Customer Reviews

The Smoothbore Volley That Doomed the Confederacy: The Death of Stonewall Jackson and Other Chapters on the Army of Northern Virginia

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Award-winning author Robert Krick has written a number of well-received books on the Civil War. Civil War enthusiasts should enjoy this collection of 10 Krick essays published by the Lousiana State University Press.

By and large, the essays deal with various aspects of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The opening essay is an exhaustive account of Stonewall Jackson's wounding and death. Wonderfully researched and well written, it's a marvelous opener to the book. Other essays deal with the ever-controversial James Longstreet, the death of General Robert Rodes, the fiery secessionist General Maxcy Gregg, Jubal Early's cavalry troubles in 1864, good & bad books on the Confederacy, locating & using Confederate army records, etc.

I enjoyed Krick's book tremendously. His essays are interesting, informative, and thought-provoking. Civil War enthusiasts will want to pick up this book. It provides not only interesting reading but much food for thought not to mention heated arguments over how good or bad certain Civil War generals really were!

Robert Krick does a good job with his essays on various episodes and officers of the Army of Northern Virginia. I want to mention first the things I don't like about some of the essays: Krick is entirely too harsh on General Longstreet and I really don't understand why he feels so strongly in the negative about such a brave officer that he never met and why he wants to be so critical of him. Even Douglas Southall Freeman came to appreciate Longstreet in his classic 'Lee's Lieutenants'. Did General Longstreet make mistakes? Yes, of course. Every Civil War officer in high command made mistakes that they came to regret but Krick is too much from the Jubal Early blame Longstreet first crowd and his Longstreet essays are not the best the book has to offer. I don't mean to preach but it is easy to say 150 years later that in a certain battle that this movement, etc. should have been done but we have hindsight and officers like Longstreet were making the best decisions with the information they had.

On the best things that Krick does: his chapter on the accidental shooting of Stonewall Jackson is quite excellent. This essay gives the book its title but I don't think the title is meant to be taken literally. I thought it was hyperbolic on purpose. But the essay itself lays out with incredible detail about that controversial night. It is a A+ essay. There are also very nice essays on Maxcy Gregg and Robert Rodes. The Rodes essay has now been superseded by Darryl Collins excellent Rodes biography but Krick's essay is a nice short introduction to the fascinating figure of Rodes. The chapter on Jubal Early's cavalry trouble in 1864 is also very good. Also, a book review where Krick rips apart Alan Nolan's controversial (and overrated) 'Lee Considered' is quite delightful. It is good to see Nolan's book cut down to size.

The other essays are quite good just take the Longstreet essays with a grain of salt and I think everything will be okay (For those interested, Jeffry Wert has a excellent modern day biography of Longstreet that gives the man a fair shake). I think this book makes a good companion to Krick's other Eastern theater books and read it with the pioneering work on the Army of Northern Virginia by Douglas Southall Freeman and Clifford Dowdey.

Recommended!

Although this book has a number of good points, like the section on Jackson, this is really just another rant about Longstreet by the king of the anti-Longstreet cabal. Robert Krick is an excellent writer, but he has over the years unjustly presented Longstreet as the "loose cannon" of the South. Krick has made a living preaching the gospel of Longstreet . . . a severely flawed man with and equaly flawed ego, and he probably thinks it's too late to back down now. In spite of the multitude of new books and new evidence establishing Longstreet as one of the best generals in the Southern states during the Civil War, Krick continues his uneven and vitrolic diatribe about one of the South's greatest generals. He's like the energizer bunny . . . he just keeps on and on . . . repeating variations of the lies established so long ago by the Lee Cult conspirators. He doesn't seem to be able to write anything without trying to put the boot to Longstreet. I guess Lee, Johnston, Grant, and a host of others got it all wrong about Longstreet being a "capital soldier". Robert Krick is one of a group of rapidly shrinking notable historians who---dispite the evidence---have blindly painted themselves into a niffty little historical "catch-22". They're d***d if they say they had it all wrong... and they'll be d***d if they don't. But, since they've made a long living bashing Longstreet, don't expect any sudden confessions. Too bad though. What a waste. He's a great writer.
Metaphorically speaking, Krick and other historians of similiar ilk, are "cherry pickers". They use individual cases or data that seem to confirm their position, while ignoring a significant number of related cases or data that contradict that position. They belong to a class of anti-apologists or a "cabal" whose common goal is to bash Longstreet as often and as hard as they can.
A true historian is a neutral one. He presents the facts in an unbiased manner. He doesn't deal in half-truths---statements that may be partly true or even totally true, but represent only part of the whole truth. The intent of the these "anti-apologists" is to blame, not educate. It's to entertain, not illuminate. Having said all this, I will leave you with the following quote by one of the greatest historians of all time.

