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Lee and His Generals in War and Memory
A timely reexamination of the career of Robert E. Lee and his relations with his subordinates includes a study of Lost Cause interpretations of the war that argue that Lee and Stonewall Jackson were flawless warriors hurt by inept generals. UP.
298 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Gary W. Gallagher
138 books105 followersGary W. Gallagher, the John L. Nau III Professor of History at the University of Virginia, is the author or editor of many books in the field of Civil War history, including The Confederate War; Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War; and The Union War.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 13, 2017
Thoughtful Essays On The Confederate War Effort
Professor Gary Gallagher is a rarity among writers on the Civil War in his ability to appeal to both scholarly and lay audiences. He shares this ability with Professor James McPherson but with few others. Unlike Professor McPherson, Gallagher's writings concentrate on the Confederate war effort. He brings an obvious sympathy and understanding for his subject without romanticization or glorification. This is also highly unusual among writers on the Civil War. His essays are informed, through, balanced, and inspiring. They are a pleasure to read.
Professor Gallagher's "Lee and his Generals in War and Memory" (1998) consists of thirteen essays, most of which have been published elsewhere. I think the unifying theme of this collection is Professor Gallagher's attempt to find a middle ground between the "Lost Cause" interpretation of the Confederate war effort and recent, critical and revisionist accounts.
The "Lost Cause" school sees the Southern cause as entirely noble, tends to glorify Robert E. Lee and the valor of the Confederate troops, and attributes the defeat of the Confederacy almost entirely to the Federal's overwhelmingly superior resources and numbers. The revisionist school emphasizes the origins of the Civil War in the institution of slavery, tends to be critical of Lee and his aggressive and costly (in terms of casualties) approach to battle, and emphasizes Union skill and tenacity, among other factors, in finally winning the war.
The first section of Professor Gallagher's book consist of four essays on Lee which both explain the high regard in which he was held in the South while acknowledging mistakes and shortcomings. There is an introductory essay, "Lee and the Southern People" followed by essays on the Seven Days Battles against McClellan, Lee's actions on the second day of Gettysburg, and Lee's role in the Wilderness campaign of May, 1864.
The second part of the book, "Lee's Generals" includes a discussion of Stonewall Jackson's military reputation and how it was in large part deserved but also partly the result of chance and circumstance. In this regard, the section also includes an excellent essay comparing Jackson's 1862 Shenandoah Valley campaign, which was one of Jackson's great successes, with Early's 1864 campaign, generally regarded as a disaster. Professor Gallagher offers some unusual insights. This section also includes a thoughtful essay on A.P. Hill's and Richard Ewell's controversial roles during the first day of Gettysburg, as well as essays on Longstreet and John Magruder.
The third section of this book covers the history of Southern interpretations of the War, particularly the "Lost Cause" school of interpretation. Gallagher presents a well-balanced account of Jubal Early, whose writings became predominant in the "Lost Cause school" and a discussion of the Civil War letters frequently attributed to George Pickett -- of Pickett's charge on the third day of Gettysburg. Gallagher describes the history of these letters and concludes, in common with most scholars today, that they are in fact forgeries written by Pickett's wife.
A final section of the book offers a discussion of Ken Burns' "Civil War" series on public TV, and has much good to say about it, together with Professor Gallagher's assessment of the continued importance of Civil War battlefield preservation to help educate the public about our Nation's history and about this seminal conflict.
I learned a great deal about the Civil War and about Confederate leadership from Professor Gallagher's fine collection of essays.
Robin Friedman
Professor Gary Gallagher is a rarity among writers on the Civil War in his ability to appeal to both scholarly and lay audiences. He shares this ability with Professor James McPherson but with few others. Unlike Professor McPherson, Gallagher's writings concentrate on the Confederate war effort. He brings an obvious sympathy and understanding for his subject without romanticization or glorification. This is also highly unusual among writers on the Civil War. His essays are informed, through, balanced, and inspiring. They are a pleasure to read.
Professor Gallagher's "Lee and his Generals in War and Memory" (1998) consists of thirteen essays, most of which have been published elsewhere. I think the unifying theme of this collection is Professor Gallagher's attempt to find a middle ground between the "Lost Cause" interpretation of the Confederate war effort and recent, critical and revisionist accounts.
