The Confederate War

Ever since the Civil War ended there have been numerous books written regarding the reasons why the Confederacy lost the war. Most of these books seem to believe that the Confederacy lost the war because they lacked the desire to win. In Gary Gallagher’s The Confederate War, Gallagher offers a different reason for the Confederacy loss than most books written about the Confederate War.

Gallagher has thoroughly researched newspapers, diaries, books and historical documents which support his argument that the Confederate War was lost due to a lack of sound military planning and not the widely known thought that the Confederacy lacked the desire to win the war. Many historians believe that the Confederacy failed to succeed due to failed alliances within the confederacy. Gallagher states in his book “that Historians argue that the confederates lacked sufficient will to win the war, never developed a strong collective national identity and pursued a flawed military strategy that wasted precious manpower. ” (Gallagher, 1997, p.

3) Gallagher argues that the South had a strong desire to win the war and a strong sense of national togetherness but what was lacking was a good military strategy to win the Civil War. Gallagher has provided proof of his arguments through his vast amounts of research that the Confederate soldiers had a strong desire to win and the people did ban together with a sense of national pride. He also shows that they did have a weak military plan. I believe that Gallagher’s book offers a unique look at the Civil War. He adds a different twist to the contemporary thinking of the events and people involved in the Confederate War.

I think anyone wanting to learn about a different aspect of the Civil War would find this book thought-provoking and insightful. I believe anyone studying the Civil War would benefit from learning about this authors different point of view. Gallagher’s book offers a unique look at the Civil War from the Confederate point of view. He quotes newspaper articles, private letters and diaries from and about the Confederate soldiers during the war which I found inspiring and certainly led me to value Gallagher’s insights. After reading this book I find myself agreeing with Gallagher’s point of view, he offers a very convincing argument.