General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, History
Book Type: Hardcover
This author's premise is that A.P. Hill is very much an overlooked general in Civil War histories. As far as I am concerned, he is right. While Hill is often mentioned in many Civil War books, most authors never go into detail about him, and yet he was one of three corps leaders in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. I have to admit not knowing much about him myself, but after reading this book I do now. I guess most of what I knew about Hill was how he was killed when he foolishly rode up upon some Union soldiers as the Union Army broke through the defenses of Petersburg in April, 1865. Plus, I knew he suffered throughout life from a social disease he picked up in New York City during leave from West Point. It is often stated this is why the girl he loved chose to marry George McClellan instead of Hill, but the author dismisses this, giving other reasons. But for whatever reason, I was also unaware most of the southern troops in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg were from Hill's corps. It puzzles me why this isn't commonly mentioned in most Civil War histories.
The author offers a fairly unbiased view of Hill and many other southern generals, as he points out their faults and mistakes as well as their successes. He also spends time discussing how Longstreet, Jackson and Hill often did not get along, if not actually despising each other.
Two problems I noticed in the book... The author still claims 7,000 Union soldiers were killed at Cold Harbor in the 1864 campaign. The book was published in 1987, so the book may have been written before later historians downgraded this to about 5,000 and some are now maintaining that figure is closer to 4,000. This resulted from post-war claims in the later 1860s which were over inflated. In fact, several times the author states how Hill often claimed greater numbers of Union soldiers killed and captured than there actually were. But most Southern Mythologists and many other historians make sure they don't mention the reason there were so many Union soldiers killed at Cold Harbor was that for days after the battle, when the two armies were within rifle shot of each other, Confederate sharpshooters used the Union wounded on the battlefield for target practice. Even back then this was considered a war crime. Southern Mythologists also like to use this battle to prove General Grant was a butcher when it came to sending men into battle, while overlooking it was General Lee who ordered Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, when even more men died and thousands more were wounded. As a U.S. Senator once said, "The first casualty when war comes, is truth." No argument there, as I have personal experience in regard to that.
But the biggest blunder was when the author discussed Hill's time in Florida during the Seminole Wars. On page 20 he writes, "His duty station was Fort Clinch, situated on the Withlacoochee River northeast of Tampa Bay." Even as a resident of Florida since 1979, I'd be hard pressed to tell someone where that river was before I recently looked it up. But I knew Fort Clinch wasn't where the author put it. Even today it would take more than several hours by car on the Interstates to get from Tampa Bay, in west-central Florida, to Fort Clinch, which is on Amelia Island in the extreme northeast of Florida. Florida is a large state and it would take a lot less time to get from Baltimore to New York City, than it would from Tampa Bay to Amelia Island. I wonder how he made that mistake.
The author offers a fairly unbiased view of Hill and many other southern generals, as he points out their faults and mistakes as well as their successes. He also spends time discussing how Longstreet, Jackson and Hill often did not get along, if not actually despising each other.
Two problems I noticed in the book... The author still claims 7,000 Union soldiers were killed at Cold Harbor in the 1864 campaign. The book was published in 1987, so the book may have been written before later historians downgraded this to about 5,000 and some are now maintaining that figure is closer to 4,000. This resulted from post-war claims in the later 1860s which were over inflated. In fact, several times the author states how Hill often claimed greater numbers of Union soldiers killed and captured than there actually were. But most Southern Mythologists and many other historians make sure they don't mention the reason there were so many Union soldiers killed at Cold Harbor was that for days after the battle, when the two armies were within rifle shot of each other, Confederate sharpshooters used the Union wounded on the battlefield for target practice. Even back then this was considered a war crime. Southern Mythologists also like to use this battle to prove General Grant was a butcher when it came to sending men into battle, while overlooking it was General Lee who ordered Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, when even more men died and thousands more were wounded. As a U.S. Senator once said, "The first casualty when war comes, is truth." No argument there, as I have personal experience in regard to that.
But the biggest blunder was when the author discussed Hill's time in Florida during the Seminole Wars. On page 20 he writes, "His duty station was Fort Clinch, situated on the Withlacoochee River northeast of Tampa Bay." Even as a resident of Florida since 1979, I'd be hard pressed to tell someone where that river was before I recently looked it up. But I knew Fort Clinch wasn't where the author put it. Even today it would take more than several hours by car on the Interstates to get from Tampa Bay, in west-central Florida, to Fort Clinch, which is on Amelia Island in the extreme northeast of Florida. Florida is a large state and it would take a lot less time to get from Baltimore to New York City, than it would from Tampa Bay to Amelia Island. I wonder how he made that mistake.
