Customer Reviews

Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command, Vol. 1 - Manassas to Malvern Hill

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

 

 

Freeman accomplishes something with Lee's Lieutenants at which many historians fail: he has written a work that not only instructs and engages the mind, but also transports the reader to the time and place of which he writes. There is nothing dry here. Although more technical (and maybe even a little more accurate) studies have been written on the Army of Northern Virginia, Freeman's rendering of Jackson's Valley campaign will remain the greatest ever put to paper. I also found Lee's Lieutenants to be a better work than R.E. Lee, for the simple fact that Freeman's hero worship is not quite so apparent in the former work.

This volume follows the early days of the Army of Northern Virginia, specifically, the period when the army was organized into separate divisions, as opposed to corps. The first part of the book focuses on the army while under Beauregard and Johnston ("Lee's Predecessors") and Freeman thoroughly covers the army from the commanding general down to troops supply wagons. The second part focuses on Stonewall Jacksons Valley Campaign, and Freeman covers this campaign as thoroughly as the previous ones. The last part focuses on the Seven Days, after Lee takes over the army. Since this book doesn't focus on Lee, Freeman leaves out a lot of details concerning how the campaign is planned as well as any combat where Lee is directly in charge. Thus, you do not see the battle in its entirety, and may be confused if you don't have a previous understanding of the campaign. However, he thoroughly covers the actions of Lee's subordinates and you truly feel like you get to know Lee's lieutenants.

This is one of the Civil War classics. The book is very well written. The reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that the maps are not that good. In the old 10 point system I would have given it a 9. However, there is an excellent appendix which descibes the geography of Virginia. The other important thing to know is that the subject of the book is the Army of North Virginia, so don't be surprised by the fact that the book is written from the Southern standpoint. None the less, I think that the author could spent more time telling about the Northern plans etc.