The Army of the Potomac (3 Volume Set)

Hardcover Cloth Mr. Lincoln's Army BOMC edition 1962 363 pages / Glory Road Presumed first edition 1952 389 pages / A Stillness at Appomattox First Edition BOMC edition 1953 438 pages. Condition Very Good Dust Jacket Very Good.

Attractive mixed set with some with red boards others red boards and black embossing on this Clean, tight, square set with no marks, highlights or bookplates. BOMC and regular edition Books Well kept and carefully stored with slight shelf wear. The usual yellowing with minor signs of wear and/or age. Some bumped corners. Mylar protected, unclipped dust jackets smooth, clean and brilliant with the usual shelf wear. Not an ex-library or remainder copy. Heavier than standard book; S&H will be adjusted.

America's premier chronicler of the nation's brutal internecine conflict, Bruce Catton is renowned for his unparalleled ability to bring a detailed and vivid immediacy to Civil War battlefields and military strategy sessions. With tremendous depth and insight, he presents legendary commanders and common soldiers in all their complex and heartbreaking humanity.

The first volume of Bruce Catton's Pulitzer Prize–winning Army of the Potomac Trilogy, Mr. Lincoln's Army presents a riveting history of the early years of the Civil War, when a fledgling Union Army took its stumbling first steps under the command of the controversial general George McClellan. Following the secession of the Southern states, a beleaguered President Abraham Lincoln entrusted the dashing, charismatic McClellan with the creation of the Union's Army of the Potomac and the responsibility of leading it to a swift and decisive victory against Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Although a brilliant tactician who was beloved by his troops and embraced by the hero-hungry North, McClellan's ego and ambition ultimately put him at loggerheads with his commander in chief—a man McClellan considered unworthy of the presidency.

McClellan's weaknesses were exposed during the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American military history, which ended in a stalemate even though the Confederate troops were greatly outnumbered. After Antietam, Lincoln ordered McClellan's removal from command, and the Union entered the war's next chapter having suffered thousands of casualties and with great uncertainty ahead.

In 'Glory Road' the second book of the Army of the Potomac Trilogy covers what happened next; As the War Between the States moved through its second bloody year, General Ambrose Burnside was selected by President Lincoln to replace the ineffectual George "Little Mac" McClellan as commander of the Union Army. But the hope that greeted Burnside's ascension was quickly dashed in December 1862 in the wake of his devastating defeat at Fredericksburg.

Following Burnside's exit, a mediocre new commander, Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker, turned a sure victory into tragedy at Chancellorsville, continuing the Union's woes and ensuring Robert E. Lee's greatest triumph of the war. But the tide began to turn over the course of three days in July 1863, when the Union won a decisive victory on the battlefield of Gettysburg. Months later, Lincoln would give his historic address on this ground, honoring the fallen soldiers and strengthening the Union Army's resolve to fight for a united and equal nation for all of its people.

In 'A Stillness at Appomattox' the final volume of the Army of the Potomac Trilogy, Catton, takes the reader through the battles of the Wilderness, the Bloody Angle, Cold Harbor, the Crater, and on through the horrible months to one moment at Appomattox. Grant, Meade, Sheridan, and Lee vividly come to life in all their failings and triumphs.