Book Review: Rebels at the Gates: The Confederacy’s Final Gamble and the Battle to Save Washington
Rebels at the Gates: The Confederacy’s Final Gamble and the Battle to Save Washington. By Robert P. Watson. New York: Rowman and Littlefield. Hardcover, 256 pp. $25.20.
Reviewed by Phill Greenwalt
“This is that story. . . .” So ends professor and historian Dr. Robert P. Watson’s preface to Rebels at the Gates: The Confederacy’s Final Gamble and the Battle to Save Washington, the latest contribution to the body of scholarship on Confederate Gen. Jubal Early’s 1864 invasion of Maryland. Watson pens an interesting study that captures this twisting tale of the Confederacy’s attempt to threaten the gates of Washington D.C., only to arrive a day late to potentially realize the capital’s capture.
The first part of Rebels at the Gates offers a thorough overview of the war in the Eastern Theater. This initial section provides readers with helpful context and sets the stage for Early’s 1864 campaign. It will be especially beneficial to readers who are new to Civil War history. Serving as a gateway for better understanding to both the conflict and this fascinating campaign, it lays a solid foundation before moving on to cover the “only Civil War battle fought inside Washington.” (235)
As mentioned above, the book is partly an overview of the entire war. It is also partly a dive into the campaign’s lead up, an examination of the operation, and continues on to cover its memory and legacy. While it is admirable to provide such a detailed background in order to prime readers, doing so also takes away from what could be a fuller examination of Early’s 1864 campaign, which occupies the final two sections. Readers already well versed in Civil War history may wish to scan through the initial section and move on to Watson’s analysis and his deep dive into the main subject matter of the book, as it is here that Watson shows his literary skills and creative writing.
Watson wraps up the campaign’s history portion with a chapter titled “Legacy,” in which he makes important points about the place these events hold in America’s memory, the importance of the battle of Fort Stevens, and how historians have interpreted it.
Lastly, Watson offers an epilogue about the “Lost Cause.” Although Jubal Early was a key figure in the development and perpetuation of the Lost Cause myth, the epilogue seems like a misfit ending to a battle of Fort Stevens/Raid on Washington-focused book. The preceding chapter on the legacy provides a much better ending point. The Lost Cause epilogue seems more like an introduction to another book and out of place in this study’s narrative arc.
Unfortunately, there are numerous small historical errors scattered throughout the book. For example, Watson informs readers incorrectly that Maj. Robert Anderson, the “Hero of Fort Sumter,” hailed from Louisiana instead of Kentucky. He also misidentifies who bestowed Stonewall Jackson with his nickname and perpetuates the myth about the casualties suffered by the Army of the Potomac under Grant’s leadership during a single charge at the battle of Cold Harbor.
Besides these shortcomings, the book is a riveting read. Watson deftly weaves the significant political and military aspects of this campaign together, and even injects a bit of social history. He attempts, and largely succeeds, in explaining to readers the mindsets of the major characters, including Union Gen. Lew Wallace and especially Gen. Early.
Although hailed as meticulously researched, stronger historical content editing would have improved the book. Not catching factual errors makes one question some of the other information and interpretations that it presents. However, vivid writing and the inclusion of a timeline counting down to the raid is a unique touch that helps balance the disappointing factual slips. Rebels at the Gates is certainly an interesting read and it does make contributions to the existing scholarship on this particular event. Those interested in this summer 1864 campaign and Washington D. C. history will find it worth reading.
A welcome antidote to those who think Gettysburg/Vicksburg was/were the turning point(s) of the war. This was a “damn near thing”.
The only time before or after January 6, 2021, that a violent attempt was made to place the Confederate batttle flag inside the US capitol building.
Personally, Charlie, I’d love to make a comment about the War of the Spanish Succession but since it has nothing to do with the immediate subject at hand, and would cause ferociously divisive comments about the relative merits of the Houses of Bourbon and Hapsburg, I’ll restrain myself.
It is to be noted that nowhere in Phill Greenwalt’s excellent review of Rebels at the Gates is “Monocacy” mentioned. This is of interest due the fact that this researcher NEVER heard of the Battle of Monocacy until conducting personal study of the Battle of Shiloh; learning that “Lew Wallace [one of the heroes of Fort Donelson] got lost…” and trying to determine “What happened to Lew Wallace after Shiloh?” And then, upon learning of Wallace’s involvement at Monocacy: “Why is this battle (recorded as a Loss for Lew Wallace) not studied, if for no other reason than to determine HOW the Battle of Monocacy was lost?” [WAS Monocacy a Union loss? Or is the Truth more nuanced?]
Getting “the WHOLE story” beyond sound-bite history is important; and learning the Rebel side of the story – What was the ultimate goal of the July 1864 Northern offensive? – is necessary in order to determine “How close did the Rebels come to achieving that goal?”
I, for one, will have to acquire this book…
Nice review! Mike a quick synopsis, The Battle of Monocacy is known as the Battle That Saved Washington! Wrong Way Wallace was sacked after Shiloh to DC and two years later had the wear withal to form a small rag tag army to delay Early until Grant’s reinforcements arrived! He formed his army on the Monocracy River! Same area two years earlier McCellan’s Army of the Potomac found Lee’s Special Order 191 on the way to Antietam. After a quick a battle, Wallace is forced to retreat! But it works! Early shows up a day later with a tired army at the northern edge of DC at Fort Steven! Seeing the newly arrived Wright’s VI Corps club hats Early realizes the he missed his chance with a futile attack and retreats! Don’t worry about Wallace who is ripped again for losing the Batlle but is saved by Grant who understands the importance of what Wallace did and then he goes on to write Ben Hur! It’s also the famous scene of Lincoln standing on the parapets of Fort Steven!
Tim Kelly, Thank-you! for the clarification: “The Battle that Saved Washington” = “The Battle of Monocacy.”
As a retired library assistant, I look for Key Words in worthwhile documents that will help people conducting research to find those documents in the future. In the case of Phill Greenwalt’s review, the inclusion of Monocacy in the List of Tags — at bottom of his review — would accomplish the mission of Finding Aid.
All the best
Mike Maxwell