Mr. Lincoln's Army

by Bruce Catton

Hardcover, 1962

Collection

Your library

Series

The Army of the Potomac (1)

Publication

Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday [1962]

Description

A magnificent history of the opening years of the Civil War by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bruce Catton. The first book in Bruce Catton's Pulitzer Prize-winning Army of the Potomac Trilogy, Mr. Lincoln's Army is a riveting history of the early years of the Civil War, when a fledgling Union Army took its stumbling first steps under the command of the controversial general George McClellan. Following the secession of the Southern states, a beleaguered President Abraham Lincoln entrusted the dashing, charismatic McClellan with the creation of the Union's Army of the Potomac and the responsibility of leading it to a swift and decisive victory against Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Although a brilliant tactician who was beloved by his troops and embraced by the hero-hungry North, McClellan's ego and ambition ultimately put him at loggerheads with his commander in chief - a man McClellan considered unworthy of the presidency. McClellan's weaknesses were exposed during the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American military history, which ended in a stalemate even though the Confederate troops were greatly outnumbered. After Antietam, Lincoln ordered McClellan's removal from command, and the Union entered the war's next chapter having suffered thousands of casualties and with great uncertainty ahead. America's premier chronicler of the nation's brutal internecine conflict, Bruce Catton is renowned for his unparalleled ability to bring a detailed and vivid immediacy to Civil War battlefields and military strategy sessions. With tremendous depth and insight, he presents legendary commanders and common soldiers in all their complex and heartbreaking humanity.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member msf59

[Mr. Lincoln's Army] is well-researched and strongly written. I've heard others mention that Shelby Foote is the better writer and that might be, but I felt Bruce Catton did a solid job and for a book that was written over 50 years ago, it had a nice contemporary feel. Catton's love and knowledge

of this tempestuous time is impressive.This is the 1st book of his trilogy and covers the early years up to Antietam, which he describes hauntingly in all it's bloody horrific glory. I know there are not to many fans of General George McClellan out there but Catton paints him with a more sympathetic air, explaining his (sometimes misguided) motivations. I give Catton credit though for not letting him off the hook in the battle of Antietam. He hammers him pretty good. It's funny McClellan, in his own memoirs had felt that he had done an admirable job in that gruesome fiasco. How clueless is that? Highly recommended!

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LibraryThing member dsullivan800

I read this series in my teens and the three books in it remain some of my favorite reads about the American Civil War. Catton is a great storyteller and his books convey a sense of the spirit of the era. The characters come to life in a way that could not be possible with more detailed histories.

I don't read Catton to get factual details, but I've never gained a better understanding of the Civil War from any other author.

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LibraryThing member stpnwlf

Pre-Antietam narrative on Army of the Potomac.

LibraryThing member DinadansFriend

A necessary Corrective to Shelby Foote's "The Civil War: A Narrative", is Mr. Catton's History of the Army of the Potomac, of which this is the First Volume of Three. MacClellan made the Army of the Potomac and did that well. But he should have turned it over to a competent tactician. The

Peninsular Campaign, and Antietam are covered here. The various trammels of that army, are well described in colourful prose. Should be on every ACW Buff's shelves!

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LibraryThing member TommyElf

Let me be open, clear and honest here at the start - I am not a Civil War buff whatsoever. My knowledge of the Civil War comes from the old, musty lectures of History teachers in my Junior High School and High School classes - along with a single US History class early in my collegiate career. My

knowledge of the Civil War is essentially truncated neatly into an relatively small understanding of why, names of primary individuals of interest, and the dates/locations of major military engagements.

This particular book that I have had in my hands for about a half a month, comes from my father. My father IS a Civil War buff. My father DOES understand much more about the Civil War then the surface edge that I comprehend. This particular book, and the other two books of "The Army Of The Potomac" series by Catton, were purchased by my father around the time I was born (1965) during the centennial celebration of this particular time frame of American history. I have inherited these books - along with several other Civil War books - from my father in this past year. I have looked at these books on his bookshelves in many places of residence (we were a military family - USAF - and moved quite a bit), but have never gotten the urge to pick them up to read. My forte' is Roman History, and have a couple of bookshelves cluttered with this particular topic. I was produ to obtain my father's Civil War collection, add it to my own, and now pick it up to read.

Mr. Cattons' reputation as a very skilled writer whose evocative method can literally place in the middle of the battlefields is well deserved. There were many times I could commiserate with the misery of the soldiers' on the battlefield. Given that the book is about The Army of the Potomac, its is stilted to a great degree to the story from the side of the Union. The Confederate Army is mentioned slightly, mostly in comparison points of battlefield conditions and overall morale of the combatants. Catton's true moments of genius come in the small side-stories that he pockets into paragraphs in the unfolding battle scenario. Here and there, he details a small set of details on this particular man or that particular unit. The one that stands out in my mind the most is how General R.E. Lee's Special Order #191 is found by two enlisted Union soldiers relaxing in a meadow - the orders being the paper that wrapped three cigars. Catton laments that while the story concerning what happened to the orders is a given in history, there is no recorded instance on exactly what happened to the three cigars. Little caveats such as this, make this book a sheer treasure to read.

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LibraryThing member larryerick

The rating for this book really doesn't reflect the degree to which I enjoyed reading it. I've read a lot of American Civil War related books and this definitely has something to offer interested readers, but it is also the most unevenly written book I have encountered. The author is particularly

skilled -- outstanding even -- at presenting narrative vignettes surrounding historical events, such as battles. Unlike, Stephen Ambrose, for instance, whose work I have read, seemed like a middle schooler during a book report rushing through index cards he had pieced together of bits and pieces of information he had come upon, this author comes close at times to getting his vignette gems to nearly outshine the major events to which they are attached. He's like the best campfire story teller ever in that regard. He falters somewhat when he starts to get philosophical about events and personalities, not always justifying his positions or stating them clearly. In many regards, he is the ultimate Civil War history buff. Extremely well versed (much of this book assumes a certain level of prior knowledge by the reader on the subjects he discusses), he has positions to take, but I don't think he reaches the level of academician in all he proposes. Most odd about the book is the way the author jumps around and about several early battles, Bull Run, Ball's Bluff, the Seven Days, Second Bull Run, without ever going into much, if any, depth, and then, almost out of nowhere, he dives head first into the battle of Antietam, oozing with detail. What made the other battles so insignificant to not deserve more detail? Finally, it should be said that the books title is inappropriate. Very little is discussed about how the Army of the Potomac is "Mr. Lincoln's Army", not to mention the fact that there were multiple Union armies for which Lincoln was Commander in Chief, while this book is all about General McClellan's army, and that's what it should have been called.

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LibraryThing member 5hrdrive

After ignoring the Shenandoah Valley and giving a a very short synopsis of the Peninsula Campaign, Catton proceeds to skip over Second Bull Run and Cedar Mountain to get to the heart of the book, Antietam. From here on out the storytelling is terrific and I enjoyed it very much. Still, to attempt

to tell the story of the Civil War while ignoring it's most important theater where the war was actually won is curious and misleading.

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LibraryThing member dmmjlllt

Shelby Foote completely satisfied my appetite for books about the ACW for a decade or so, but it looks like I'm reading this stuff again.

This is very well-written, although it gets a little purple near the end. Very thorough on the Battle of Antietam, and good on McClellan as well.

A very positive

reference to Sandburg's Lincoln biography has made me decide to revisit that.

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