Turning Points
of the American Civil War
Chris Mackowski and
Kristopher D. White, editors
Foreword by Thomas A. Desjardin
“Engaging the Civil War” Series
Southern Illinois University Press, 2017
Click here for ordering information
Contributors to this collection, public historians with experience at Civil War battle sites, examine key shifts in the Civil War and the context surrounding them to show that many chains of events caused the course of the war to change: the Federal defeats at First Bull Run and Ball’s Bluff, the wounding of Joseph Johnston at Seven Pines and the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville, the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Federal victory at Vicksburg, Grant’s decision to move on to Richmond rather than retreat from the Wilderness, the naming of John B. Hood as commander of the Army of Tennessee, and the 1864 presidential election. In their conclusion, the editors suggest that the assassination of Abraham Lincoln might have been the war’s final turning point.
Publications in this Series
Introduction
INTRODUCTION by Chris Mackowski and Kristopher D. White Commentary · Acknowledgments for the Online Edition Commentary Chris Kolakowski, Chief Historian, Emerging Civil War ECW’s Turning Points of the American Civil War examines several key turning points of the conflict. Fine writing by some great historians explains each turning point while the introductory essays provide some […]
Chapter One
· CHAPTER ONE: “Confidence Renewed: Surviving Bull Run and the Birth of the Army of the Potomac” by Robert Orrison Commentary · Images · Additional Resources · Suggested Reading · About the Author Commentary By Brian Matthew Jordan, co-editor, “Engaging the Civil War” Series On April 1, 1862, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner offered a resolution […]
Chapter Two
CHAPTER TWO: “Unintended Consequences: Ball’s Bluff and the Rise of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War” by James Morgan III Commentary · Images · Additional Resources · About the Author Commentary By Brian Matthew Jordan, co-editor, “Engaging the Civil War” Series Perched above a snarl in the Potomac River not terribly far […]
Chapter Three
CHAPTER THREE: “Defeated Victory: Albert Sidney Johnston’s Death at Shiloh” by Gregory A. Mertz Commentary · Images · Additional Resources · Suggested Reading · About the Author Commentary By Brian Matthew Jordan, co-editor, “Engaging the Civil War” Series Sunday, April 6, 1862 found Cyrus Boyd six hundred fifty miles but a world away from Indianola, Iowa, […]
Chapter Four
CHAPTER FOUR: “’The Heavyest Blow Yet Given the Confederacy’: The Emancipation Proclamation Changes the Civil War” by Kevin Pawlak Commentary · Images · Additional Resources · Suggested Reading · About the Author Commentary By Brian Matthew Jordan, co-editor, “Engaging the Civil War” Series Students will sometimes ask me, “If you could time travel and witness one […]
Chapter Five
CHAPTER FIVE: “The Cresting Tide: Robert E. Lee and the Road to Chancellorsville” by Kristopher D. White Commentary · Images · Additional Resources · Suggested Reading · About the Author Commentary By Brian Matthew Jordan, co-editor, “Engaging the Civil War” Series Noah Brooks remembered that May afternoon in vivid detail. “Never as long as I […]
Chapter Six
CHAPTER SIX: “Vicksburg: The Victory That Unleashed Ulysses S. Grant” by Daniel T. Davis Commentary · Images · Additional Resources · Suggested Reading · About the Author Commentary By Brian Matthew Jordan, co-editor, “Engaging the Civil War” Series On June 24, 1863, The Middletown Constitution carried the news of “one of the most horrible combats […]
Chapter Seven
CHAPTER SEVEN: “’Oh, I Am Heartily Tired of Hearing about What Lee Is Going to Do’: Ulysses S. Grant in the Wilderness” by Ryan Longfellow Commentary · Images · Additional Resources · Suggested Reading Commentary By Brian Matthew Jordan, co-editor, “Engaging the Civil War” Series On Saturday, July 22, 2017, I stood at the intersection of […]
Chapter Eight
CHAPTER EIGHT: “Far Better in the Present Emergency”: John Bell Hood Replaces Joseph E. Johnston” by Stephen Davis Commentary · Images · Additional Resources · Suggested Reading · About the Author Commentary In 2014, in conjunction with the Sesquicentennial anniversary of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign, ECW ran a nine-part series titled “Hood Remembered.” * * […]
Chapter Nine
CHAPTER NINE: “The Point of No Return: Turning Points within the 1864 Presidential Election and the Doom of the Confederacy” by Rea Andrew Redd Commentary · Images · Additional Resources · Suggested Reading · About the Author Commentary By Brian Matthew Jordan, co-editor, “Engaging the Civil War” Series In November of 1864, Abraham Lincoln posted […]
Conclusion
CONCLUSION by Chris Mackowski Commentary · Images · Additional Resources · About the Author Commentary The conclusion to Turning Points of the American Civil War suggests a variety of other possible turning points beyond those explored in the book’s essays. To spark additional conversation, ECW writers have written about a number of other possible turning […]
