Benson Bobrick - Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas
Here you can read online Benson Bobrick - Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas full text of the book (entire story) in english for free. Download pdf and epub, get meaning, cover and reviews about this ebook. year: 2009, publisher: Simon & Schuster, genre: History. Description of the work, (preface) as well as reviews are available. Best literature library LitArk.com created for fans of good reading and offers a wide selection of genres:
Romance novel
Science fiction
Adventure
Detective
Science
History
Home and family
Prose
Art
Politics
Computer
Non-fiction
Religion
Business
Children
Humor
Choose a favorite category and find really read worthwhile books. Enjoy immersion in the world of imagination, feel the emotions of the characters or learn something new for yourself, make an fascinating discovery.
- Book:Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas
- Author:
- Publisher:Simon & Schuster
- Genre:
- Year:2009
- Rating:5 / 5
- Favourites:Add to favourites
- Your mark:
Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas: summary, description and annotation
We offer to read an annotation, description, summary or preface (depends on what the author of the book "Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas" wrote himself). If you haven't found the necessary information about the book — write in the comments, we will try to find it.
In this revelatory, dynamic biography, one of our finest historians, Benson Bobrick, profiles George H. Thomas, arguing that he was the greatest and most successful general of the Civil War. Because Thomas didnt live to write his memoirs, his reputation has been largely shaped by others, most notably Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, two generals with whom Thomas served and who, Bobrick says, diminished his successes in their favor in their own memoirs.
Born in Virginia, Thomas survived Nat Turners rebellion as a boy, then studied at West Point, where Sherman was a classmate. Thomas distinguished himself in the Mexican War and then returned to West Point as an instructor. When the Civil War broke out, Thomas remained loyal to the Union, unlike fellow Virginia-born officer Robert E. Lee (among others). He compiled an outstanding record as an officer in battles at Mill Springs, Perryville, and Stones River. At the Battle of Chickamauga, Thomas, at the time a corps commander, held the center of the Union line under a ferocious assault, then rallied the troops on Horseshoe Ridge to prevent a Confederate rout of the Union army. His extraordinary performance there earned him the nickname The Rock of Chickamauga.
Promoted to command of the Army of the Cumberland, he led his army in a stunning Union victory at the Battle of Chattanooga. Thomas supported Sherman on his march through Georgia in the spring of 1864, winning an important victory at the Battle of Peachtree Creek. As Sherman continued on his March to the Sea, Thomas returned to Tennessee and in the battle of Nashville destroyed the army of Confederate General John Bell Hood. It was one of the most decisive victories of the war, and Thomas won it even as Grant was on his way to remove Thomas from his command. (When Grant discovered the magnitude of Thomass victory, he quickly changed his mind.) Thomas died of a stroke in 1870 while still on active duty. In the entire Civil War, he never lost a battle or a movement.
Throughout his career, Thomas was methodical and careful, and always prepared. Unlike Grant at Shiloh, he was never surprised by an enemy. Unlike Sherman, he never panicked in battle but always remained calm and focused. He was derided by both men as Slow Trot Thomas, but as Bobrick shows in this brilliant biography, he was quick to analyze every situation and always knew what to do and when to do it. He was not colorful like Grant and Sherman, but he was widely admired by his peers, and some, such as Grants favorite cavalry commander, General James H. Wilson, thought Thomas the peer of any general in either army. He was the only Union commander to destroy two Confederate armies in the field.
Although historians of the Civil War have always regarded Thomas highly, he has never captured the public imagination, perhaps because he has lacked an outstanding biographer -- until now. This informed, judicious, and lucid biography at last gives Thomas his due.
Benson Bobrick: author's other books
Who wrote Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.
Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work
Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.
Font size:
Interval:
Bookmark:
In the course of its creation, this book received valuable help from: the War Department Files, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; the Library of Congress; John Rhodehamel, Norris Foundation Curator, American Historical Manuscripts, the Huntington Library; Susan Lintelmann, Manuscripts Curator, the U.S. Military Academy Library at West Point; John Tofanelli, Anglo-American Literature and History Librarian, Butler Library, Columbia University; Jeffrey T. Ruggles, Associate Curator for Prints and Photographs, the Virginia Historical Society; Ron Westphal and Darla Brock, Tennessee State Library and Archives; Frances W. Kunstling, Archives and Manuscripts Unit, Technical Services Section, Tennessee State Library and Archives; the Kansas City Public Library; the U.S. Army Military History Institute; Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan; the Georgia Department of Archives and History; Duke University Library; the New York Public Library; the Southern Historical Society; the Massachusetts Historical Society; the Chicago Historical Society; the Illinois State Historical Library; the Ohio Historical Society; Brooks Memorial Library; Timothy Hughes, Rare and Early Newspapers; and the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service.
My thanks to Wiley Sword for permission to quote from a letter in his possession that Thomas wrote as a cadet. In a more general sense, I am much indebted to a number of previous books and articles on Thomas that formed a firm foundation to my own. As always, I also relied on family, friends, and colleagues for encouragement and advice, including: my wife, Hilary, James Bobrick, Peter Bobrick, Anne Bloom, Marvin and Evelyn Farbman, Edy Rees, Mark Katz, Robin Brownstein, Peter Guttmacher, Anthony Chiappelloni, Carolyn Gregory, Danielle Woerner, Peter Murkett, Hagop Merjian, Debbie Jacobs, Svetlana Gorokhova, Emily McGrath, Stephen Minkin, Arlene Distler, Tori Wiecher, and Rich Garant. I also want to thank the folks at Amys Bakery Arts Cafe (Amy Comerchero, Leslie Myette, Matthew and Megan Rink, and Rebecca Pedersen) and at Mocha Joes (Anders Burrows and Ginger Murawski), who often allowed me to work in their cafs past closing time.