"It is the first and fundamental law of history
that it should neither dare to say anything that is false,
nor fear to say anything that is true, nor give any just
suspicion of favor or dissatisfaction."

Cicero

This is a fine book. I have bought it for history-loving friends. It is well researched and well written, and the opinionated author knows his stuff. It is a collection of essays (not a narrative) about the Army of Northern Virginia. It is emphatically NOT speculative history as another reviewer suggested. Quite the contrary. The title might be a bit misleading (it is taken from the lead essay), but Krick wastes no time on conjecture. He does not trace the hypothetical arc of Jackson's career -- or the Confederacy's -- after the general's wounding. Most of the book does not even deal with Jackson but with other men and events pertaining to Lee's Army. The strength of this book is deep research, and it is a good read, too. Readers interested in the Confederacy should not be misled by readers who probably are not. If you like good history with "Attitude," you'll enjoy this book.

This is an excellent collection of essays by the renowned Civil War Scholar Robert K. Krick.

Contrary to the title, the book does not delve into what-ifs or speculation. Rather, the title essay is a very detailed reconstruction of Jackson's wounding and death. Probably the most detailed description to be found. The best place to look for info on that significant event.

The essay on the Garnett trial was very interesting, although it was probably too harsh on Jackson. After all, regardless of whether Garnett was wrong or not, Jackson wanted his orders followed to the letter--which is how he followed his. Military discipline may have simply had to have been enforced. Regardless of one's opinion, a good essay.

I found the two essays on Longstreet very interesting, as they point out things that you aren't going to hear from Longstreet fans but which are perfectly true. On a review on another website, a Longstreet apologist accused Krick of contradicting himself in the essays, but I advise anyone to read closely. There are no contradictions, although some differences are apparently not obvious for Longstreet apologists to pick up.

The only real problem I have with any of the essays is in the one on RE Rodes. I regard Rodes as an exceptional commander, but Krick ignores the fact that Rodes's delay at Chancellorsville allowed the Union troops to regroup and form a line, and also for Sickles to extract himself from being cut off completely. Rodes sited disorder and mixing of units, but Jackson had given him orders not to halt on any condition. The order of the units was far less important than continuing to press the Federal troops.

The rest of the essays are superb, a couple giving some information on some very unknown aspects and generals of the war and also looking over some new books and giving advice on how to use the various records available.

All in all, a must read for any Civil War enthusiast.

I've read quite a bit about the Civil War, but the eight essays in this book brought me a load of new information.

- The events leading to Stonewall Jackson's mortal wound are recorded in abundant detail.

- I had never read anything negative about Longstreet, but Krick solidly documents instances where Longstreet's stubbornness worked against the core mission of the confederate army.

- Garnett, McLaws, Rodes, and Gregg were just names to me (if I'd heard of them at all), but now I'll associate those names with the crucial roles these men played (or tried to play, had they not been undermined by their superiors).

- There's a great essay on the general ineptitude of the Valley cavalry and how it weakened the southern army. In fact, near the end of the war, they were described as a "straggling cavalry that infested the Valley ... a greater terror to their friends than their foes." Ouch.

This is an exceptional collection of illuminating facts about the Army of Northern Virginia. If you are interested in some well-researched and lesser-known information, dig in!

The Smoothbore Volley That Doomed the Confederacy: The Death of Stonewall Jackson and the other Chapters on the Army of Northern Virginia written by Robert K. Krick is a well-written book with a fast throughly researched and dramatic writing about the Army of Northern Virginia, one of the best armies every assembled and fought on American soil.

