Not War But Murder: Cold Harbor 1864

By Ernest B. Furgurson

Book Overview

Ernest Furgurson, author of Ashes of Glory and Chancellorsville 1863 , brings his talents to a pivotal and often neglected Civil War battle-the fierce, unremitting slaughter at Cold Harbor, Virginia, which ended the lives of 10,000 Union soldiers. In June of 1864, the Army of the Potomac attacked heavily entrenched Confederate forces outside of Richmond, hoping to break the strength of Robert E. Lee and take the capital. Facing almost certain death, Union soldiers pinned their names to their uniforms in the forlorn hope that their bodies would be identified and buried. Furgurson sheds new light on the personal conflicts that led to Grant's worst defeat and argues that it was a watershed moment in the war. Offering a panorama rich in detail and revealing anecdotes that brings the dark days of the campaign to life, Not War But Murder is historical narrative as compelling as any novel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679781390
• ISBN13: 9780679781394
• Release Date: August 2001
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

The continuing and griping saga of Grant's march to Richmond

Ernest Fergurson is one of the most readable writers of Civil War history. If you begin reading Grant's campaign's from the Battle in the Wilderness written by Gordon Rhea, then read Rhea's book on the Battle for Spotsylvania Court House and his To The Anna River, you will be ready for Not War But Murder. This book is a page turner. I read the first 100 pages in two nights. Staying awake until 5 AM, I just couldn't put the book down. As a Civil War buff for over 60 years, I never had books available that could detail this part of the Civil War. Even after reading Grant's own biography of the war, the explicit details of all four of these books is mind altering. Following each battle one more deadly then the next. You are transported in time to 137 years ago, when tens of thousands of men died weekly as Grant moves The Union Army to his eventual victory. But the opportunities to defeat Lee were there on almost every given day as these two armies fought from the Wilderness to Richmond. Not War But Murder illuminates the Battle at Cold Harbor, just outside the Richmond fortifications. Here Grant came with a force twice the size of Lee's. Lee's army was ill fed, ill clothed and ill armed. But the Confederates were fighting to save the south in their backyard. Lee was sick, tired and without his greatest generals, Longstreet, Jackson and Stuart. Yet Grant and Meade made blunder after blunder allowing Lee the opportunity to slaughter Union soldiers. In the end Lee was forced to the seige of Petersburg and Richmond, but at what a price in dead, wounded and captured soldiers. This book relates less than two weeks of battle but they are told from the viewpoint of North and South, Officer and enlisted man. Fergurson has done his research and is a master storyteller. No Civil War buff should miss all four of these great books.

An outstanding book about a little- studied Civil War battle

In "Chancellorsville 1863: The Souls of the Brave" and "Ashes of Glory," Ernest B. Furgurson showed a mastery of the anecdotal style of historical writing, weaving personal accounts together to tell a story from ground level. In "Not War But Murder," he combines this ability with thorough archival research and an ability to write good operational military history. The result is a joy to read, a book that will appeal to the scholar and the general reader, the Civil War neophyte and the serious buff. The book is also attractively presented, with George Skoch's matchless maps- he's the best in the business as far as I'm concerned.This book is also a winner because Furgurson creates a concise but comprehensive thesis, and argues it very persuasively. Whether he is "right" about everything, or has the final word on Lee and Grant is hardly the point. His arguments are coherent and believable, and he presents them in an entertaining format. I applaud him especially for picking a side on the Lee vs. Grant cease fire controversy. Grant apologists should realize that the author is not condemning U.S. as a bad general.I heartily recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the Civil War's eastern theater. It is certainly difficult to provide fresh material on Lee and Grant, but Furgurson carries it off with style.

Especially recommended for avid Civil War history buffs!

Ernest Furgurson's Not War But Murder is recommended for avid followers of Civil War history: it focuses on Cold Harbor events, recounting the bloody campaign there and providing the first book-length analysis of the battle. 1864 history and military events come alive in a survey which includes underlying influences.