Search results for ""author gene schmiel""

Jacob D. Cox experienced more facets of the Civil War than most officers: by land and sea, in both Western and Eastern Theaters, among the inner political circles of Ohio and Washington, DC, in territories hostile and friendly, amidst legal conflicts both civilian and military, and in the last campaigns in Tennessee and North Carolina. The Union general capitalized on his experience by penning his two-volume Military Reminiscences of the Civil War, one of the war’s finest memoirs and arguably the best by a nonprofessional soldier, as well as Atlanta and The Battle of Franklin, both definitive studies for nearly a century. In 2012, Gene Schmiel, Cox’s biographer, learned of a cache in the Oberlin College archives of 213 letters Cox wrote to his wife, Helen, during the war. Schmiel recognized these documents as a ready resource for Cox as he wrote his histories, and many stand as first drafts of Cox’s analyses of the military and sociopolitical events of the day. Helen Finney Cox (her husband affectionately referred to her as “Lilla”) was a mother of six and the daughter of Oberlin College president Charles Finney. These intimate and insightful wartime letters show both the fondness Cox had for his spouse and his respect for her as an intellectual equal. To Helen, the stoic, introverted statesman revealed—as he did to no one else—his inner thoughts and concerns, presenting observant, lucid, and informative reports and analyses of the war, his changing life, and his ambitions. This collection illustrates the life of a Gilded Age Renaissance man as he made the transition from untested soldier to respected general and statesman.

Read more less

Irvin McDowell was a prominent figure during the early months of the Civil War. The West Point graduate was a dutiful, dependable, and diligent military officer. With so much at stake in 1861, he was called upon to lead the Union’s most prominent Eastern army. Pressed by the media and President Abraham Lincoln to move into Virginia and defeat the gathering Confederate forces, McDowell led his neophyte army to the plains of Manassas and was soundly defeated after a long day of hard fighting. Thereafter, he held a large independent command in northern Virginia during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign and served in the Army of Virginia under Gen. John Pope during the disastrous Second Manassas Campaign.Despite his significant contributions, a lack of primary materials (and few personal papers) made it seemingly impossible to pen his biography. Authors Frank Simione Jr. and Gene Schmiel used available sources to create a reliable synthesis of the man and his career in Searching for Irvin McDowell: The Civil War’s Forgotten General. Unless or until his private papers surface, it will stand as the best treatment of McDowell.

Read more less