Seizing destiny : the Army of the Potomac's "Valley Forge" and the Civil War winter that saved the Union

Acknowledgments and Introduction Chapter One: The Bedraggled Army Chapter Two: The Old Year has Closed Chapter Three: Go Forward and Give Us Victories Chapter Four: Suffering Chapter Five: Great Advances Chapter Six: Improving Spirits, Deep Beliefs Chapter Seven: Longing for the Spring Campaign Chapter Eight: The Finest Army on the Planet Chapter Nine: The False Start Chapter Ten: The End of the "Valley Forge" Chapter Eleven: After Chancellorsville Epilogue Postscript: Posterity and Commemoration Appendix 1: After the Army of the Potomac's "Valley Forge." Appendix 2: The Union Women of "Valley Forge"Appendix 3: Order of Battle: Army of the Potomac, May 1-6, 1863 Bibliography Index.

How fighting Joe Hooker turned things around during a low point in the Civil War: "Exceptionally well-written... the result of painstaking research." —Brig. Gen. John W. Mountcastle, USA (ret.), former chief of military history, US Army Depression. Desertion. Disease. The Army of the Potomac faced a trio of unrelenting enemies during the winter of 1863. Following the catastrophic defeat at the battle of Fredericksburg, the army settled into winter quarters—and despair settled into the army. Morale sank to its lowest level while desertions reached an all-time high. Illness packed the hospitals. Political intrigues, careerist schemes, and harsh winter weather demoralized everyone. Even the army's livestock suffered, with more than 1, 000 horses and mules dying every week. Then Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, a pugnacious tactician aptly nicknamed "Fighting Joe, " took command of the army. And a remarkable thing happened: A man known for his hardscrabble battlefield tenacity showed an amazing brilliance for organization and leadership. With Chief of Staff Dan Butterfield working alongside him, Hooker rebuilt the army from the bottom up. In addition to instituting logistical, ordnance, and administrative reforms, he insisted on proper troop care, rigorous inspections, and battle drills. Hooker doled out promotions and furloughs by merit, conducted large-scale raids, streamlined the army's command and control, and fielded a new cavalry corps and military intelligence organization. Hooker's war on poor discipline and harsh conditions revitalized a dying army. During this ninety-three-day resurgence, the Army of the Potomac reversed its fortunes and set itself on the path to ultimate victory. Hooker's achievement represents nothing less than the greatest non-battle turning point since Valley Forge in the American Revolution—through it has long gone unnoticed or underappreciated by modern historians. Based on soldiers' records, diaries, and letters, from the lowest private to the highest general, this is the full story of how these citizen-soldiers overcame adversity, seized their destiny, and saved the nation.

About The Author: Albert Z. Conner Jr., a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and Georgetown University, is a Vietnam combat veteran and career intelligence officer. He has worked as a military historian since 1995. He developed his unique knowledge and analytical skills by studying the armed forces of several nations (including our own). Al has published extensively on multiple aspects of military history. He is a former president of the Fredericksburg Civil War Roundtable and Stafford County Historical Society, advisory board member of the Adams ’71 Center for Military History and Strategic Analysis at VMI, and a volunteer with the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. He lives in Stafford, Virginia, the scene of this remarkable story. Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is an associate professor of journalism and mass communication at St. Bonaventure University. He also works as a historian for the National Park Service at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, where he gives tours at four major Civil War battlefields (Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania), as well as at the building where Stonewall Jackson died. He’s the author of books on the battles of Wilderness and Chancellorsville, and with Kris White, co-author of Simply Murder: The Battle of Fredericksburg and The Last Days of Stonewall Jackson, plus monograph-length articles on Spotsylvania. Mackowski and White have also written for Civil War Times, America’s Civil War, Hallowed Ground, and Blue & Gray. HISTORY / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877) Depression. Desertion. Disease. The Army of the Potomac faced a trio of unrelenting enemies during the winter of 1863. Following the catastrophic defeat at the battle of Fredericksburg in December of 1862, the army settled into winter quarters-and despair settled into the army.