As ever, my peerless agent, Russell Galen, and my superb editor, Bob Bender, proved good shepherds to my grazing flock of words. Bobs ever reliable assistant, Johanna Li, made sure they were herded to the proper gates.
Finally, no word of thanks would be sufficient without a tribute to the companionship of our beloved petsJasper, Zuzu, Chelsea, and Shiloh; the unseen black bear that bounds from time to time past our house; the coyote den just beyond the margins of the woods; the ruby-throated hummingbirds that thrum about our deck; and the occasional resident possum, skunk, and bat. God bless!
The Fated Sky: Astrology in History
Testament: A Soldiers Story of the Civil War
Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired
Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution
Knotted Tongues: Stuttering in History and the Quest for a Cure
East of the Sun: The Epic Conquest and Tragic History of Siberia
Fearful Majesty: The Life and Reign of Ivan the Terrible
Labyrinths of Iron: Subways in History, Myth, Art, Technology, and War
Parsons Brinckerhoff: The First Hundred Years
EPIGRAPHS
Time and history: Van Horne, The Life of Major General George H. Thomas , p. v.
It takes time for jealousy: Howard, A Sketch of the Life of General George H. Thomas, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, October 1890, Commandery, State of New York, War Papers , p. 296.
1. AN END TO INNOCENCE
each portion wheeling: Harpers Weekly , April 23, 1870, p. 1.
The figure of Thomas: Swinton, The Twelve Decisive Battles of the War , p. 273.
The incidents of his life: Johnson, Memoir of Major General George H. Thomas , p. 5.
He stood by me: Shanks, Personal Recollections of Distinguished Generals , p. 36.
The peer of any: Longacre, Grants Cavalryman , p. 289.
Grant felt uneasy Piatt and Boynton, General George H. Thomas , p. 485.
a prosperous farmer, etc.: OConnor, Thomas , p. 53.
potent enough: Oates, The Fires of Jubilee , p. 1.
the gently rolling: Johnson, The Nat Turner Slave Insurrection , p. 12.
minefields of submerged: Parramore, Southampton County, Virginia , p. 54.
a smoky cluster: Oates, Fires , p. 1
seducing [the slave], if possible: Link, Roots of Secession , p. 5.
I saw a Virginian: Olmsted, The Cotton Kingdom , p. 38.
full half: Ibid.
pretense of dignity: Ibid., p. 34.
at least as much vice: Ibid., p. 39.
George was playful, etc.: Howard, Sketch, p. 287.
poured the stories: Dwight, ed., Critical Sketches of Some of the Federal and Confederate Commanders , Papers of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts, Vol. 10, p. 165.
three or four, etc.: Johnson, Nat Turner , p. 230.
grew to manhood: Oates, Fires , p. 26.
Seek ye the Kingdom: Johnson, Nat Turner , pp. 23132.
The Spirit appeared to me: Ibid., p. 233.
a mind capable: Ibid., p. 244.
struggled through the damp: Oates, Fires , p. 32.
white spirits and black: Johnson, Nat Turner , pp. 23334.
as much as he could, etc.: Ibid.
And they believed: Oates, Fires , p. 27.
having soon discovered: Johnson, Nat Turner , p. 231.
For as the blood: Ibid., p. 234.
arise and prepare: Ibid., p. 235.
pored over: Oates, Fires , p. 54.
it could be looked at directly: Ibid.
like a black hand: Ibid., p. 55.
the absurd predictions: Parramore, Southampton County, Virginia , p. 75.
in the glare: Oates, Fires , p. 67.
an advanced guard: Foner, ed., Nat Turner , p. 133.
rode into the yard: Cleaves, Rock of Chickamauga , p. 6.
in and out of gloomy: Furguson, Catching Up with Old Slow Trot, p. 11.
Alone with the foxs bark: Foner, Nat Turner , p. 135.
a more than Indian adroitness: Ibid., p. 136.
Was not Christ crucified?: Johnson, Nat Turner , p. 235.
The seals are broken: Foner, Nat Turner , p. 8.
in terms of blood: OConnor, Thomas , p. 56.
intolerable to the enslaved: Ibid.
a private school: Howard, Sketch, p. 288.
Having done: Parramore, Southampton County , p. 156.
No cadet: Dwight, ed., Critical Sketches, p. 167.
reticent and introspective: Society of the Army of the Cumberland, 1879 Reunion, Report , p. 173.
bore a remarkable: Ibid.
Sherman, Thomas and I: Coppee, General Thomas , p. 323.
If anybody could bring: Howard, Sketch, p. 289.
We then march: U.S. Military Academy Bulletin, No. 1, Cadet Life Before the Mexican War, p. 12.
It was heads up: French, Two Wars , p. 11.
a dull speck: Cleaves, Rock , p. 10.
We stole boiled potatoes: OConnor, Thomas , p. 65.
usually had a grease spot: Ibid.
the best hash maker: Ibid.
We had glorious times: Cadet Life Before the Mexican War, p. 22.
he stored away in the recesses: Johnson, Memoir of Major General George H. Thomas , p. 15.
never allowed any thing: Ridpath, The Life and Work of General James A. Garfield , p. 251.
never forgot anything: Johnson, Memoir , p. 15.
A furlough, etc.: George H. Thomas, Letter of March 28, 1838, U.S. Military Academy Library Archives.
A strong southern feeling: Morrison, Best School , p. 131.
the hotbed: Ibid.
The principle of representation: Rawle, A View of the Constitution of the United States of America , pp. 29697.
If it had not been: OConnor, Thomas , p. 67.
Supposing that arrangements: Ibid., p. 118.
2. A WIDER WORLD
Font size:
Interval:
Bookmark:
Similar books «Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas»
Look at similar books to Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.
Discussion, reviews of the book Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.