audiobook Why Africa Matters by Cedric Mayson in History

Description

Until relatively recently; conventional wisdom held that the Trans-Mississippi Theater was a backwater of the American Civil War. Scholarship in recent decades has corrected this oversight; and a growing number of historians agree that the events west of the Mississippi River proved integral to the outcome of the war. Nevertheless; generals in the Trans-Mississippi have received little attention compared to their eastern counterparts; and many remain mere footnotes to Civil War history. This welcome volume features cutting-edge analyses of eight Southern generals in this most neglected theater—Thomas Hindman; Theophilus Holmes; Edmund Kirby Smith; Mosby Monroe Parsons; John Marmaduke; Thomas James Churchill; Thomas Green; and Joseph Orville Shelby—providing an enlightening new perspective on the Confederate high command.Although the Trans-Mississippi has long been considered a dumping ground for failed generals from other regions; the essays presented here demolish that myth; showing instead that; with a few notable exceptions; Confederate commanders west of the Mississippi were homegrown; not imported; and compared well with their more celebrated peers elsewhere. With its virtually nonexistent infrastructure; wildly unpredictable weather; and few opportunities for scavenging; the Trans-Mississippi proved a challenge for commanders on both sides of the conflict. As the contributors to this volume demonstrate; only the most creative minds could operate successfully in such an unforgiving environment.While some of these generals have been the subjects of larger studies; others; including Generals Holmes; Parsons; and Churchill; receive their first serious scholarly attention in these pages. Clearly demonstrating the independence of the Trans-Mississippi and the nuances of the military struggle there; while placing both the generals and the theater in the wider scope of the war; these eight essays offer valuable new insight into Confederate military leadership and the ever-vexing questions of how and why the South lost this most defining of American conflicts.