The "Lost Cause" school sees the Southern cause as entirely noble, tends to glorify Robert E. Lee and the valor of the Confederate troops, and attributes the defeat of the Confederacy almost entirely to the Federal's overwhelmingly superior resources and numbers. The revisionist school emphasizes the origins of the Civil War in the institution of slavery, tends to be critical of Lee and his aggressive and costly (in terms of casualties) approach to battle, and emphasizes Union skill and tenacity, among other factors, in finally winning the war.
The first section of Professor Gallagher's book consist of four essays on Lee which both explain the high regard in which he was held in the South while acknowledging mistakes and shortcomings. There is an introductory essay, "Lee and the Southern People" followed by essays on the Seven Days Battles against McClellan, Lee's actions on the second day of Gettysburg, and Lee's role in the Wilderness campaign of May, 1864.
The second part of the book, "Lee's Generals" includes a discussion of Stonewall Jackson's military reputation and how it was in large part deserved but also partly the result of chance and circumstance. In this regard, the section also includes an excellent essay comparing Jackson's 1862 Shenandoah Valley campaign, which was one of Jackson's great successes, with Early's 1864 campaign, generally regarded as a disaster. Professor Gallagher offers some unusual insights. This section also includes a thoughtful essay on A.P. Hill's and Richard Ewell's controversial roles during the first day of Gettysburg, as well as essays on Longstreet and John Magruder.
The third section of this book covers the history of Southern interpretations of the War, particularly the "Lost Cause" school of interpretation. Gallagher presents a well-balanced account of Jubal Early, whose writings became predominant in the "Lost Cause school" and a discussion of the Civil War letters frequently attributed to George Pickett -- of Pickett's charge on the third day of Gettysburg. Gallagher describes the history of these letters and concludes, in common with most scholars today, that they are in fact forgeries written by Pickett's wife.
A final section of the book offers a discussion of Ken Burns' "Civil War" series on public TV, and has much good to say about it, together with Professor Gallagher's assessment of the continued importance of Civil War battlefield preservation to help educate the public about our Nation's history and about this seminal conflict.
I learned a great deal about the Civil War and about Confederate leadership from Professor Gallagher's fine collection of essays.
Robin Friedman
September 11, 2026
Lee and His Generals is a collection of 13 essays, all by Gallagher. Three are reprinted from previous Gallagher-edited essay compilations (Antietam, Gettysburg Day 1, and Gettysburg Day 2) and one from the lackluster Ken Burns's The Civil War: Historians Respond. Two essays are new for this book (the first and last). The other seven essays are reprinted from various periodicals, which means for the average reader they might as well be new.
Essay topics:
Perception of Lee during the war, especially within the Confederacy
Lee in the Maryland Campaign
Lee on the second day of Gettysburg
ANV high command problems during the Overland Campaign
Perception of Stonewall Jackson during the war and in popular history
John Magruder's performance during the Seven Days
Longstreet at Second Manassas
Hill and Ewell on the first day of Gettysburg
Compare & contrast Jackson's and Early's Shenandoah campaigns
Jubal Early and the Lost Cause
George Pickett's alleged letters to Sallie
Ken Burns
The value of battlefields, and how the Lost Cause has affected that
I skipped over several of these essays. The Ken Burns essays I had read about five years ago. Both Gettysburg essays I read over a decade ago, and there are numerous newer Gettysburg books, especially Gettysburg: The Definitive Account of the Civil War's Turning Point―A Comprehensive Narrative History. I did reread the Maryland Campaign essay, but found it unremarkable. I also skipped the Longstreet essay even though I haven't read it before; I doubted Gallagher's essay would add much on the subject that wasn't covered in newer works I've read like Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas and Injustice on Trial: Second Bull Run, General Fitz John Porter's Court Martial, and the Schofield Board Investigation That Restored His Good Name.
Gallagher gives Early favorable comparison to Stonewall in the Shenandoah, relative to their circumstances.
The Jubal Early & The Lost Cause essay is really two connected topics. The first half is about Early's activity postwar up through the founding of the Southern Historical Society. Then rather than continue on with Early's role with the SHS, the second half looks at later published works that align with Early's views.
