Controversies and Commanders : Dispatches from the Army of the Potomac

CONTROVERSIES AND COMMANDERS is a fascinating look at some of the most intriguing generals in the Union's Army of the Potomac and at some of the most extraordinary events of the Civil War, chronicled by one of our leading historians, Stephen W. Sears. Sears investigates the accusations of disloyalty against General Charles Stone; the court-martial of Fitz John Porter; the crisis in army command on the eve of the Antietam battle; the Lost Order of Antietam; the revolt of the Potomac army's high command; the notorious General Dan Sickles, who had shot his wife's lover outside the White House; the murderous Kilpatrick-Dahlgren raid on Richmond; the firing of corps commander Gouverneur Warren on the eve of victory; and the much maligned Generals McClellan (justifiably) and Hooker (not so justifiably). The book follows the Army of the Potomac through the course of the war, from 1861 to 1865, painting a remarkable portrait of key incidents and personalities that influenced the outcome of our nation's greatest cataclysm.

STEPHEN W. SEARS is the author of many award-winning books on the Civil War, including Gettysburg and Landscape Turned Red. The New York Times Book Review has called him “arguably the preeminent living historian of the war’s eastern theater.” He is a former editor for American Heritage.