Customer Reviews

LINCOLN'S MEN: How President Lincoln Became Father to an Army and a Nation

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

William C. Davis has to be one of our most prolific historians. Amazingly, his work is always top notch as with this book. With so much already written on every facet of Lincoln's life, you would expect that there was not much original material that Davis could bring to his subject, but he does. I've always wondered how Lincoln could win the soldier's vote in his re-election campaign, given the love that the army had for Lincoln's opponent, George McClellan. But after reading this book, it becomes clear. I have an even greater respect for Lincoln and for Lincoln's men! Well done!!

I consider Abraham Lincoln our greatest President - greater even than Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt or FDR - for no other reason than he performed the duties of his office under pressures that would have beaten down a lesser man. Consider for a moment. He had to quell a nation-shattering rebellion. The top generals of his eastern armies were incompetent. He lost two of his young sons to disease. He had to persuade those states still loyal to accept two very controversial initiatives: a military draft and emancipation of blacks. His wife was a spendthrift and mentally unbalanced.

LINCOLN'S MEN examines Uncle Abe's relationship with the men of his armies, particularly those citizens that enlisted (or were drafted) into the states' volunteer regiments. Realizing that the officer corps took care of its own, his concern was chiefly spent on such issues important to the non-commissioned ranks, such as pay, fair military justice, length of enlistment, battlefield health care, and supply. Lincoln's office door was always open to anyone, even the most humble of privates, who had a petition or grievance to present. I find this last fact truly amazing when, today, the White House is a virtual fortress denying casual access to the most innocent of visitors.

The cynical might say that Lincoln was simply a politician, in the basest sense, currying favor with those whose efforts in the trenches might potentially fail to keep him in power. Indeed, while he was constantly visiting with and reviewing the troops of the eastern armies, particularly the hapless Army of the Potomac, he never once called on the western commands of Grant and Sherman because, after all, they were consistent winners. While this favoritism is glaring, the author, William Davis, presents it simply as a father caring for the most needy of his children. I agree. The affection Lincoln engendered in "his boys" in all military theaters of operation is evidenced by the vote they gave him in the election of 1864, and the tributes accorded him by veterans' groups in the decades following the war. He was truly Father Abraham.

LINCOLN'S MEN is a well-researched, informative example of historical reporting. Two-hundred fifty pages of text are supported by a 14-page bibliography and 46 pages of notes. I have only two complaints, which prevent me from awarding five stars. First, the author includes virtually no examples of Lincoln's famous, rustic wit. (The author's style, at times, makes for very dry reading. Dry as a soldier's hardtack.) Second, there's no supporting section of photographs. However, I certainly recommend this volume to any student of the Civil War.

As an avid reader of Lincoln biographies, I found this book enlightening. I'd always known that the Union soldiers loved and admired him, but to have the evidence gathered in one book was a revelation. This may "be available from other sources" as one of the reviews said, but for the general reader and even the student of history, this is a wonderful resource.

My only complaint is that in trying to demystify Lincoln, for the uncareful reader he may actually be adding to the myth. While he does an excellent job of citing the antidraft riots and desertions and the unfavorable opinions and so on; the casual reader may very well not remember those passages when they've finished the book.

Despite that caveat, I'll recommend this book to all my friends who enjoy reading, whether nonficion or fiction. It deserves to be a best seller, and I hope to see it on the list.

As a Civil War re-enactor I found this book's perspective especially informative and useful in my hobby. It provides a rather thorough look at how Lincoln's men viewed him during the various highs and lows of the War. It contained just enough soldiers' letters and first person quotations to support the author's points. My only criticism is that it can get repetitive at times, but overall is an excellent and enjoyable read.

If you have never read much about Lincoln, you will enjoy this book. If you are a fan of President Lincoln, you will find this work among the best ever written.William C. Davis presents to us the 'best friend' a soldier ever knew. He enters into the life of Lincoln and especially his relationship with the common Civil War soldier. As each chapter begins with a verse from the Bible about Abraham, you will almost feel a sense of divinity that was felt by many about Lincoln. He was a Commander in Chief that we could only dream about in today's world; a man that loved his soldiers and had a following that would go anywhere and do anything because 'Father Abraham' asked him to.

Given the mountain of books about either Abraham Lincoln or the American Civil War, one would think that someone would have come up with the idea of exploring the relationship between Lincoln and the rank-and-file Union soldier. But Davis is apparently the first to do so, and he handles the topic in a way that is bound to delight anyone interested in either topic, from the novice to the expert.

He has obviously thoroughly researched the wealth of letters, diaries, and other orginal sources that are available; his points are well documented. Moreover, he avoids repeating himself by either using the same source over and over again (as Ken Burns did in the Civil War series and Bruce Catton tended to do in his otherwise fascinating histories), nor does he pile up so much evidence on a single point that the reader becomes bored.

