INTRODUCTION uring the American Civil War where you lived North or South generally determined which side you were on Generally but not always Take legendary naval officer David Farragut who was born in the South in a cabin Knoxville Tenn At the near time that the Civil War began the nearly 60 year old Farragut had a wife and home in Virginia Nonetheless Farragut declared his alle giance to the Union Another native of Tennessee Andrew Johnson a U S Senator who would later become the 17th president of the United States vehemently opposed secession and was the only Southern sena tor not to resign his post when the South seceded For those soldiers who did fight for the side that their place of birth had dealt them the beliefs held by said side weren t neces sarily held in the fighter's heart Such was the case with the brilliant Confederate general Robert E Lee Although he fought valiantly for the South Lee believed nei ther in slavery nor secession And despite his extraordinary success as a soldier Lee 8
INTRODUCTION tENERAL ROBERT ELIEE A Currier Ives lithograph of Confederate General Robert E Lee c 1860 to 1870 Library of Congress Washington D
BIOGRAPHIES OF THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTIONR ABRAHAM LINCOLN ROBERT LEE Ulysses at times seemed uneasy with the idea of war itself for example when he expressed in a letter to his son before the outbreak of the war his deep dismay at a union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets and in which strife and civil war are to take the place of brotherly love and kindness Aside from the issues that led to the war and the rationales of the soldiers involved in the conflict readers of this book will also learn quite a bit about the presidents of the time and their lives before tak ing office Included within are interesting details such as which president once sold real estate which was a tailor which had his name changed because of the 19th century equivalent of a typo courtesy of West Point which one attended school for only a year and which one did not go to school at all But this book goes well beyond the lives of the presidents who served in this era Readers will also learn about the famous Confederate general who seriously wounded in battle died soon thereafter as a result of friendly fire and about the life of the well known Union general who much to 10
INTRODUCTION President Abraham Lincoln's consternation was clearly reluctant to go into battle Looking back on historical events can have a way of making them seem inevita ble When it comes to the Civil War and its aftermath we all know that slavery ended that the North won and that the country moved forward as a single nation albeit one that faced grave problems of readjustment and reconstruction But reading about those who peopled the era whether brave or brilliant villainous or vanquished makes the events the decisions and the mistakes come alive In addition going beyond the famous to introduce lesser known figures such as the Northern woman who disguised herself as a man signed up as a volunteer and participated in several key battles adds dimension to a story that still surprises edu cates and unfolds All that and more awaits in this volume that chronicles the lives of the 19th century men and women whose beliefs actions and legacies changed the course of American history all during a time in which the end of slavery and the future direction of the country were anything but certain 11
