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It was a war that shaped America more than any other in our history since the Revolutionary War, and its effects were perhaps even more far reaching. More lives were lost and more domestic property destroyed than in any other conflict in which this country has been involved. More, in fact, than in all other past struggles combined.

Much has been written about the Civil War since its conclusion nearly a century and a half ago; those five bloody years have proven a seemingly inexhaustible source and inspiration for films, novels, documentaries, and works of history. We are drawn to the period, and return to it ceaselessly, for we have come to acknowledge the war as the crucible in which the nation's identity was forged by fire, defining what the country was and what it would become. Harpers Ferry, Fort Sumter, Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Appomattox, Ford's Theatre--far more than names or places, they are epic moments in a drama of courage, sacrifice, and profound change.

But what was it like to have been there? To have watched John Brown hang and Pickett charge and Lee surrender and Abraham Lincoln assassinated? The Most Fearful Ordeal contains The New York Times's original coverage of these and other crucial events of the Civil War, offering today's reader history as it was first being transmitted, via the newly invented telegraph, by reporters and other eyewitnesses on the scene. Here are the accounts that people at the time would have read as these events were unfolding. Indeed, the coverage provided by The Times and other newspapers was their only connection to what was happening. Every word was pored over, every article read again and again. "The American flag has given place to the Palmetto of South Carolina"---so begins, with ominous solemnity, the coverage of the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861. As Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., declared that August, when his son and namesake, the future Supreme Court justice, prepared to depart for Virginia, "We must have something to eat and the papers to read."

Here are the legendary figures and events as they first appeared in print, giving readers history's first draft: urgent, alive, reporting the passions and tensions of the moment, raw and unpolished. Often the words and events that have endured the longest in our national memory (such as Lincoln's Gettysburg Address) received only brief note, and occasionally there are mistakes in initial assumptions (believing that Bull Run was a major Union victory rather than a catastrophic defeat).

With introduction and notes by Pulitzer Prize--winning Civil War historian James McPherson that puts each major event and dispatch into historical context, The Most Fearful Ordeal is enhanced by period photographs and maps that explain the strategies behind the major battles. Most of all, it brings to life the fearful days, and makes the Civil War a vivid presence in this new century.
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Customer Reviews (1)

New York Times, yes:McPherson, no.
While the excerpts from the New York Times are valuable and instructive in themselves, this book is disappointing for what it does not have--any valuable input from McPherson.He adds about one paragraph at the beginning of each chapter, information summing up the war at that period, available in any encyclopedia.The Times text is totally un-annotated.There are no notes to identify individuals mentioned in the reports or the reporters who sometimes left their initials at the end of their text.Anyone interested in how the war was covered is left searching other sources for information. ... Read more

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Memoirs of nursing the confederate troops during the Civil War, by the lady commonly called 'The Florence Nightingale of the South'. Contents include: Alpha - Alabama - Buckner Hospital, Gainesville, Alabama - Ringgold - Newnan, Georgia - Omega - Confederate Women - An Incident of the Battle of the Wilderness - Fenner's Louisiana Battery - "Bob Wheat" - Nelly - Brave Boys - The Young Color-Bearer - Bravery honored by a Foe - Sally's Ride - High Price for Needles and Thread - Bunny - Beauregard - AFTER TWENTY YEARS - "My Boys" - The Confederate Reunion at Dallas - Camp Nichols - The March of Time - A Woman's Record

This title is also available in paperback, ISBN 9781847780577 ... Read more

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"CO. AYTCH,"MAURY GRAYS,FIRST TENNESSEE REGIMENT;OR,A SIDE SHOW OF THE BIG SHOW. ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library’s preservation reformatting program. ... Read more

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A Union officer on campaign

The author of this book served as Adjutant and Major in the 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and his primary objective in writing his account was to provide a regimental history. Whilst the book serves admirably in that capacity, it is also the case that Hitchcock proposed to leave a record of his own Civil War experiences for his family and in that he has been even more successful. This is a personal and personable account of a Union officer at war and Hitchcock's descriptions of battlefield combat are particularly immediate and well told. We join him and his regiment in camp, on campaign and on several bloody fields of conflict including Blue Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg-where Hitchcock's experience is a classic account of the horror of the Union charge-to Chancellorsville and wars end. Available in soft back and cloth bound hard cover with dust jacket, head and tail bands andgold foil lettering to the spine, ideal for collectors. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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A classic account of the Civil War from a Union Army Infantry officer In 1861 John Beatty raised a company of Ohio Volunteers to take their part in the great conflict between the states. From this time, as an officer of the 3rd Ohio Volunteer regiment he faithfully kept an almost daily journal of life in a Union Infantry regiment. As the campaign in West Virginia began Beatty recorded the events of army life on the march, around the campfire, on picquet duty and in clashes with the Confederate enemy. He has a fine sense of humour and his anecdotes of dialogue involving soldiers, former slaves, his brother officers and their 'rebel' prisoners elevate his text from the run of the mill military memoir. Battlefield accounts are equally graphically drawn including Perryville which he experienced as a regimental officer. Promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers in 1862, Beatty commanded a brigade at Stone River, Tuilahoma and Chickamauga. Another brigade appointment saw him in action at Chattanooga and Knoxville. This edition includes the narrative of General Harrison Hobart of the Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, Beatty's close friend, in which he recounts the story of his capture, imprisonment and escape. ... Read more