Could the South Have Won the War

About the Book

This book is a new and refreshing approach to the Civil War. It destroys the many myths propagated by other writers who say that the South could not have won the war because of the lack on industrial capacity, the blockade, the lack of manpower and many other excuses. It refutes the claim by the National Park Service and other historians who say that the South was too disorganized by victory after the first battle at Manassas to march into Washington, D.C. The confederate mistakes at Fort Donelson, the invasion of Kentucky, Stones River, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga and Atlanta are all explained. Rather then putting the blame on “Jeb” Stuart and Longstreet, as others have done, it documents that Robert E. Lee was responsible for his defeat at Gettysburg.

Much emphasis is put on the successes of the guerrillas and cavalry raiders who were killing Federal soldiers at the rate of five or six to one and who were tying up federal soldiers at the rate of 10 or 20 to one. It destroys the myth that the Union cavalry reached equality with the Confederate cavalry at the Battle of Brandy Station in June 1863. It documents the failure of Union cavalry to defeat “Jeb” Stuart or to even recapture some of their wagon train at Hanover, Pennsylvania prior to the Battle of Gettysburg. It describes the Union cavalry disasters at Buckland, Virginia in June and the following month when two union cavalry brigades were wiped out near Andersonville, Georgia. Here they lost more men than the British in the Charge if the Light Brigade.

About the Author

The author graduated from the Grove City College, Gove City, Pennsylvania where he served as Alumni Editor for the college newspaper. He served in World War II and the Korean War after which he spent much of his career as a technical and specification writer. He was an avid student of the battles of World War II especially those between German General Rommel and the British generals in North Africa. He continues his hobby if studying military campaigns. He disagreed with the conclusion of the four authors of the book Why the South Lost the War who concluded that they lost the war because they lost their nationalism. After retiring he researched and visited many of the battlefields of the Civil War so that he could refute the conclusion of these four authors. The book contains much new information and destroys myths made by the National Park Service, Shelby Foote and other authors. He is currently writing another book about an unknown Union general and two brothers who became guerrillas.