Burnside (Hardcover)

~ William Marvel (Author) "Dawn had yet to come..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Army of the Potomac, North Carolina (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Union General Ambrose Burnside is the most maligned figure of the Civil War, according to the author of this first-rate biography. Accused of tactical lethargy during the battle of Antietam, Burnside then suffered a crushing defeat at Fredeno e?/sp. correct as given here.gs ricksburg and was later held partially responsible for the fiasco at Petersburg. Marvel ( The Horrid Pit: The Battle of the Crater ) notes that Burnside was no battlefield genius but argues persuasively that his performance at Antietam was equal to that of the other corps commanders, that he suffered an honorable defeat at Fredericksburg and that his operations in North Carolina and Tennessee contributed significantly to the Union victory. The book reveals how Burnside's humility and integrity, combined with his refusal to defend himself against his critics, made him vulnerable in the backbiting context of the Army of the Potomac's high command. A deeply researched and gracefully written biography of an important but overlooked Union leader, this account deserves the attention of Civil War buffs. Photos. History Book Club selection.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

A workmanlike biography of the amiable Union general that unconvincingly argues that Burnside's poor military reputation was largely an undeserved product of vicious military gossip and his own naive humility. Marvel, author of two scholarly Civil War military histories, points out that Burnside, exercising independent command over small numbers of soldiers, enjoyed some important successes--for instance, his spectacular 1862 victory on the North Carolina shore, which cut off Confederate trade routes, and his 1863 defense of Knoxville, which contributed to the destruction of Bragg's army at Chattanooga. Marvel also persuasively argues that McClellan in the Antietam campaign, and Halleck during the battles of Fredericksburg and Chickamauga, unfairly castigated Burnside for lethargy, confused him by making deliberately unclear orders, and unjustly used him as a scapegoat for Union defeats. Burnside's mistakes were probably no worse than those of other Union generals--his costly frontal assaults at Fredericksburg, for example, were reminiscent of Grant's unsuccessful charges at Vicksburg and Cold Harbor. Nonetheless, Marvel cannot absolve Burnside of responsibility for the Fredericksburg disaster or for the sanguinary 1864 debacle at the Crater. Moreover, Burnside showed considerable hamhandedness in his actions as chief of the Department of Ohio (for instance, his arrest of the notorious Copperhead Clement Vallandigham for making an anti-Government speech presented the Lincoln Administration with a potentially embarrassing dilemma that Lincoln cleverly averted by sending Vallandigham across Confederate lines into the South). Marvel succeeds in portraying Burnside as an honest, patriotic, and likable man who conscientiously did his best. He does not, however, succeed in altering history's judgment of Burnside as a modest man with much to be modest about. A well-researched and thorough look at one of the Civil War's major figures. (Twenty-nine illustrations; 13 maps.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 552 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press; 1St Edition edition (November 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807819832
• ISBN-13: 978-0807819838
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,352,123 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well Researched & Presented Military Biography, January 15, 1999

By	Aussie Reader ""Rick"" (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Ambrose Burnside may not be many people's favourite Civil War Commander but in this 1991 biography, the author, William Marvel, presents Burnside in a light previously not seen before. The Federal general comes across as a man who cared deeply for his men and was honest in his dealings with other commanders and his subordinates. The author presents his case that Burnside's reputation was tarnished by other Federal commanders who wished to pass on the blame of their failures to this man who would not publicly air his dissent. Examples given are General McClellan at Antietam, General William Franklin at Fredericksburg and Meade at the Wilderness and Petersburg. The author presents his case well and you start to feel that maybe Burnside was given the short end of the stick in a lot of cases. Burnside appears to be a patriotic soldier who was prepared to give everything to the cause regardless of the cost to himself and his reputation. Marvel offers references & notes to support his theory and although he tends to offer Burnside the benefit of the doubt most of the time I still came away feeling that Burnside probarly did not deserve all the negative media he has received in history. Overall this is a well researched and presented biography and although you may not agree with the author it's still a very well told story and a treat to read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest Picture od Naive Burnsides: Great Ideas and Failures, February 19, 2001

By	Daniel Hurley (Chesapeake, VA.) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

This is a true honest work of a General who had some excellent ideas but was often too naive with initiating action or from truly evaluating his staff. He was politically inept in being aware of the political cabal of McClellanites that undermined his command of the Army of the Potomac and contributed to his failings at Fredericksburg. Marvel does an excellent job demonstrating Burnsides successes at Roanoke Island with amphibious landings, perhaps the first in American war, and his occupation of coastal N.C. Marvel explains that Burnsides beat Lee to Fredericksburg but was held back by Halleck's failure to organize the pontoon train needed to cross the Rappahannock. The author's most interesting part of the book is his explanation of Burnsides' battle plan at Fredericksburg and his misunderstanding of the terrain features of Marye's Heights. In addition, one of the cabal generals commanding the left wing failed to execute his flanking movement properly yet communicated success causing Burnsides to unleash full scale attacks on Marye's Heights. Another fascinating piece centers on Burnsides' plan of the "crater", blowing up a confederate section of line and exploiting the breach with specially trained African American units. Unfortunately, the plan was severely hindered by Grant's and Meade's last minute disallowance of the black units to execute the plan resulting in untrained units commanded by an intoxicated officer. In between Burnsides does well keeping Longstreet out of Tennessee but inflames Sherman by providing Sherman a feast upon his arrival. Sherman misunderstood the meal as evidence that Burnsides' needed no relief. Burnsides is depicted as a very intelligent man that invented a breech loaded rifle but was politically naive particularly that even his alleged friend, McClellan undermined him for his own purpose without Burnsides being aware of it. Hard to defend Burnsides' limited action on McClellan's left flank at Antietam where any early action could have resulted in defeat of Lee. Regardless that McClellan didn't not ask Burnsides to attack earlier but any initiative by Burnsides would have made for a different outcome. Also, if Burnsides was aware or more personally involved with the crater attack, he should have recognized that the officer in charge of the attack was unfit and when the attack was misdirected, perhaps organized a better follow-up of troops although Meade aborted support. One of the last McCellan's generals of the Army of the Potomac to resign, only Warren lasted longer until his encounter withh Sheridan. The book leaves one thinking that if Burnsides had just a little of Sheridan in him and a little less of Burnsides, he would have been more successful. From a biography standpoint, Burnsides seems to havea lot in common with Confederate Genenral Ewell whose failures were also more pronounced than his victories.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little long, June 15, 2007

By	O. Pflug - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Marvel's account is pretty much all you have to turn to if you want to read about the infamous Burnside. The author tries his hardest to present Burnside in a favorable light, going so far as to claim he could have won at Fredericksburg if not for the slowness of General Franklin. Marvel's contentions about Burnside's competency are at best debatable. As noted elsewhere, there is very little here about Burnside's early life (perhaps due to lack of source material), and less understandably, little is included about his post-war political career.
I feel the book was a bit long, going into great detail about situations where Burnside's subordinates were preforming some maneuver in New Berne or East Tennessee. The book could have been edited down by a hundred pages or so.
There also a lack of the voice of the subject. Very few letters seem to exist from Burnside, so it is hard to get to know him outside the limits of his official communications.