When Union and Confederate forces squared off along Bull Run on July 21, 1861, the Federals expected this first major military campaign would bring an early end to the Civil War. But when Confederate troops launched a strong counterattack, both sides realized the war would be longer and costlier than anticipated. First Bull Run, or First Manassas, set the stage for four years of bloody conflict that forever changed the political, social, and economic fabric of the nation. It also introduced the commanders, tactics, and weaponry that would define the American way of war through the turn of the twentieth century. This crucial campaign receives its most complete and comprehensive treatment in Edward G. Longacre’s The Early Morning of War. A magisterial work by a veteran historian, The Early Morning of War blends narrative and analysis to convey the full scope of the campaign of First Bull Run—its drama and suspense as well as its practical and tactical underpinnings and ramifications. Also woven throughout are biographical sketches detailing the backgrounds and personalities of the leading commanders and other actors in the unfolding conflict. Longacre has combed previously unpublished primary sources, including correspondence, diaries, and memoirs of more than four hundred participants and observers, from ranking commanders to common soldiers and civilians affected by the fighting. In weighing all the evidence, Longacre finds correctives to long-held theories about campaign strategy and battle tactics and questions sacrosanct beliefs—such as whether the Manassas Gap Railroad was essential to the Confederate victory. Longacre shears away the myths and persuasively examines the long-term repercussions of the Union’s defeat at Bull Run, while analyzing whether the Confederates really had a chance of ending the war in July 1861 by seizing Washington, D.C. Brilliant moves, avoidable blunders, accidents, historical forces, personal foibles: all are within Longacre’s compass in this deftly written work that is sure to become the standard history of the first, critical campaign of the Civil War.

In June 1862, James J. Archer was promoted to the rank of brigadier general by Robert E. Lee. Serving with distinction in prominent battles such as those at Bull Run, Chancellorsville and Harpers Ferry, this lawyer-turned-general earned not only the respect of his superiors but the esteem and admiration of his men. Imprisoned first at Fort Delaware and then at Johnson's Island, Archer was one of the "First Fifty" (and as it turned out only) officers to be part of a Confederate/Union prisoner exchange. Upon returning to the Confederacy, Archer resumed command and served until his death from battle wounds in October 1864. From doctors to lawyers and privates to generals, this volume records the stories of a few special people--such as General James Archer--who chose to serve their country during the Civil War. Twenty-four individuals from both sides of the Mason-Dixon line are remembered for their extraordinary and often little known contributions to the Confederate and Union causes. These include Colonel Thomas Rose, who was in charge of the Libby Prison tunnel; Colonel John R. Winston, who was one of the few to escape from the Federal prison on Johnson's Island; Sally Tompkins, who ran a private hospital in Richmond; and Sergeant Richard Kirkland, who risked his life to take water to the Federal troops at Fredericksburg. Other featured individuals include Susie Baker King Taylor, Colonel Hector McKethan, Dr. Mary Walker and Richard Thomas Zarvona. Contemporary sources include a variety of correspondence and diaries from these subjects and those who knew them. Appendices contain a roll of participants in the Great Locomotive Chase; a list of Federal prisoners who escaped through the Libby Prison tunnel; a directory of Confederate officers on board the Maple Leaf; and the history of the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Confederate Roll of Honor. A number of contemporary photographs are also included.