{"product_id":"9780312382230","title":"Desperate Engagement : How a Little-Known Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C., and Changed American History","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eDesperate Engagement\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Marc Leepson\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMarc Leepson, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ecritically acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eFlag: An American Biography\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e examines the Battle of Monocacy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e---\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ea crucial and singular moment in the Civil War\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e---\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ewith his trademark historical detail and enlivening voice\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Battle of Monocacy, which took place four miles south of Frederick, Maryland on a blisteringly hot day in 1864, was a full-field engagement between some 12,000 battle-hardened Confederate troops led by the controversial Jubal Anderson Early, and some 5,800 Union troops, many of them untested in battle, under the mercurial Lew Wallace. When the fighting ended, Early had routed Wallace in the northernmost Confederate victory of the war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwo days later, on another brutally hot afternoon, the foul-mouthed, hard-drinking Early sat astride his horse outside the gates of Fort Stevens in the upper northwestern fringe of Washington, D.C. He was about to make one of the war's most fateful, portentous decisions: whether or not to order his men to invade the nation's capital. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnce manned by tens of thousands of experienced troops, Washington's ring of forts and fortifications that day were in the hands of a ragtag collection of walking wounded Union soldiers, the Veteran Reserve Corps, along with what were known as hundred days' men---raw recruits who had joined the Union Army to serve as temporary, rear-echelon troops. It was with great shock, then, that the city received news of the impending rebel attack. With near panic filling the streets, Union leaders scrambled to coordinate a force of volunteers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut Early did not pull the trigger. With his men exhausted after the fight at Monocacy and the ensuing march, Early paused before attacking the feebly manned Fort Stevens, giving Union General Ulysses Grant just enough time to send thousands of veteran troops up from Richmond. In the battle that followed, Abraham Lincoln became the only sitting president in American history to come so close to military action that he was fired upon by the enemy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHistorian Marc Leepson shows that had Early arrived in Washington one day earlier, the ensuing havoc easily could have brought about a different conclusion to the war. He uses a vast amount of primary material, including memoirs, official records, newspaper accounts, diary entries and eyewitness reports in a reader-friendly and engaging description of the events surrounding what became known as \"the Battle That Saved Washington.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Leepson's arguments are persuasive.... \u003ci\u003eDesperate Engagement\u003c\/i\u003e will (of course) be of interest to Civil War buffs, whose numbers remain legion nearly a century and a half after the war's end, and to many other readers as well.\"-- Jonathan Yardley, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Leepson lucidly narrates the campaign....a hard-fought, dramatic episode that Leepson brings vividly to life.\"-- \u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eFlag: An American Biography\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“There is no story about the flag that he omits.... [We] now have a comprehensive guide to its unfolding.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The fascination of history is in its details, and the author of \u003ci\u003eFlag: An American Biography\u003c\/i\u003e knows how to find them and turn them into compelling reading. This book brings out the irony, humor, myth, and behind-the-scenes happenings that make our flag's 228-year history so fascinating.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Saturday Evening Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“To understand the USA and her citizens, it is necessary to understand the origins, the legends, and the meaning of our flag. Marc Leepson's \u003ci\u003eFlag \u003c\/i\u003eis a grand book, worthy of its grand subject.” —\u003ci\u003eHomer Hickam, author of Rocket Boys \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Keeper’s Son\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eFlag\u003c\/i\u003e is a very significant contribution to our history. And it is a book that everyone who cares about the United States should read.” —\u003ci\u003eVeteran Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780312382230\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"St. Martin's Griffin","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40654262829262,"sku":"9780312382230","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_f4c4a15d-af87-4aeb-b7ce-04310ce9a833.jpg?v=1639364306","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780312382230","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}