Krick writes this book with a passion... often opinionated, but with profound insights and points of view, giving rise to controversy. There are only ten chapters within the binding of this book and hey are:

The Smoothbore Volley THat Doomed the Confederacy
The Army of Northern Virginia's Most Notorious Court-Martial: Jackson vs. Garnett
If Longstreet... Says So, It Is Most Likely Not True: James Longstreet and the Second Day at Gettysburg
Longstreet Versus McLaws-- and Everyone Else--About Knoxville
We Have Never Suffered a Greater Loss Save in the Great Jackson: Was Robert E. Rodes the Army's Best Division Commander?
Maxcy Gregg: Political Extremist and Confederate General
The Coward Who Followed J.E.B. Stuart
The Cause of All My Disasters: Jubal A. Early and the Undisciplined Valley Cavalry
Confederate Books: Five Great Ones and Two Bad Ones
Confederate Soldier Records: Finding Them and Using Them

The Essays in this book examine pieces of the army's history across a broad and diverse spectrum. Two deal with Lee's most famous subordinate, Thomas J. Jackson, one of them concerning a notable court-martial. Two others deal with Lee's most controversial subordinate, James Longstreet-- again, one concerning a famous court-martial. Gwnweral Robert E. Rodes appears as a superbly competent division commander; General Maxcy Gregg as a prototype of the successful politician-general; Colonel R.W.Carter as a failure; and the Shenandoah Valley irregular cavalry as a study in indiscipline.

Seven of the ten essays have appeared before in some form. Several contained no documentation in their first appearences. All have been substantially revised and expanded with new material, in some instanced to double their original size. I was glad to see these essays again and this time documented.

Krick has uncovered a wide array of unpublished material on Rodes to sketch hin in a fresh perspective, as well as Colonel R.Welby Carter as a rogue. Those of you who read about the Civil War should have this book in your library as it is deeply researched using as impressive selection of primary materials. The author tells it like he sees it... if the particular figure measures up or fails to meet expectations... Krick is fair in his assement. This book is hard to put down, making it an enlightenment with profound insights.

The very title alone implies the idolatry of the Lost Cause. The loss of Thomas Jackson was indeed a great one to the Confederate high command but it ignores other more significant factors contributing to Confederate defeat. The huge disparity between the Navies. How about the disparity in population? How about the inability to replace line officers? The inferiority of the artillery ordnance? The disparity in cannon foundaries? A better explanation of what doomed the Confederacy can be found in Clark Gable/Rhett Butler's diatribe at the beginning of Gone with the Wind! Thomas Jackson was a talented but eccentric general. He had many great accomplishments but he, like other generals, made mistakes. He was a human being and he had faults. This blind worship and the perpetuation of the myth and legend of the war should hopefully open some eyes. The two essays on Longstreet lead one to believe that the perpetrators of the Lost Cause, Jubal Early, William Pendleton and J. William Jones have been reincarnated into Mr. Krick. They are the same character assasinations that has been going on since 1872 when Mr. Early, just returned from his Canada vacation, gave a speech at a Lee Birthday celebration accusing Longstreet of not attacking at dawn as ordered. A complete fabrication. The East Tennessee essay thrown in for that extra added bonus criticism. Hard to believe that Mr. Gallagher would be associated with such a project.

I am dumbfounded that anyone exists that believes these essays are well-researched and informative. The sources that Mr. Krick uses to found his impression of General Longstreet have been proven to be absolutely false and a premeditated smear campaign to ruin the man who was Second-in-Command of the Army of Northern Virginia and RANKED Gen. Jackson. Pure Lost Cause mythology. I can't imagine what would possess a man to slander a person he never met so badly. Very unprofessional and disrespectful to Robert E. Lee's memory too. Readers: do not waste your money on this. It is BADLY researched and unsubstanciated nonsense.

This book is not very well researched, and since it is not written by a person with any significant credentials as a true historian, I cannot in good conscience consider this doing any sort of justice to Civil War history. Apparently the author has a website that is all about self aggrandizement where he proclaims himself an expert on the Army of Northern Virginia? Yeah right.......
Stonewall Jackson's death did not doom the Confederacy. The very notion of that is pure bunk. There were a dozen factors that caused the defeat of the Confederacy, but the loss of Stonewall Jackson was not one of them.
I took this back to the library about halfway through, and hope they put this on the fiction/non-sense shelf.