He explores the Lincoln-enlisted man relationship from a variety of angles, ranging from Lincoln's dismissal of the highly popular McClellan to his liberal use of his pardoning prerogative for wayward soldiers to veterans' attitudes in the 1864 Presidential election to his assassination. He frames much of the book in terms of Parson Weems's classic biography of George Washington, which depicted GW as "the Father of His Country," and suggests that the book had an early, perhaps subconscious effect on Lincoln, giving him a model to adopt when he became President--and makes a plausible case.

He also demonstrates that Lincoln very consciously invested in promoting a positive image of himself with the Union rank and file. Lincoln was very aware of how his position as President affected everyday Americans, and became (according to Davis) the first President to make an effort to be seen by ordinary citizens, especially Union soldiers.

This is a well-written, enjoyable book, satisfying in every sense. It was truly hard to put down.

In "Lincoln's Men" (1999), William C. Davis provides an in depth study of the relationship between President Abraham Lincoln and the men of the Union Army during the War Between the States. Lincoln had an unusually close relationship with his fighting men - one that would sustain the president and his soldiers through even the bleakest periods of the war. Davis makes the case that, had this personal relationship not existed, it would have been much more difficult for the country, civilians and soldiers alike, to find the will to continue to fight a terrible war that seemed to be lasting forever.

That Abraham Lincoln became a father figure to a huge majority of the men fighting on the side of the Union, especially those in the Army of the Potomac, is beyond dispute. As his book's subtitle announces ("How President Lincoln Became a Father to an Army and a Nation"), Davis explains here the "how" part of what happened. In order to do that, Davis searched through some 600 manuscript collections to see what the men themselves had to say about Lincoln during various milestones of the war. He quotes extensively (sometimes to excess, in fact) from the letters and diaries of the men who were there.

"Lincoln's Men" is divided into nine chapters, beginning with one on Lincoln's election to the presidency in 1860 and ending with one on his assassination in 1865. Between these bookend chapters are others on creation of the Union army, Lincoln's struggles with the reluctant-to-fight General McClellan, Lincoln's evolving policy on emancipation of the slaves in Southern states, Lincoln's efforts to keep his army armed, fed and paid, and one on Lincoln's liberal pardon policy (perhaps the most revealing chapter in the entire book).

Each of the chapters is peppered with direct quotes from soldier correspondence that show Lincoln's influence and effect on the men he so much respected and admired. Davis does not make the claim that love for Mr. Lincoln was unanimously shared by the army and, in fact, spends a good number of pages quoting from McClellan loyalists who remained in opposition to Lincoln right up to his death. Shockingly enough, some Union soldiers, those who insisted to the end that they had not enlisted to fight to end slavery, were cheered by the news of Lincoln's assassination - and many learned to regret the mistake of expressing those feelings to Lincoln loyalists.

Abraham Lincoln was perhaps the perfect man for his time and his job. It is, of course, impossible to predict what might have happened if America had had no Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's Men does make clear, however, how much a key element the personality of Lincoln was in holding the Union together long enough for the United States to conclude the war successfully. Without the strong emotional bonding between Lincoln and his men, the War Between the States may have ended very differently.

I actually bought this book by accident, ordering it instead of another book about his private secretaries, Lincoln's Men: The President and His Private Secretaries. I have still to read the other book. This is an excellent book, however, and the story of Lincoln's attachment to his army, especially the Army of the Potomac. One of the volumes of Bruce Catton's great history of the Army of the Potomac is titled Mr Lincoln's Army. I would suggest reading more widely about the history of the Civil War before coming to this book. It is about the relationship between Lincoln and the men of his armies and the rest of the story is told as background. Having read all of Catton's books and several biographies of Lincoln, including the uncritical one by Carl Sandberg, I enjoyed this thoroughly. One review criticized the book as too partial to Lincoln, treating him as a god. I disagree. The final chapter discusses how the mythology of Lincoln grew after his assassination and as the veterans of the Union Army aged. It is limited in scope and I would not recommend it for those desiring a more general history, but for those who know the story well, it is enjoyable and I recommend it.

At times this book is absolutely brilliant, and at others absolutely wordy. Davis does make several very keen observations and supports these very well from the countless diary quotes from Union Soldiers. Overall, it is a good study of President Lincoln as Commander in Chief, and even Lincoln as a statesman. The book does mostly focus on Lincoln and the Army of the Potomac, but, as Davis contends, that is by far the army that needed his direct support the most. Davis handles Lincoln's relationships with the Sanitary Comission and other civilian organized groups supporting the war effort extremely well. In the end, I would recommend this book as a good and unique study of President Lincoln.

William C. Davis has done a great thing here, in a way that only he can. Finally, Abraham Lincoln has been portrayed as not only a father to the slaves, but to our entire nation. For many years, the myth was that Lincoln did not have the support of the army, that they did not believe in the cause that Lincoln did. Davis dispels this notion with ease, stating that the army was always behind Lincoln, and grew more so as the war went on. Davis also discusses how Lincoln made an effort to be seen by his armies, and they noticed his efforts and it endeared them to him. With a prose that forces you to keep turning the pages, Davis explores the subject of Lincoln and his army with and objective eye, and his conclusions are unarguable. Truly a must have for any Civil War buff.