Embattled Rebel

June 30, 2014
In 1865, Confederate Ordnance Chief Josiah Gorgas lamented the leadership of President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis, wondering “where could we get a better or a wiser man?” Pulitzer Prize– and Lincoln Prize–winner McPherson (Tried by War) refuses to answer such a question, but his examination of Davis as a military commander suggests that perhaps there was not one. Davis has had many harsh critics over the years, an inevitable fate for a leader who “went down to a disastrous defeat and left the South in poverty for generations.” McPherson, however, presents Davis in a relatively sympathetic manner as he explores the Confederate president’s accomplishments and undertakings. McPherson places Davis’s actions, which are delivered in chronological order and garnished with a dose of opinion, in the larger contexts of the war, his health and personal life, his politics, and his relationships with other major historical players. Despite the biography’s dry, yet light presentation and relatively singular focus, Davis is most redeemed not by justifications for his decisions, but through an empathetic, simple understanding of his motives: namely, an admirable (if in hindsight horribly misguided) passion for the Confederacy. Maps & illus.

Starred review from July 15, 2014
A seasoned Civil War historian examines the beleaguered president of the Confederacy.Did Jefferson Davis (1807/1808-1889) get a bum rap? Pulitzer Prize and two-time Lincoln Prize winner McPherson (History, Emeritus/Princeton Univ.;War on the Waters: The Union & Confederate Navies, 1861-1865, 2012, etc.) reveals the degree of vitriol unleashed against the president of the Confederacy from fellow Southerners who accused him of arrogance and malice due to the fact that he could not marshal the wherewithal to win the war. Indeed, the author shows how Davis constantly had to work against the recalcitrance of generals with an exalted opinion of their own worth-e.g., P.G.T. Beauregard and Joseph E. Johnston-as well as an ill-fated adoption of a politically motivated "dispersed defense" of troops around the perimeter of the Confederacy, rather than a more effective concentration of force. Unanimously elected as president of the Confederacy in 1861 as the South's most accomplished military commander-he was a graduate of West Point, veteran of the Mexican-American War and served as secretary of war for President Franklin Pierce-Davis, despite horrendous ill health, made the most stirring articulation for Southern secession as a safeguard against the destruction of states' "property in slaves" and continued to rally drooping public opinion even after Gen. Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox. Davis tended to get buried in paperwork, however, while public opinion was with the generals who had defied his command or failed to act-Johnston allowed Vicksburg to fall and "seemed prepared to yield" Richmond and Atlanta rather than fight to the finish-and against the generals Davis favored, such as Braxton Bragg and John C. Pemberton. Moreover, Davis faced an undeniable manpower crisis in the form of "epidemic" desertions and absences without leave. McPherson concludes that Davis, a disciplined, loyal commander, "was more sinned against than sinning."A fair-handed treatment from a towering historian and sterling writer.

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September 1, 2014

Could someone other than Jefferson Davis have done a better job of serving an embattled Confederacy? Many of his contemporaries on the home front and in the firing line thought so, and this perception has served to tarnish Davis's reputation for effectiveness from Fort Sumter to Appomattox, and thereafter in Civil War historiography. However, in this brilliantly nuanced biography, McPherson (Tried by War) insists that the Rebel chief executive was no mere presidential paper-pusher, detailing how Davis visited active battlegrounds and worked tirelessly against vainglorious generals such as P.G.T. Beauregard and Joseph E. Johnston while cooperating with others he favored such as Robert E. Lee and John C. Pemberton. Davis is especially commended for his opposition to Southern governors' demands for the stationing of scarce manpower along the Confederacy's extensive perimeter instead of his preference for localized troop concentrations in force. Further, the reader is reminded that Davis, despite persistently poor health, was an energetic and steadfast advocate for Confederate nationhood, the war, and slavery even subsequent to Lee's surrender. VERDICT A thoroughly objective dissection of one of the most enigmatic figures of the Lost Cause. Maps and illustrations are a great asset. Highly recommended for Civil War and military historians, students of Southern biographies, lay readers, and all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, 4/7/14.]--John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Cleveland

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2014

Could someone other than Jefferson Davis have done a better job of serving an embattled Confederacy? Many of his contemporaries on the home front and in the firing line thought so, and this perception has served to tarnish Davis's reputation for effectiveness from Fort Sumter to Appomattox, and thereafter in Civil War historiography. However, in this brilliantly nuanced biography, McPherson (Tried by War) insists that the Rebel chief executive was no mere presidential paper-pusher, detailing how Davis visited active battlegrounds and worked tirelessly against vainglorious generals such as P.G.T. Beauregard and Joseph E. Johnston while cooperating with others he favored such as Robert E. Lee and John C. Pemberton. Davis is especially commended for his opposition to Southern governors' demands for the stationing of scarce manpower along the Confederacy's extensive perimeter instead of his preference for localized troop concentrations in force. Further, the reader is reminded that Davis, despite persistently poor health, was an energetic and steadfast advocate for Confederate nationhood, the war, and slavery even subsequent to Lee's surrender. VERDICT A thoroughly objective dissection of one of the most enigmatic figures of the Lost Cause. Maps and illustrations are a great asset. Highly recommended for Civil War and military historians, students of Southern biographies, lay readers, and all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, 4/7/14.]--John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Cleveland

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2014

Had the South won the Civil War, the country would have been sundered and the awful institution of slavery maintained; its losing left the region isolated and poor. Either way, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, does not look good. Here, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom aims to put Davis in a different light as an exemplary military commander.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.