More Spanish Civil War Books:

An International History Of The Spanish Civil War, M. Alpert, Basingstoke, 1994.

Blood Of Spain, R. Fraser, London, 1979.

The Spanish Civil War, Hugh Thomas, London, 1961, 1977, 1982.

This is probably the most classic account of the war because the Franco regime's censorship and supression of information made truth a lasting legacy of the war until the liberalization of the 1960s. For the first time, a comprehensive account of what actually happened had been created and was circulated worldwide. The regime tried to ban it, but the genie was out of the bottle and led to over 40 years of new scholarship.

More Books:

More Books:

Leaders Of The Lost Cause -- New Perspectives On The Confederate High Command, Edited by Gary W. Gallagher & Joseph T. Glatthaur, Stackpole Books, 2004.

Gettysburg -- An Alternate History, Peter G. Tsouras, Greenhill Books, 2002.

Gray Fox -- Robert E. Lee and The Civil War, Burke Davis, The Fairfax Press, 1956.

"It's Time To End This 149 Year Civil War"

Could The South Have Won The "Civil" War?

This question has been the subject of so much speculation for so long that the real question is "Why bother?" The answer is that, of course The CSA could have won The War and their independence. They lost it for a variety of reasons. They lost because of botched opportunities at numerous battles. On more than one occasion, they could have ended The War with a quick stroke or even the capture of Washington D.C. They lost because of poor leadership from Richmond. This was as much due to political bickering as it was to Jeff Davis' myopic and constant attempt to run The War from The Presidential Mansion and assign generals based on favor rather than merit. Finally, they lost because, I believe, it was not ORDAINED that they win separation. A prophecy of Jacob in The Bible ordained that Mannassa (USA) would split from his brother Ephraim (Great Britain), but no such prophecy ordained that Mannassa would then split in two. Lest you think this is silliness, the prophecy was widely believed in the 18th century and was an official part of Anglican doctrine until it was removed for fear of aiding The American Revolution.

The war of 1861-65 was NOT actually a Civil War. It was a war for Southern Independence. What the Southern leaders SHOULD have done was wage a TRUE Civil War to take control of the overall government in Washington. That would have been a victory of Conservatism over Liberalism. That would have been Civil War of the same type as The Spanish Civil War which inevitably will be OUR model for what we will have to do here in our future.

The South should not have STARTED such a war. Both sides waited a long time for the other to fire the first shot. If and when The North fired first somewhere, The South would have had the moral right to then launch a Civil War and move on Washington. What actually sparked The War was either impatience, hubris, or just plain stupidity by either local Charleston leadership or by Jeff Davis himself depending on which historian is to be believed. Fort Sumter was fired on and the game was afoot.

As for the issue of slavery, that institution would have ended in any case. The United States was the only major power that, by 1861, still allowed it. The issues of slavery and of States' Rights SHOULD have been handled by The Supreme Ct. Both were appealed to The Court numerous times. But the Justices dropped the ball. They were too chicken to rule on these hot potatoes.

Westward expansion of new states in free areas, European revulsion and boycotts over slavery, new technology that loosed hand labor, and eventually film and modernism would have forced the end of slavery. But the States' Right to Secede issue has never really been solved! No new Amendment to The Constitution ever spelled out a final judgement. Northern Liberals, as usual, think that silence is acquiescence is agreement and that therefore no further codification is necessary! They spoke, "Make it so." And it WAS so. The 10th Amendment still stands as the argument that Confederates used for their actions.

Texas' Constitution of 1845 specifically spelled out in words a protection for it's right to secede at any time and for any reason. This was sealed by a treaty which, according the U.S. Constitution, became "Law Of The Land" for The USA! Yet Abe Lincoln trashed that Law Of The Land and FORCED Texas back into The Union! Later, a new State Constitution was FORCED on it's people via Northern Reconstructionists! Even if we accept that the other 10 states did an illegal thing by seceding, NO ONE can argue that Texas did. Could Texas therefore, actually, legally, maybe . . . be the only remaining part of The CSA? Today, Northern Liberalism has ruined northern States. We speak of the "Rust Belt" and high unemployment across them. The South has been in ascendency and Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma are three of the four biggest energy producing States. Industries have been relocating to the "right to work" South. Things don't look so good now for The North. Maybe The South actually DID win The "Civil" War!

--RPC, Sunday, November 1, 2009

References:

Command Magazine, "Could The South Have Won The Civil War?, Issue 35, Nov. '95

Dixie Betrayed -- How The South Really Lost The Civil War, David J. Eicher, Little, Brown, &

Book Review:

Last Flag Down -- The Epic Journey Of The Last Confederate Warship, John Baldwin & Ron Powers, Crown Publishers, NY, 2007, 332pp.

