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Title: Glory Road by Bruce Catton ISBN: 0-8446-6790-0 Publisher: Peter Smith Pub Pub. Date: January, 1995 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (12 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Bruce Catton and the Army of the Potomac
Comment: Bruce Catton's "Glory Road" was published in 1952 as the second volume of a trilogy on the Army of the Potomac. Unhappily, the book is now out-of-print, but it remains an outstanding, accessible study of the Civil War and of the Union's largest army.
"Glory Road" covers the period from the Battle of Fredericksburg in late 1862 through the Battle of Gettysburg in July, 1863 and concludes with President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in November, 1863. The primary battles during this period were Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. The Army of the Potomac had a different commander in each battle, Burnside, Hooker, and Meade, to face Confederate general Robert E. Lee, who had already assumed almost legendary stature. Catton captures these battles well, in a rhythmic and readable prose without getting bogged in the detail of many more minute battle accounts. He also does well in tying the courses of the battles together, something more specialized accounts frequently fail to do. The reader wanting a basic understanding of the battles will find it here.
But there is much more to this book than a description of combat. For me, Catton made the Army of the Potomac come alive. He tells the story of how the Army survived its many defeats and came through as a strong, tough fighting force lacking illusions. The Army survived a series of weak commanders and took control of itself.
Catton also does an excellent job of weaving the military course of the War with political and social history. He discusses the politics within the Lincoln administration and the activities of the Copperheads -- Northerners sympathetic to the Confederate War effort. He also gives a fine account of the origins of the United States Sanitary Commission -- a private organization which played a great role in improving medical care for the wounded of the Civil War. Catton's history shows how the United States kept growing almost in spite of itself during the war years, and he captures the transition from a government based on the states, in both North and South, to a strong national government.
The book is well-written, easy to follow, and has moments of real eloquence. I was moved by the discussion of Pickett's charge on the third day of Gettysburg and by the discussion of Lincoln's famous address. There is real feeling in this book for the war and for the troops that fought it, with a focus on the Union side of the line. Virtually everything covered in this book has been written about with more detail by others. But for a basic account of the Civil War and of the ebb and flow of its course, Catton's account remains a gem. I learned a great deal from it. I also enjoyed reading the comments of the other Amazon reviewers who have discussed this book.
Rating: 5
Summary: The fall and rise of the Army of the Potomac: 1862-1863
Comment: "Glory Road," the second volume in Bruce Catton's celebrated history of the Army of the Potomac, covers the critical months between the autumn of 1862 following the Battle of Antietam and the Confederacy's high water mark at the Battle of Gettysburg the following summer. In between the story of the army is marked by the bloody massacre at Fredericksburg, the aimless marching up and down the banks of the Rappahannock in the mud, and the catastrophic confusion of Chancellorsville before heading north to meet Lee's invasion in the hills of southern Pennsylvania. During this period the Army is commanded in turn by three generals--Burnside, Hooker and Meade--but Catton's exciting war narrative is more about the enlisted men, the volunteers and bounty men, who had to fight these engagements.
Catton's source material for this 1952 book is drawn primarily from dozens of Regimental Histories (the Third Indiana Calvary, the 118th Pennsylvania Volunteers, the 8th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, etc.) as well as Soldiers' Reminiscences to go along with autobiographies, biographical studies, memoirs, and military histories. The result is an attention to the human details. Within these pages you meet: the New York businessman who as a soldier wrote the mournful bugle call "Taps"; Clement Vallandigham, the Copperhead candidate for Ohio governor; Annie Etheridge. the army laundress who brought hot coffee and hardtack to the men on the front lines; John C. Robinson, who had the well deserved reputation as the hairiest officer in the entire army; Private Patrick Maloney, who captured a Confederate general with his bare hands.
"Glory Road" is divided into six sections: (1) "Deep River" tells the story of the insane advance up Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg; (2) "All Played Out" covers the dark days following that disaster at the Army's bitter mud marches and winter encampment; (3) "Revival" depicts the new hope that fueled the army when Hooker was appointed; (4) "On the Other Side of the River" relates Lee's strategic masterpiece at Chancellorsville; (5) "Lincoln Comin' Wid His Chariot" sets the stage, politically as well as militarily for the final turning point of the war; and (6) "End and Beginning" details not only the three days of battle at Gettysburg, but offers an absolutely lyrical conclusion to the book as the President attends the dedication ceremony for the national cemetery and begins to speak from two little sheets of paper in his hand. It is perhaps Catton's finest section, with an understated elegance that makes it clear that as a writer Catton owes as much to Homer as he does Herodotus. This is history that aspires to, and achieves the level of, literature. Catton might have received the Pulitzer prize for the final volume in his history of the Army of the Potomac, but "Glory Road" is the high water mark of the trilogy.
Rating: 5
Summary: inspirational history
Comment: I started Catton's trilogy of the Army of the Potomac with Vol. II, "Glory Road". I did so because my vacation was taking me through Fredricksburg and Gettysburg and I planned to visit the three battlefields talked about in this book. While I had hoped for an historical background of the battles, I received so much more. I had not realized that Bruce Catton was such an excellent writer. I just assumed that he was another Civil War buff who was a bit more successful than his peers. How wrong I was! What comes through most clearly from Catton's writing in his respect and admiration of the foot soldiers of the Army of the Potomac. What comes through nearly as well is his ability to explain the circumstances of the times; what was happening in Washington, what was happening in the homefront, who were these men in charge. Finally, what is also very appreciated by the reader is the detailed overview of the three main battles in the book; Fredricksburg, Chancellorsille, and Gettysburg. What I mean by detailed overview is not the minute by minute account that so many battle histories have. Rather it is an overview that allows the reader a clear understanding of how the battle proceeded with focal points throughout the event to better bring it to life. Mr. Catton seasons all of this with some much appreciated philosophy of the meaning of the events that take place.
I am aware that I have just finished reading a masterpiece. What is embarassing for me to consider is that it sat on my bookshelf for several years. I will see to it that Vols I and III shall be attended to promptly.
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Title: A Stillness at Appomattox : The Army of the Potomac Trilogy by Bruce Catton ISBN: 0385044518 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 October, 1953 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: This Hallowed Ground: The Story of the Union Side of the Civil War by Bruce Catton ISBN: 078581552X Publisher: Castle Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $9.99 |
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Title: Phoenix: Never Call Retreat: Volume Three in the American Civil War Trilogy by Bruce Catton ISBN: 1842122916 Publisher: Phoenix Press Pub. Date: December, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Terrible Swift Sword by Bruce Catton ISBN: 0385026145 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 24 April, 1963 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Grant Moves South by Bruce Catton ISBN: 0785812644 Publisher: Castle Pub. Date: October, 2000 List Price(USD): $9.99 |
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