Description
Book SynopsisShows us the unlikely role of a little-known confidant and informant in the Lincoln administration’s military and political successes. A remarkable inside look at history unfolding, this book draws the first complete picture of a fascinating character writing his chapter in the story of the Civil War.
Trade Review"Lincoln’s Informer is a genuine contribution to both Civil War studies and the history of nineteenth-century journalism. In the story of Charles A. Dana, Lincoln’s Informer reclaims exciting and underreported aspects of American political, literary, and military history."—Harold Holzer, winner of the Gilder-Lehrman Lincoln Prize
"This highly readable, thoroughly researched account of Charles A. Dana’s role in the Civil War era is a welcome addition to the literature, for it sheds new light not only on Dana but also on such important players as Abraham Lincoln, U. S. Grant, and Horace Greeley."—Michael Burlingame, author of Abraham Lincoln: A Life
"Brimming with fascinating details and drawing on an array of new sources, Lincoln’s Informer provides the definitive portrait of newspaper editor Charles A. Dana’s controversial career as an informant, investigator, and advisor for the War Department. Both on the field and in Washington, DC, Guarneri’s cogent narrative reveals how Dana’s reports on commanders, campaigns, and fraud not only earned the respect of President Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton but also impacted vital military and political policy."—Joan Waugh, coauthor of The American War: A History of the Civil War Era
Charles A. Dana, though little known today, was one of the major figures of the Civil War, an informant for Secretary of War Stanton and President Lincoln. Lincoln’s Informer is well written and full of insights for all Civil War scholars and buffs."—John F. Marszalek, executive director and managing editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library at Mississippi State University
Table of Contents
- List of Maps and Illustrations
Acknowledgments
- Introduction: “The Eyes of the Government at the Front”
- 1. “The Responsible Editor of the Tribune”
- 2. “A Party against the Slave Power”
- 3. “Forward to Richmond!”
- 4. “A Printing House Divided”
- 5. “Several Propositions”
- 6. “Mr. Stanton's Spy”
- 7. “At the Side of the Conqueror”
- 8. Interlude: “Some Duty Not Yet Explained”
- 9. “As Fatal a Name as Bull Run”
- 10. “Glory to God! The Day Is Decisively Ours”
- 11. “Organizing Victory”
- 12. “A Hand on Lee’s Throat”
- 13. “The Deepest Shame That Has Yet Befallen Us”
- 14. “All the Power of the War Department”
- 15. “Side Politics,” Spies, and Swindlers
- 16. “The Rebellion Finished”
- 17. “Grantism” and Retreat
- Epilogue: Remembering (and Forgetting) the War
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
