Drawn from letters, diaries, speeches, articles, poems, songs, military reports, legal opinions, and memoirs, this collection brings together over 120 pieces by more than 60 men and women to create a firsthand narrative of the first year of the Civil War. Beginning on the eve of Lincoln's election in 1860 and ending in January 1862 with the appointment of Edwin M. Stanton as Secretary of War, the selections provide a sense of the immediacy, uncertainty,...

Spanning the crucial months from January 1863 to March 1864, this third volume of The Library of America's highly acclaimed four volume series presents an incomparable portrait of a nation at war with itself while illuminating the military and political events that brought the Union closer to victory and slavery closer to destruction. It brings together more than 140 contemporary letters, diary entries, speeches, articles, messages, and poems by more...

" ... [Draws from] letters, diary entries, speeches, articles, messages and poems to provide an incomparable literary portrait of a nation at war with itself, while illuminating the military and political events that brought the Union to final victory and slavery and secession to their ultimate destruction ..."--Dust jacket flap.