War Crimes Against Southern Civilians [Hardcover]

Walter Cisco (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 30, 2007 | ISBN-10: 158980466X | ISBN-13: 978-1589804661 | Edition: Second Edition

This is the untold story of the Union's "hard war" against the people of the Confederacy. Styled the "Black Flag" campaign, it was agreed to by Lincoln in a council with his generals in 1864. Cisco reveals the shelling and burning of cities, systematic destruction of entire districts, mass arrests, forced expulsions, wholesale plundering of personal property, and even murder of civilians. Carefully researched largely from primary sources, this examination also gives full attention to the suffering of Black victims of Federal brutality.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...blows the lid off the conspiracy of silence about the violent, mass-murdering origins of the American Leviathan state..." -- -Thomas J. DiLorenzo, www.LewRockwell.com

About the Author

Walter Cisco served in the U.S. Army for three years, seeing action in Vietnam. He is the recipient of the Army commendation Medal and was a captain in the South Carolina State Guard. A lifelong student of the War Between the States, Cisco has spent last decades researching and writing on topics related to this period in Americaís history. His articles have appeared in the Confederate Veteran, Civil War, and Southern Partisan. He is a current resident of Orangeburg, South Carolina.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Pelican Publishing; Second Edition edition (April 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158980466X
• ISBN-13: 978-1589804661
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #127,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Confederacy

More About the Author

Cisco is the author of five books dealing with Southern history and biography. "States Rights Gist" and "Wade Hampton" were selections of the History Book Club, "Hampton" also won the prestigious Douglas Southall Freeman award. Cisco makes his home in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

175 of 196 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Unreconstructed History May 7, 2007

By Fruit Loop VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Mr. Cisco's flawlessly documented expose of Union Army war crimes rips the carefully constructed facade off Lincoln's "Army of Emancipators." Far from being an army of liberators, Union troops burned, raped, ravaged, and terrorized civilians from east to west. The brutality long overshadowed by federally-sponsored propaganda of Andersonville and Fort Pillow is at last revealed by newspaper accounts, letters, and diaries, many from Washington's own National Archives.

"We believe in a war of extermination," said Union Brigadier General Lane, whose heroic exploits include the arrest and deaths of wives and teenaged girls whose only crime were blood ties to Confederate guerrillas, the expulsion of tens of thousands of civilians from whole Missouri counties and the complete destruction of their property.

General Sherman deliberately turned his back as men pillaged Georgia cities, even allowing them to exhume graves in search of valuables. Free African-Americans as well as southern whites suffered the loss of homes and property, many their lives. The arrival of the northern army of liberation also meant rape and abuse for women of color. Regardless of color or gender, no southerner was spared.

Mr. Cisco's scholarly work is a must-read for serious students of the war and professional historians. Politically correct history cannot hide the sins of the past, and a true examination of facts must occur before complete understanding of America's most tragic war can take place. Five stars.

121 of 136 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Damning critique of Federal war prosecution May 12, 2007

By Historian

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

When the Lincoln/Grant/Sherman/Sheridan apologists get a whiff of this one they are going to be apoplectic. The problem of course is that this is such a carefully researched, far-reaching collection of essays whose facts are so compelling what exactly will they criticize? Even more "balanced" northern historians have conceded the excesses from the mid-war on. But this demonstrates a war on civilians not only from the opening shots but across the entire region and across the entire war. The books' release on the eve of the History Channel's (HC) Sherman piece could not have been more timely. Sherman the "liberator"? Stay tuned for Hitler: the Hero of Eastern Europe. This book is a gift and should be mandatory reading in both High Schools and Colleges. It is social history and scholarship at it's best.

102 of 117 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Darker Side of the "Civil" War September 27, 2007

By Kerry Walters VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm not from the south and I'm not really a fan of things southern. So I have little patience with "Lost Cause" romanticizing. Moreover, I know something about the darker side of the Civil War, having been researching its atrocities (executions, dislocation of civilians, scorched earth policies, treatment of POWs, etc) for some years now. Mr. Cisco's account of war crimes in this book is really only the tip of the iceberg. The "Civil" War was most uncivil indeed, and what's truly surprising is that some of its more sordid episodes go untaught in schools and unrecognized by idiot reenactors who think the war was great and glorious. True, Cisco's book isn't as academically rigorous as it might be. But the negative reviews here strain too much to find fault with it. Is the lack of a bibliography really an unforgiveable sin, especially when footnotes are present? Are Cisco and DiLorenzo and other historians who offer nonconventional interpretations of the war really scoundrels and fools? And does it serve any real purpose to exaggerate Cisco's claims (I refer specifically to the reviewer who falsely says that Cisco claims that the depredations of the Union led to Hitler--not at all what he actually said)? Lost Causers who romanticize the war are bad enough. But Lincoln groupies who sugarcoat its horrors are even worse.