Army of the Potomac, Volume II: McClellan Takes Command, September 1861-February 1862

In this second volume of a multi-volume work, Russel Beatie continues his detailed study of the generals who commanded the Union's victorious Army of the Potomac. When the first volume appeared, Civil War News commended Beatie's monumental study, noting that "readers will find its thoroughness and extensive detail useful to their efforts to better understand the Union war effort." This new survey of the war's first six months of fighting places the command decisions of the army's senior officers in the social, political, military, and economic context of their day.Thought-provoking and original (the book is based entirely on manuscript sources, many of which have never before been examined), Beatie's account and his conclusions about the actions of the Union's high command differ-often significantly-from traditional historical thinking. What emerges is a fresh understanding of these men and how their personalities influenced their command decisions, and the political atmosphere that influenced their military actions. The Army of the Potomac is about leaders as men-their successes and failures commanding the Union's largest army.