This is the story of The CSS Shenandoah, the second most famous and successful Confederate Raider (the CSS Alabama being first) and the only Southern capital ship to sail completely around The World. She was purchased surreptitiously at a London dockyard and put to sea disguised as the coal freighter "Sea King" on October 7, 1864.

Sea King rendezvoused with a Southern supply ship at The Madeira Islands where cannons, powder, ammo, and a new crew were brought aboard. October 19th saw the commissioning of the new warship and the start of a mission that would take her around Africa, through The Indian Ocean to Melbourne, Australia where CSA sympathy was strong, and then up to the whaling grounds of The North Pacific to prey on Yankee vessels.

At the time, Shenandoah was likely the fastest ship on the planet because she was actually an early design upon which the famous clipper ships of the 1870s were based. She WAS a clipper ship except with both steam and sail. She even had a propeller screw that could be lifted out of the water for reduced drag. She was a clipper fitted for destruction. Her first owners had built her specifically to race the first tea from the latest Chinese harvests to the ravenous London markets. The first cargo to arrive each season was allowed to set the price and, in effect, corner the market. Barely 1 year old, she had set the London to Bombay and back speed record. She was 230 feet long, 32.5 feet wide, weighed 1,018 tons, and had a 250 hp steam engine. These early clippers were built to survive the worst storms and were able to ride WITH the storms (under full topsail) rather than INTO their winds (to ride them out without sail). These ships were known to cover 400 miles in a single day of "storm riding".

Unknown to Shenandoah's crew as they sped north past The Philippine Islands on April 9, 1865, General Lee was 10,000 miles away surrendering to General Grant at Appomatox Courthouse. But Shenandoah's intended mission had not yet begun. She wreaked havoc on whalers over the next four months with 38 total "prizes". She captured and sank 24 of them in one two week span. Finally, on August 2, 1865, the Raider's crew learned from a British vessel they met just west of Baja, California, that The War had been over. First Officer Conway Whittle, upon whose diary/log this book is based, wrote that it was "the darkest day of my life". Rather than surrender immediately and face possible trial and death as pirates, the men decided to return to England. They sailed around Cape Horn and arrived in Liverpool on November 6, 1865. The ship was sold to The Sultan Of Zanzibar who used her as his personal yacht. She broke up on a reef in The Indian Ocean during a storm in 1879.

There may be some sort of new mini-cult following for this ship and her story as I count at least 5 recent books about her. Here is a list of others :

The Last Shot -- The Incredible Story Of The CSS Shenandoah And The True Conclusion Of The American Civil War, Lynn Schooler, Harper Collins, 2005.

Confederate Raider In The North Pacific -- The Saga Of The CSS Shenandoah, Murray Morgan, Wash. State Univ. Press, 1995.

Sea Of Gray -- The Around-The-World Odyssey Of The Confederate Raider Shenandoah, Tom Chaffin, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006.

Gallant Rebel -- The Fabulous Cruise Of The CSS Shenandoah, Stanley F. Horne, Rutgers Univ. Press, 1947.

CSS Shenandoah -- The Memoirs of Lt. Commanding James I. Waddell, Annapolis Naval Institute Press, 1996.

Today is the Last Great Day Holy Day, so no writing is ready, just a coupla books --

More Books:

--RPC, Sunday, October 11, 2009

(Another book here soon about the CSS Shenandoah. Check back in a couple more days).

New Books:

Grant And Sherman -- The Friendship That Won The Civil War, Charles Bracelen Flood, Harper Perrenial, 2005.
They first fought together at Shiloh and developed the final strategy to cut The South into thirds after Chattanooga in late '63. This book explores Grant and Sherman's early years as well as years shortly after The War. With battle maps in black and white, the book is about 400 pages and exists in both paperback and hardback. --RPC

"When Overlooked Warriors Are Unleashed"

What did David of ancient Israel and Robert E. Lee of our Southern Confederacy have in common? Well, to begin, each was overlooked by the "manly men" of his day. Neither was expected to ever amount to much as a soldier. Both were mild-mannered, soft spoken, and unagressive by any masculine definition. But behind the visible persona of each lay a hidden warrior that only needed to be matched with it's moment. Their warrior spirit was not based on brawn, bravado, display, or bluff. These two would win with brainpower, and that even when applied against superior numbers. The best thing about these two stories for me is the attitude of "Wow, who knew?" by everyone in the nations involved.

David's story begins in 1 Samuel 16:1 . God said to the prophet Samuel, ". . . go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for Myself a king among his sons." Jesse passed his 7 oldest sons before Samuel, but Samuel had to say that the Lord had not chosen any of them. Samuel asked if there were any other sons. Notice Jesse's attitude: Well, yeah, there is the youngest, but he's just a shepherd boy. It can't POSSIBLY be HIM! I mean, come on! Let's just have a good laugh and move on (re-creation provided by me). But David WAS the one, and little did his "manly" father and brothers know that he would be a giant killer and ancient Israel's greatest warrior-king.

