The Civil War Chronicle: The Only Day-by-Day Portrait of America's Tragic Conflict as Told by Soldiers, Journalists, Politicians, Farmers, Nurses, Slaves, and Other Eyewitnesses

On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States, winning less than the majority of the popular vote but 59 percent of the Electoral College. In the North, the Republican candidate's victory was widely, though not unanimously, hailed, while in the South it was roundly condemned. Horace Greeley, in an editorial reproduced in this excellent collection of primary documents, called Lincoln's record "an invincible attestation of the superiority of Free Society," whereas an Atlanta newspaper promised a Pennsylvania Avenue "paved ten fathoms deep with mangled bodies."

Drawing on journalistic accounts, memoirs, battle dispatches, and letters from actors large and small in the harrowing conflict, Gettysburg College historian Matthew Gallman gathers an indispensable day-by-day record of the Civil War, enlisting seven fellow historians (two of whom teach at West Point) to provide commentary that gives the documents needed context. In his introduction to the volume, the noted Reconstruction scholar Eric Foner notes that the war made a nation-state of what had been a far-flung congeries of states. It ushered in the first national currency, the first federal income tax, and a national banking system, among other innovations. As it was unfolding, however, the war lent itself to being seen with smaller-scale immediacy--and that urgency, with all its attendant chaos, shines through on every page. A welcome and useful addition to the libraries of scholars, Civil War buffs, and students. --Gregory McNamee