Author: Thomas W. Cutrer
Publisher: LSU Press
Published: 2009-11
Total Pages: 208
ISBN-13: 9780807136584
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →In his standard reference work on the Civil War, Generals in Blue, Ezra Warner declared George B. McClellan (1826--1885) "one of the most controversial figures in American military history." In this revealing book, Thomas W. Cutrer provides the definitive edition of McClellan's detailed diary and letters from his service in the Mexican War (1846--1848), during which he began the rise that culminated in his being named general in chief of the Union forces and commander of the Army of the Potomac early in the Civil War. McClellan graduated second in his class from West Point in 1846 and served as a second lieutenant in Company A of the prestigious Corps of Engineers, the only formation of combat engineers in the United States Army. The company participated in Major General Winfield Scott's invasion of Mexico, playing a prominent role in the siege of Vera Cruz and the battles of Cerro Gordo, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec and in the capture of Mexico City. Although only twenty-one years old at the war's end, McClellan earned brevet promotions to first lieutenant and then captain for his efforts. McClellan's colorful diary and frequent letters to his socially and politically prominent Philadelphia family provide a wealth of military details of the campaign, insights into the character of his fellow engineers -- including Robert E. Lee and P. G. T. Beauregard -- and accounts of the friction that arose between the professional soldiers and the officers and men of the volunteer regiments that made up Scott's command. A courageous, indefatigable, and superbly intelligent young man, McClellan formed close personal loyalties in those years. His diaries also reveal a man contemptuous of those he perceived as less talented than he, quick to see conspiracies where none existed, and eager to place upon others the blame for his own shortcomings and to take credit for actions performed by others. On the banks of the Rio Grande during his first weeks with the army, McClellan wrote in his diary: "I came down here with high hopes, with pleasing anticipations of distinction, of being in hard fought battles and acquiring a name and reputation as a stepping stone to a still greater eminence in some future and greater war." Carefully edited by Thomas W. Cutrer, these diary entries and letters do indeed trace McClellan's rapid development as a soldier and leader and put on full display the talent, ambition, and arrogance that characterized his career as general and politician.
Author: Shaun Usher
Publisher:
Published: 2017-10-05
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781786891693
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →FOLLOW-UP TO THE PHENOMENAL INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER INCLUDING LETTERS FROM: Jane Austen, Richard Burton, Helen Keller, Alan Turing, Albus Dumbledore, Eleanor Roosevelt, Henry James, Sylvia Plath, John Lennon, Gerald Durrell, Janis Joplin, Mozart, Janis Joplin, Hunter S. Thompson, C. G. Jung, Katherine Mansfield, Marge Simpson, David Bowie, Dorothy Parker, Buckminster Fuller, Beatrix Potter, Che Guevara, Evelyn Waugh, Charlotte Bront� and many more. Discover Richard Burton's farewell note to Elizabeth Taylor, Helen Keller's letter to The New York Symphony Orchestra about 'hearing' their concert through her fingers, the final missives from a doomed Japan Airlines flight in 1985, David Bowie's response to his first piece of fan mail from America and even Albus Dumbledore writing to a reader applying for the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts. More Letters of Note is another rich and inspiring collection, which reminds us that much of what matters in our lives finds its way into our letters.
Author: Samuel Pepys
Publisher: General Books
Published: 2010-03
Total Pages: 314
ISBN-13: 9781154338126
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1865. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... a while since we rode at his house. And he hath rode, ho says, now his journey, many miles in it with one horse, and out-drives any coach, and out-goes any horse, and so easy, he says. So, for curiosity, I went into it to try it, and up the hill1 to the heath,2 and over the cart ruts, and found it pretty well, but not so easy as he pretends. 6th. To London, to pack up more things; and there I saw fires burning in the street, as it is through the whole City, by the Lord Mayor's order. Thence by water to the Duke of Albemarle's: all the way fires on each side of the Thames, and strange to see in broad daylight two or three burials upon the bankside, one at the very heels of another: doubtless, all of the plague; and yet at least forty or fifty people going along with every one of them. The Duke mighty pleasant with me; telling me that he is certainly informed that the Dutch were not come home upon the 1st instant, and so he hopes our fleete may meet with them. 7th. To the Tower, and there sent for the Weekly Bill, and find 8252 dead in all, and of them 6978 of the plague; which is a most dreadful number, and shows reasons to fear that the plague hath got that hold that it will yet continue among us. Thence to Branford, reading " The Villaine," a pretty good play, all the way. There a coach of Mr. PovyV stood ready for me, and he at his house ready to come in, and so we together merrily to Swakely,4 to Sir R. Viner's: 1 Shooter's Hill. 2 Blackheath. 3 Aug. 6, 1666. Dined with Mr. Povy, and then went with him to see a country-house he had bought near Brentford.--Evelyn's Diary. 1 Swakeley House, in the parish of Ickenham, Middlesex, was built in 1638, by Sir Edmund Wright, whose daughter marrying Sir James Harrington, one of Charles I.'s judges, he became possessed ...
Author: Jane Franklin
Publisher:
Published: 1923
Total Pages: 268
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Jane Franklin (1792-1875) became well known in the middle of the nineteenth century for her tireless campaign to discover the fate of the lost Arctic expedition led by her husband, Sir John Franklin (1786-1847). The editor of this volume, Willingham Franklin Rawnsley (1845-1927), was Sir John's great-nephew, with access to the family papers. The four sections of this work, first published in 1923, address Jane's life before her marriage in 1828; the period when her husband was posted to the Mediterranean; life in Tasmania, where Sir John served as governor; and Lady Franklin's quest to learn the fate of her husband's expedition in search of the North-West Passage. Given appropriate context, the extracts illuminate her interest in European travel, her activities in Tasmania - especially in education and the treatment of female convicts - and her movements over the globe after searches discovered evidence of her husband's demise--Provided by publisher.
Author: Samuel Pepys
Publisher: Wentworth Press
Published: 2019-04-04
Total Pages: 524
ISBN-13: 9781012266073
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.