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The Edge of Glory: A Biography of General William S. Rosecrans, U.S.A.
Major General William S. Rosecrans (1819–1898) was one of the most fascinating and tragic figures of the Civil War. In September 1863 President Lincoln and Congress considered him the most able general on the Union side, but only one month later “Old Rosy” was removed from his command and then quickly forgotten. With The Edge of Glory, William M. Lamers returns this imposing, colorful figure to his rightful place in history.
Lamers examines Rosecrans’s experiences at Iuka and Corinth during the Mississippi campaign, the strategic brilliance that led to the withdrawal of Bragg’s men from Tullahoma and Shelbyville, and his role as commander of the Army of the Cumberland in the Tennessee battles of Stone’s River and the disastrous Chickamauga. Yet the demise of Rosecrans’s distinguished military career, Lamers illustrates, was not a result of his humiliating defeat at Chickamauga but of his difficult, uncompromising personality and the scorn he aroused in many of his superiors, including General Ulysses S. Grant and Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s secretary of war. Although Rosecrans fell short of greatness as a military commander, Lamers deftly shows that he did indeed reach “the edge of glory.”
Lamers examines Rosecrans’s experiences at Iuka and Corinth during the Mississippi campaign, the strategic brilliance that led to the withdrawal of Bragg’s men from Tullahoma and Shelbyville, and his role as commander of the Army of the Cumberland in the Tennessee battles of Stone’s River and the disastrous Chickamauga. Yet the demise of Rosecrans’s distinguished military career, Lamers illustrates, was not a result of his humiliating defeat at Chickamauga but of his difficult, uncompromising personality and the scorn he aroused in many of his superiors, including General Ulysses S. Grant and Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s secretary of war. Although Rosecrans fell short of greatness as a military commander, Lamers deftly shows that he did indeed reach “the edge of glory.”
520 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 11, 2019
A well written alternate look at the Western Campaign and its principal characters. Focused of course on "Old Rosey". The battles are well detailed and Lamers, while showing some affection for his subject presents a vivid portrait of a man who was arguably the North's greatest general and certainly one of history's greatest "forgotten" Generals. While I enjoyed it, the picture it paints of politics, jealousy, backbiting, and historical injustice is all too familiar. If you read Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, or Grant's Memoirs you will find this more than interesting and frankly quite a bit more balanced.
This book is also worth the time for those who read general Civil War histories and want to know more than "Chickamauga was a disaster and Grant saved the Union by fixing the Western Army thereafter". Spoiler alert! It was neither a disaster nor was Grant quite the savior he wrote himself to be.
For myself, the book presented a huge reminder that history is not always just, that the truth does not necessarily come out in the end and that just because it is what we have always been told does not make it true. A good reminder for someone who wants to believe that today's history will expose the truth eventually. As Gershwin wrote, "it ain't necessarily so".
This book is also worth the time for those who read general Civil War histories and want to know more than "Chickamauga was a disaster and Grant saved the Union by fixing the Western Army thereafter". Spoiler alert! It was neither a disaster nor was Grant quite the savior he wrote himself to be.
For myself, the book presented a huge reminder that history is not always just, that the truth does not necessarily come out in the end and that just because it is what we have always been told does not make it true. A good reminder for someone who wants to believe that today's history will expose the truth eventually. As Gershwin wrote, "it ain't necessarily so".
March 31, 2016
Long and even handed biography of one of the North's finest commanders. Forgotten today because he lost one battle and worst of all was hated by Stanton, Halleck, and Grant, the Rosecrans of these pages is a brilliant, but flawed man. My only wish it that the end notes were more extensive.
December 13, 2022
This was one of the first books I read on the Civil War and it was a very good book about a maligned Civil War General. Rosecrans was a very capable and intelligent General, whose only drawback was that he wasn't more aggressive. He is famous or infamous for the siege of Corinth where his army was almost starved out by the Confederates. He was unpopular with the "West Point" clique of Stanton and Grant and was finally removed from command and replaced by his friend, General George H. Thomas.
This book was long but it really gave great detail into the Western Theater of the Civil War and the problems of the Armies of the West. Many of these Armies had issues with poor command and coordination at the outset of the War. I read this book right before reading
by Freeman Cleaves (no photo),
which provided a great companion to this book and a great overall look at this theater of the Civil War.
This book was long but it really gave great detail into the Western Theater of the Civil War and the problems of the Armies of the West. Many of these Armies had issues with poor command and coordination at the outset of the War. I read this book right before reading
by Freeman Cleaves (no photo), which provided a great companion to this book and a great overall look at this theater of the Civil War.
February 15, 2019
A must read for the devotee of the Civil War in the Western Theater!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews