Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake) | 973.7 WOO | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | 973.7 WOO | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Jefferson Davis is a historical figure who provokes strong passions among scholars. Through the years historians have place him at both ends of the spectrum: some have portrayed him as a hero, others have judged him incompetent.
Author Notes
Steven E. Woodworth was born on January 28, 1961. He received a B.A. in history from Southern Illinois University in 1982 and a Ph.D. from Rice University in 1987. He is a professor of history at Texas Christian University and an expert on the Civil War. He has written a number of books on the topic including Jefferson Davis and His Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West, While God Is Marching On: The Religious World of Civil War Soldiers, Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee 1861-1865, Manifest Destinies: Westward Expansion and the Civil War, and This Great Struggle: America's Civil War.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Booklist Review
In this provocative assessment of the quality of Jefferson Davis' military leadership, Woodworth fashions a portrait of man of great courage and determination who was done in by several small but critical character flaws. The effect of these flaws, the author shows, became especially evident in the western theater of the war, where the Southern cause was irreparably harmed by Davis' inept handling of his generals and matters related to strategy. Woodworth demonstrates how Davis erred through his inordinate loyalty to and dependence on friends, his pride and inability to admit mistakes, his tendency to work and worry himself sick and thereby cripple himself both mentally and emotionally, and his stress-related proclivity toward hesitation and indecisiveness. Here was a man, Woodworth concludes, with a basic insecurity, a lack of confidence in himself, in God, and Providence--a great man who, in the end, was not great enough. Notes, bibliography; to be indexed.--Steve Weingartner
Choice Review
A worthy companion to T. Harry Williams's classic study, Lincoln and His Generals (1952). Woodworth concentrates on Confederate command in the critical western theater, from the Mississippi River to the Alleghenies. Jefferson Davis's strategy called for the South to hold as much territory as possible, countering Union attacks with retaliatory thrusts, but Davis never could find the right general to command the southern armies in this vast region. Albert Sidney Johnston's death at Shiloh removed the man who was arguably the best choice for this sensitive position. His replacement, Joseph E. Johnston, was unable to coordinate the two major southern armies there, and failed to prevent the Union forces from taking Mississippi and Tennessee. Woodworth contends that J.E. Johnston's replacement, Braxton Bragg, was the most qualified general to oversee southern strategy in the area, but was constantly undermined by others, especially by Davis's long-standing friend, the vain and incompetent bishop-general Leonidas Polk. Davis's loyalty to Polk caused him to reinstate J.E. Johnston, who soon would display the same timidity and ineptitude he had shown earlier. Woodworth concludes that the Confederate loss in the west ultimately can be attributed to Davis's own lack of creativity and his unwarranted loyalty to old friends. Woodworth's careful research in primary and secondary sources is enhanced by his fine style, sprightly comments, and judicious and imaginative conclusions. For every Civil War collection. -E. K. Eckert, St. Bonaventure University
Library Journal Review
In his highly readable, sometimes humorous account, which mirrors T. Harry Williams's classic treatment of Lincoln and His Generals (1952), Woodworth discovers a Jefferson Davis who is not as inflexible and indifferent to political needs as his contemporaries and later scholars have insisted, but one whose pride, misplaced loyalty to friends, and, in 1862-64, bad management undercut Confederate command in the West. Woodworth takes a fresh look at the canards and myths surrounding the man. His major new, and most controversial, finding is that Davis lacked self-confidence. A more assured Davis might have won the West and, with it, the war. The argument will fuel debates on the Civil War for some time. Highly recommended. History Book Club main selection.-- Randall Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
