Stephen W. Sears - Richmond kapujáig

Now that so much is changing in the United States, the events of the American Civil War that took place between 1861 and 1865 are only getting closer to us, they are gaining deeper meaning, and their understanding helps to navigate the events of today. In addition, this was the first modern war, that is, a war fought by mass armies transported by rail, controlled by telegraph, and equipped with industrial products. Its military history is as exciting as the Napoleonic Wars or the World Wars. It was also a very important factor that the people of the South took up military service with amazing enthusiasm.

The so-called "peninsula campaign" of 1862 was the largest campaign of the civil war, no less than 250,000 soldiers took part in it. The Northerners, led by General McClellan, planned to capture the rebel Confederate capital, Richmond, in a bold advance. McClellan tried to make his way to the city for three months, but then Robert E. Lee, who later became a legendary military leader among the South, took command and defeated the Northerners in a massive, seven-day battle, which for a time managed to change the course of the war.

The author, a renowned researcher of the American Civil War, processed a huge amount of contemporary letters, diaries and other documents, and focuses primarily on the people involved, who are constantly forced to make decisions at their own level, while they were also living the events, from the highest levels to the common soldiers. . His work is therefore an exciting read even for those who are less familiar with the details of the American Civil War. In the meantime, of course, we also get an idea of ​​the course of the war, and we learn a lot about the deeper, human, cultural and social connections of the North-South confrontation, which, in a slightly changed form, still have a vivid impact today.