Sword Over Richmond: An Eyewitness History of McClellan's Peninsula Campaign

Union General George McClellan's attempt to capture the Confederate capital in 1862, one of the most significant campaigns of the Civil War, has been comparatively neglected by popular historians, probably because of its complexity and seeming lack of coherent structure. Wheeler (A Special Valor recounts it in a way that should attract a large readership: the judicious use of extensive quotes by participants and observers, linked by expositional passages of remarkable clarity, supported by good maps. The political and strategic aspects of the campaign are given fair due, but the emphasis is on the human element. The central incidents on which the personal narratives hang include the Monitor-Merrimac battle, ""Stonewall'' Jackson's diversionary maneuvers in the Shenandoah Valley and Lee's daring counteroffensive in the Seven Days Battles. The book is rich in dramatic anecdote, telling detail and eloquence. BOMC alternate. (April 2)