The last essay about battlefields - one that was new in this book, rather than a reprint - is an interesting time capsule. It unintentionally demonstrates how the debates about monuments during the last decade aren't really new; things were already headed that way in the 1990s. While addressing criticism of battlefield interpretation that is reconciliationist and otherwise Lost Cause, Gallagher emphasizes the importance of battlefields as touchstones. Battlefield preservation is good; battlefield interpretation is often narrow. Using examples from his own battlefield tours at Antietam and Gettysburg, he gives examples of how battlefield interpretation can be broader. Again, this foreshadows changes in the 21st century - in this case, toward broader interpretation. Not mentioned by Gallagher, but which I think is important: the role of battlefield interpretive centers in providing greater context.
The two essays I found most interesting were Magruder and the Pickett letters, as I was not really familiar with either subject.
Gallagher's writing is good, and he's pretty evenhanded as usual. While I found some of the essays unremarkable, I didn't think any of them were bad.
So is this book still relevant and worth reading after nearly three decades? Eh. There is some interesting stuff, but I'd say it's greatest value is as a 1990s time capsule, allowing the reader to see where memory studies and certain interpretation were at in 1990s, and thus be able to better understand how they've evolved since.
Essay topics:
Perception of Lee during the war, especially within the Confederacy
Lee in the Maryland Campaign
Lee on the second day of Gettysburg
ANV high command problems during the Overland Campaign
Perception of Stonewall Jackson during the war and in popular history
John Magruder's performance during the Seven Days
Longstreet at Second Manassas
Hill and Ewell on the first day of Gettysburg
Compare & contrast Jackson's and Early's Shenandoah campaigns
Jubal Early and the Lost Cause
George Pickett's alleged letters to Sallie
Ken Burns
The value of battlefields, and how the Lost Cause has affected that
I skipped over several of these essays. The Ken Burns essays I had read about five years ago. Both Gettysburg essays I read over a decade ago, and there are numerous newer Gettysburg books, especially Gettysburg: The Definitive Account of the Civil War's Turning Point―A Comprehensive Narrative History. I did reread the Maryland Campaign essay, but found it unremarkable. I also skipped the Longstreet essay even though I haven't read it before; I doubted Gallagher's essay would add much on the subject that wasn't covered in newer works I've read like Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas and Injustice on Trial: Second Bull Run, General Fitz John Porter's Court Martial, and the Schofield Board Investigation That Restored His Good Name.
Gallagher gives Early favorable comparison to Stonewall in the Shenandoah, relative to their circumstances.
The Jubal Early & The Lost Cause essay is really two connected topics. The first half is about Early's activity postwar up through the founding of the Southern Historical Society. Then rather than continue on with Early's role with the SHS, the second half looks at later published works that align with Early's views.
The last essay about battlefields - one that was new in this book, rather than a reprint - is an interesting time capsule. It unintentionally demonstrates how the debates about monuments during the last decade aren't really new; things were already headed that way in the 1990s. While addressing criticism of battlefield interpretation that is reconciliationist and otherwise Lost Cause, Gallagher emphasizes the importance of battlefields as touchstones. Battlefield preservation is good; battlefield interpretation is often narrow. Using examples from his own battlefield tours at Antietam and Gettysburg, he gives examples of how battlefield interpretation can be broader. Again, this foreshadows changes in the 21st century - in this case, toward broader interpretation. Not mentioned by Gallagher, but which I think is important: the role of battlefield interpretive centers in providing greater context.
The two essays I found most interesting were Magruder and the Pickett letters, as I was not really familiar with either subject.
Gallagher's writing is good, and he's pretty evenhanded as usual. While I found some of the essays unremarkable, I didn't think any of them were bad.
So is this book still relevant and worth reading after nearly three decades? Eh. There is some interesting stuff, but I'd say it's greatest value is as a 1990s time capsule, allowing the reader to see where memory studies and certain interpretation were at in 1990s, and thus be able to better understand how they've evolved since.
June 11, 2020
There are a number of magazines devoted to the Civil War among them North & South, The Civil War Monitor, America’s Civil War, and Civil War Times. Many of their articles are written by Civil War scholars and published authors. Doctor Gary W. Gallagher is one such light; he is also a delight to hear and obviously enjoys his topic (catch his February 2020 lecture at the American Civil War Museum Symposium on CSPAN). Lee and His Generals in War and Memory is a collection of past articles, some revised in the light of recent scholarship.