Robert E. Lee's story begins in the Spring of 1861. He was the third of the four top Generals of The Armies of The Confederate States Of America. This rank was set by seniority out of West Point. But Lee was not thought of as a "manly man". He couldn't POSSIBLY be a good field leader as he was too quiet and inward. So he was assigned to patrol the Shenandoah Valley region. A series of embarrassing losses in small clashes earned him the nickname "Granny Lee". He was relocated down to Charleston, South Carolina, exchanging places with P.G. T. Beauregard who was then in place to participate at First Bull Run in July. To be fair to Lee, though, the Shenandoah Valley experienced unusually excessive rainfall in the Spring of '61. Neither side could claim any important victories there and the sheer weight of numbers of men, superior weapons, and shorter supply lines from Harper's Ferry allowed Yankee soldiers to hold their own against ANY foe.

So, General Robert E. Lee's first year of war for his new country was a dismal mediocrity. Then came the Battle of Seven Pines in late May of '62. Union General George McClellan had been slowly advancing his massive Army west toward Richmond in his Peninsular Campaign. A huge clash finally began at Seven Pines on May 30th. Confederate moves were a confused mess of disorganized effort. Then, General Joe Johnston was wounded in the foot and taken to a field hospital. General Lee had to assume command. The Unknown Warrior's moment had come.

Lee's first order to the newly renamed Army Of Northern Virginia was to dig in, an action thought to be beneath the dignity of soldiers. But from May 31st on, war would have a new style. General McClellan had 100,000 men on the south side of The Chickahominy River. Another 40,000 Yankees sought to join them from the north side. Lee had only 40,000 himself. He brought in his favorite lietenant, General Stonewall Jackson from The Shenandoah Valley. With Jackson's 17,000 men, a brilliant ballet of multiple manuever, strike, and flank began to roll back the Union forces. A series of 6 major battles over 7 days that came to be known as The Seven Days Battles ended in mass retreat back to Washington for McClellan, "The Little Napoleon". The Battles of Oak Grove (June 25th), Gaines' Mill (June 27th), Garnett's Farm (June 28th), Savage Station (June 29th), White Oak Swamp (June 30th), and Malvern Hill (July 1st -- a Confederate defeat but then abandoned by Federals) are still studied in war colleges today. Everyone was stunned and no one doubted that a new military legend had entered the history books.

Overlooked, yet giant killers. How many more times will we need to see this?

"The Single Bullet Theory"

The Confederacy might have won it's war for independence early on had it not been for the bullet that struck General Albert Sidney Johnston in the afternoon of the first day of the Battle of Shiloh. He was the highest ranked of the four top generals of the new nation. Rank and theater of operation were awarded by seniority and that determined by date of commission out of West Point. Johnston was well liked by his troops and their motivation and moral couldn't be higher on the eve of battle.

Major General Ullysses S. Grant had been landing troops and supplies at Pittsburg Landing for several days as the North's Tennessee Valley Campaign aimed to take Corinth, Mississippi, the big railroad junction farther south. But Grant's security had been lax. Incredibly, sporadic reports of possible enemy activity in the woods all around the area either never reached higher officers or were ignored. No major resistance was expected. So when the Confederates burst out of the woods that clear Sunday morning April 6, 1862, Grant's future as an Army commander might have been ended.

The Confederate onslaught caught the Yankees by surprise and rolled their whole chaotic lines back toward the Tennessee River. General Johnston was bold enough and would have finished his attack by carrying it on through the night. But a stray bullet struck him in the knee at around 1:30pm and he bled to death within an hour. The general who assumed command merely held ground which allowed General Grant to regroup, reinforce, and counterattack the next day. Thus, Shiloh is generally seen as a victory for the North and bolstered Grant's reputation as a winner. Brigadier General Sherman, latter to become Grant's right hand man, was nearly killed in this battle, too, as Confederate troops surprised and fired on his horseback scouting party.

Generals Grant and Sherman might have been captured or at least disgraced enough to have prevented their later appointments had General Johnston lived. But the same bullet that killed General Johnston saved General Grant. Grant learned from his errors. He would never again be so careless.

New Books List:

The Oxford Dictionary Of Civil War Quotations, ed. John D. Wright, Oxford Univ. Press, 2006.

The Civil War -- Strange And Fascinating Facts, Burke Davis, The Fairfax Press, New York, 1982.

Lincoln's Generals, ed. Gabor S. Boritt, Oxford University Press, 1994.

Lincoln -- The Road To War, Frank van der Linden, Fulcrum Publishing, 1998.

Ulysses S. Grant -- The Unlikely Hero, Michael Korda, Harper Collins, 2004.

Civil War Battles, Roxby Press Productions Ltd., 1977.