Shenandoah 1862: Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign (Civil War America) - Hardcover

Thorough and balanced.--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society An incredibly learned and absorbing exercise of history, the best single work on any Civil War campaign to appear in many, many decades.--Open Letters Cozzens approaches the campaign as a whole, ignoring the exclusively pro-Confederate bias and fragmented approach that has tainted previous histories of the campaign. He also employs a dazzling array of primary resources to analyze the campaign from a balanced point of view.--Journal of Southern History A magnificent, well-documented study of one of the most important campaigns of the Civil War.--Washington Times A fuller, more accurate, and more nuanced understanding of what happened and why. . . . The best overall study of the 1862 Valley Campaign published to date.--North Carolina Historical Review A real challenger for the title of best campaign study. . . . Cozzens' lively style combines first person accounts with his considerable skill as a storyteller.--James Durney, independent Book Reviewer A fresh look at the 1862 Valley Campaign. . . . Provides a fair discussion of the command and operational issues facing both sides . . . by far the best book . . . on the 1862 Valley Campaign.--Journal of America's Military Past Peter Cozzens' superb history of events in the Shenandoah Valley provides much greater depth and analysis than any study preceding it, and in the process enhances our larger understanding of the Civil War in the East. . . . Cozzens' artful narrative effectively mines both civilian and military perspectives. . . . This is a first-rate piece of research, well argued and engagingly presented. One can safely say that the history of the 1862 Shenandoah Valley campaign has been written for this generation.--Military History of the West Cozzens is . . . a master of Civil War military history at tactical and operational levels. He deploys a large body of unfamiliar primary material in this detailed analysis of a campaign less one-sided than the accepted view that it represented Union blundering and the triumph of Confederate planning and execution, signaling the emergence of one of history's great generals, Stonewall Jackson.--Publishers Weekly Utilizing his extensive collection of sources, the author paints for the reader an excellent description of the region in which the campaign took place. . . . Cozzen's book, both in its research and scope, will certainly surpass Robert G. Tanner's impressive Stonewall in the Valley as the standard work on the 1862 Valley Campaign.--The Historian An excellent, unbiased view of both sides in the early part of the war and is strongly recommended for those interested in how the soldiers and leadership conducted themselves during the 1862 Shenandoah campaign.--On Point Examines, from both sides, a campaign that has been scrutinized from the Confederate side, but rarely closely examined from the Union perspective.--Appalachian Heritage Succeeds masterfully. . . . No work on the Valley Campaign has delved more often and more deeply into primary sources. . . . Historical reporting at its best. . . . Cozzens' research is above reproach.--Louisiana History Has the mythos that surrounds Jackson the icon overwhelmed the human foibles and military failures that bedeviled Jackson the man? Cozzens offers a magisterial examination of the Valley Campaign to answer this and many other questions. He brings scrupulous research and a keen analytic eye to Jackson's logistics and tactics. The result is a vigorous account that captures both Union and Confederate perspectives and brings a much needed modern interpretation to one of the war's most storied campaigns.--Civil War Times A must read for those who want to develop a more complete understanding of this essential campaign in Civil War history.--Southern Historian A compelling chronological and bilateral narrative of the entire campaign from March to June 1862. Using primary source materials from both sides, Cozzens offers new interpretations of the campaign and of Stonewall Jackson's legendary success, which was not nearly as brilliant as it appeared but was as much the result of Union failure as the triumph of Southern arms. . . . Jackson's errors are covered here, as are those of a succession of Union commanders, all really learning their trade in these early stages of the war. Sure to become the standard work on the campaign, this book is strongly recommended.--Library Journal Able research presented in a careful, accurate, and critical manner. . . . Will become a "must-have" . . . for any serious student interested in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862.--H-Net Reviews Cozzens succeeds at recounting a version of this story which offers a more balanced, if not more complete, narrative of the campaign. . . . Cozzens' conclusions are well bolstered, his prose is clever and accessible to any public or academic audience, and common sense would dictate that Shenandoah 1862 will remain a relevant, if not definitive, look at Jackson and the Valley Campaign for years to come.--H-Net Reviews The definitive history of the Valley Campaign.--Army Magazine A welcome, much-needed addition to Civil War campaign studies; valuable to scholars and enthusiasts alike. Highly recommended. --Choice

This is the first and only comprehensive book on this important campaign.In the spring of 1862, Federal troops under the command of General George B. McClellan launched what was to be a coordinated, two-pronged attack on Richmond in the hope of taking the Confederate capital and bringing a quick end to the Civil War. The Confederate high command assigned Stonewall Jackson to divert critical Union resources from this drive, a mission Jackson fulfilled by repeatedly defeating much larger enemy forces. His victories elevated him to near iconic status in both the North and the South and signaled a long war ahead. One of the most intriguing and storied episodes of the Civil War, the Valley Campaign has heretofore been related only from the Confederate point of view. With ""Shenandoah 1862"", Peter Cozzens dramatically and conclusively corrects this imbalance, giving equal attention to both Union and Confederate perspectives.Based on massive research in primary sources, Cozzens' groundbreaking work offers new interpretations of the campaign and the reasons for Jackson's success. Cozzens also reveals instances in which the mythology that shrouds the campaign today has masked errors on Jackson's part. In addition, ""Shenandoah 1862"" provides the first detailed appraisal of Union leadership in the Valley Campaign, with some surprising conclusions.Moving seamlessly between tactical details and analysis of strategic significance, Cozzens presents the first balanced, comprehensive account of a campaign long romanticized but never fully understood.