The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 1 (Fort Sumter to Perryville) (1986) by Shelby Foote

The first in a massive three volume set first published during the centennial anniversary of the War Between the States, Shelby Foote’s “The Civil War: A Narrative” is a timeless classic. Volume One traces what Foote sees as the first phase of the war from the opening shots at Fort Sumter, when most believed the conflict would be settled in a single battle, to Lincoln’s address to Congress in December 1862 that outlined his strategy for a total war of unconditional surrender and universal emancipation. In 1860 the entire US Army was just 16,000 men strong. By the end of 1862 the two opposing armies would be measured in the hundreds of thousands and single battles would witness more casualties than all other US wars up to that time combined.

Foote writes lucidly; he develops characters and sets scenes with the skill of the novelist that he is. “The Civil War” thus reads easily, but not quickly. I found that I could only read maybe read 20 pages at a time before feeling overwhelmed by the content. At over 800 pages in length, it took me weeks to complete the book and left me feeling a bit intimidated by the next two looming volumes.

I came to “The Civil War” with a pretty good understanding of the conflict’s timeline and major battles, particularly those in the more famous eastern theater. I lived in Washington DC for several years and had the opportunity to tour many of the battlefields located a few hour’s drive from our nation’s capital. However, I knew little about the western theater beyond the battles of Shiloh and the siege of Vicksburg. Foote’s detailed narrative filled in all of those blanks. He pays just as close attention to the likes of Don Carlos Buell and Braxton Bragg as he does Robert E. Lee and George B. McClellan. He also devotes equal time to viewing the war from both the Federal and Confederate White Houses.

The opening stages of the war were a tale of two theaters. In the eastern theater the Union forces were consistently defeated and humiliated – crushing defeats at First and Second Manassas; retreat from the Peninsula; a lost opportunity at Antietam. In the west, meanwhile, the bluecoats experienced much greater success – the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson opening the strategic waterways of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers deep into middle Tennessee; the capture of New Orleans and Memphis and Corinth, Mississippi; the successful naval blockade of nearly the entire Confederate coastline; the repulse of the Confederate invasion of Kentucky. By the end of 1862, Union forces were poised to capture three key Confederate cities: Richmond, Chattanooga and Vicksburg, what Foote calls “the brain, heart and bowels of the rebellion.” And Lincoln believed he finally had the right men to undertake the initiatives: Burnside, Rosecrans and Grant.

For anyone looking for a definitive and readable account of the Civil War this series is not to be missed. For more the casual reader looking for a comprehensive but more digestible account of the war, allow me to recommend James McPherson’s classic “Battle Cry of Freedom!”