The first four articles focus on Lee himself and his actions in Maryland, 1862; the second day of Gettysburg; and the Wilderness Campaign of 1864. Next there are five articles on Jackson, Magruder, Longstreet, A.P. Hill, Ewell, and Early. The third section, “Fighting for Historical Memory,” discusses Jubal Early, who was a major progenitor of the “Lost Cause” fairy tale, and the forgeries by LaSalle Corbell Pickett of her husband’s letters. Finally, the fourth part, “Distant Reverberations” discusses Ken Burns’ The Civil War and “Battlefields, the Lost Cause, and the Legacy of the Civil War.”
If your knowledge of the Civil War stems mainly from the aforementioned PBS series and the How and Why Wonder Book of the Civil War, this is not for you. A basic knowledge of the war’s campaigns and battles is necessary. Having that, this book’s three hundred-pages will provide interesting and informative reading.
The first four articles focus on Lee himself and his actions in Maryland, 1862; the second day of Gettysburg; and the Wilderness Campaign of 1864. Next there are five articles on Jackson, Magruder, Longstreet, A.P. Hill, Ewell, and Early. The third section, “Fighting for Historical Memory,” discusses Jubal Early, who was a major progenitor of the “Lost Cause” fairy tale, and the forgeries by LaSalle Corbell Pickett of her husband’s letters. Finally, the fourth part, “Distant Reverberations” discusses Ken Burns’ The Civil War and “Battlefields, the Lost Cause, and the Legacy of the Civil War.”
If your knowledge of the Civil War stems mainly from the aforementioned PBS series and the How and Why Wonder Book of the Civil War, this is not for you. A basic knowledge of the war’s campaigns and battles is necessary. Having that, this book’s three hundred-pages will provide interesting and informative reading.
July 11, 2021
Gary Gallagher is a virtual one man industry of Civil War history, although at times I worry that he is spreading himself a bit thin and in danger of repeating himself. While I at first thought that this was a collection of essays by others that he edited, it is actually a collection of his own essays. One benefit of that fact is that this work offers the reader a chance to see the breadth and depth of this knowledge about this conflict and particularly about its most famous figure - Robert E. Lee. It also offers the opportunity to see beyond the marble man Lee to the real historical man and military leader.
The essays are grouped under four themes - Lee, Lee's Generals, Fighting for Historical Memory, and Distant Reverberations. Within each theme, Gallagher presents essays on Lee as a commander and a leader of men in an unequal struggle; Lee's complex relationships with his key subordinates - both the good and the not so good - with emphasis upon Longstreet, Jackson, Magruder, A P Hill, Ewell, and Early; the identfication of Lee by the creators of the Lost Cause version of Southern history; and finally the legacy of Robert E. Lee and of the Civil War in the age of Ken Burns, Shelby Foote, and a broadly supported battlefield preservation movement (among other Civil War related phenomena including battles over the Confederate battle flag adn the election of Barack Obama - though Gallagher doesn't mention either of these). To my mind this is one of Gallagher's best works and a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the Civil War both as history and cultural phenomenon.
The essays are grouped under four themes - Lee, Lee's Generals, Fighting for Historical Memory, and Distant Reverberations. Within each theme, Gallagher presents essays on Lee as a commander and a leader of men in an unequal struggle; Lee's complex relationships with his key subordinates - both the good and the not so good - with emphasis upon Longstreet, Jackson, Magruder, A P Hill, Ewell, and Early; the identfication of Lee by the creators of the Lost Cause version of Southern history; and finally the legacy of Robert E. Lee and of the Civil War in the age of Ken Burns, Shelby Foote, and a broadly supported battlefield preservation movement (among other Civil War related phenomena including battles over the Confederate battle flag adn the election of Barack Obama - though Gallagher doesn't mention either of these). To my mind this is one of Gallagher's best works and a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the Civil War both as history and cultural phenomenon.
April 23, 2018
Interesting to see how the reputations of Confederate soldiers and generals have remained in tact and grew with time, but I won’t lie, I skimmed through all the military battle details. Oop
March 28, 2017
Thought-provoking and opinionated. Requires a decent understanding of Civil War history to appreciate the author's insights offered in his essays. Prof. Gallagher has great credentials and his opinions should always be seriously considered.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews