiece from the Dean of Civil War Historians!, November 11, 2002
Dr. McPherson is unmatched in writing highly readable books which at the same time manifest an unparalleled academic knowledge of Civil War sources. This book reads as well as his Pulitzer prize-winning "Battle Cry of Freedom" (the best one volume history of the Civil War), and simultaneously reflects the highest level of expertise. While other books treat the battle of Antietam itself in far greater detail (e.g., "Landscape Turned Red," by Stephen Sears), no other work goes into such detail on the reaction in Northern, Southern, and European newspapers to the events before and after the battle. The author sets the context for Sharpsburg by reviewing battles leading up to Lee's invasion of the north and the resulting bloodiest day in American history. The politics of the Confederacy's seeking British recognition, the economics of King Cotton, the politics of slavery and auspicious timing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the mid-term election of 1862--this background and aftermath of the battle are analyzed comprehensively with a thoroughness not found elsewhere. I'm not a historian, but a serious buff who has read hundreds of Civil War books. There are only two authors on the recent unpleasantness whose books I haven't been able to put down once opening the cover. One is Bruce Catton, who captured the romanticism of the common soldier; the other is James McPherson, who writes clear, succint prose reflecting the deepest levels of scholarship. After Battle Cry of Freedom, this book is his best work, and is a must for readers who want to understand the social and political context of this most intensely violent of American battles.
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