The Seven Days: The Emergence of Lee

by Clifford Dowdey

Paperback, 1993

Rating

½ (9 ratings; 3.7)

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LibraryThing member wildbill

This is the first book by this author that I have read and I was pleasantly surprised. I liked the book very much for a number of reasons. It was well written and full of interesting details. The author's writing had a journalistic style, similar to Bruce Catton. Dowdey wrote a book of military

history strictly from the Southern point of view. The actions of the Northern armies were described only as they made an impact on the armies of the South. The only political history discussed was that part that had an impact on the Southern army. The topic of slavery was largely absent, it just wasn't what the author was writing about. Given those restrictions the book was very informative and entertaining. When I say entertaining I mean that listening to the book was truly enjoyable.
At the beginning of the Seven Days battles the troops of McClellan could see the spires of the churches in Richmond. At the end the Union forces had been pushed back to the James River. The author states that this campaign lengthened the war by at least a year and a half. He argues this premise in several places in the book and is very convincing.
I listened to an audio edition of this book and I was glad to find there is a e-book edition at a decent price. Several times I wanted to look back at a portion of the book and I couldn't. The author made excellent use of descriptive language in describing the battles and the people involved. His approach was very direct. One good example is his description of Jackson's behavior during the campaign. He spent a lot of time not doing very much. Many times the call was heard "Where is Jackson?" and he was taking a nap. Dowdey counts the hours Jackson was marching or in the saddle prior to arriving at his assigned position and states that he was suffering from stress fatigue. This book was published almost fifty years ago so this is not some trendy new age diagnosis. Many other authors describe Jackson's strange behavior but this is one of the first I remember using this straightforward common sense description of the problem.
The author's style of writing helped me to follow the action in the battles across the terrain. His description of the position of troops in one battle, three concave rows of rifle pits backed up by artillery, created a mental picture I could easily understand. This almost made up for the lack of maps in the audiobook.
Dowdey did very good biographical sketches of many of the participants. He included thorough biographies of men such as Benjamin Huger and Theophilus Holmes, generals who are often slighted. He followed many of the men to the end of their career. A lot of the interaction between the different generals is included. In one incident James Longstreet made Benjamin Huger's troops wait while Longstreet's troops marched by, even though it was Huger who was supposed to lead the attack. Lee was constantly frustrated by the failure of his generals to carry out his orders.
I am sure I will listen to this book again. I have already found another book by this author and am reading it. I recommend it for all and especially Civil War buffs.

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Publication

University of Nebraska Press (1993), Edition: Reprint, Paperback

Description

The Seven Days Campaign was a series of battles fought near Richmond at the end of June 1862. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had routed General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac. Depriving McClellan of a military decision meant the war would continue for two more years. The Seven Days depicts a critical turning point in the Civil War that would ingrain Robert E. Lee in history as one of the finest generals of all time. Masterfully written, The Seven Days is Dowdey at his finest--detailed and riveting.