Joseph WheelanRecensioni

A detailed, hill by hill, ridge by ridge depiction of the battles for Okinawa. Unfortunately, a bit too much time was spent on the details, for my needs and not enough on the overall strategy and mission. Everything is mentioned, the misery, the brutality, the suicidal defense by the Japanese, but I would have liked a bit more focus on the entire effort and not the details. There were also a couple of small but glaring errors that call into question the accuracy of some of the specific information, but not enough to question the work in general. Not bad, but at this date and time, there are better stories about the battle of Okinawa.

I read Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror 1801-1805 by Joseph Wheelan a while ago. The book was excellent. It highlighted something that absolutely bears repetition; the West's conflict with the Near East, or Muslim world is nothing new, Diplomacy will help bring pauses but ultimately force is the only thing that seems to work consistently. That is a lesson that Israel learned, and is showing success with the sudden friendship of the Sunni world.

The book highlights the atrocity of "white slavery." The beys and sultans of the Barbary Coast held people and ships for tribute. The Europeans paid, presumably because of geographical proximity to continued harassment. The U.S., not so constrained, went to war. When was the last time Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia or Libya captured a U.S. ship? Probably back in the early 1800's. The Somali pirates may need a similar "lesson in manners."

The only reason why I don't give the book a "5" is the lack of discussion about whether Sheridan's "total war" tactics were necessary against the Plains Indians. The book discussed the necessity concerning the Civil War. The book at times verged at times on being a hagiography. Otherwise, the book contained a lot of information about both the General and the times of which I was not aware. The book had a particularly interesting discussion about Role in the early history of Yellowstone National Park. I was unaware that he had interests beyond the military.

I would recommend this book highly to any person with a serious interest in history.

Remarkable leader. Great read.

Great overview of the post-presidential career of JQA. Wheelan's book sheds light on a part of American history that is usually glossed over, or completely by-passed. Shown as a flawed hero, a Cassandrian figure, patriot of the first order Mr. Adams list of accomplishments in Congress is something that anyone interested in American history should know. Good, clear writing accessible to all readers. Is this the greatest book on John Q. Adams, no, but it is highly recommended.

Bloody Spring covers the battles of Grant's Overland Campaign across Virginia, from the Wilderness to Petersburg, in May and June of 1864. For the first three years of the war, Lincoln had been exasperated by the lack of progress by his Eastern generals. After Grant's successes in the West, Lincoln promoted him to general-in-chief over all union forces.

Lee and his lieutenants had grown complacent, but Grant would soon prove that the Union forces would fight. By the time the Overland Campaign ended, more than 100,000 had been killed, captured, or wounded. Lee's forces were so depleted that he never initiated another major offensive, and the war would end within a year.

After a lifetime of reading and studying the Civil War that was even more profoundly focused by the sesquicentennial years, I have been ranging around looking for books to put an exclamation mark on the final phases of the war. I had read Jay Winik’s masterful April 1865 some time ago, and more recently the impressive work Richmond Burning: The Last Days of the Confederate Capital, by Nelson Lankford, but in the hopes of locating something with perhaps a wider compass I selected Their Last Full Measure: The Final Days of the Civil War, the latest book by Joseph Wheelan. A reporter rather than a historian, Wheelan has built a fine reputation writing narrative histories about Jefferson, the Mexican War, and the Civil War, including last year’s well-received installment about Grant’s famous “Overland Campaign,” Bloody Spring: Forty Days that Sealed the Confederacy’s Fate.
Their Last Full Measure – an engaging, generally well-written but occasionally uneven and by some measures deeply-flawed narrative – surveys the critical events in chronological chapters with titles for each of the final months of the war. This is a welcome technique in that the full sweep of the war is brought to bear in much of its several theaters, the way it might have been viewed by its contemporaries on both sides of the conflict, rather than the more traditional approach that tends to segment events by geography. The only drawback to this approach is that some chapters – such as “April 1865” – will of necessity be substantially longer than others, but this is a quibble.
Following a succinct prologue, in the first chapter, “January 1865,” Wheelan admirably constructs a skeleton of the essentials requisite to bring the reader up to the first days of that calendar and then competently and colorfully puts flesh upon those bones with the events that follow. All eyes may have been on Richmond – or more accurately the besieged Petersburg which was the real gateway to the Confederate capital, and the stalemated forces of Lee and Grant before it – but it was not the only show in town. There was Sherman wreaking havoc in the Carolinas. There was increased pressure by Union forces on the dwindling rebel presence in the west. There was the critical fall of Fort Fisher in North Carolina. The Northern public was growing impatient with Grant, with whom so much faith had been placed the year before, and Richmond still stubbornly held under the auspices of the increasingly delusional Confederate President Jefferson Davis, but the reality was that the Confederacy was on the brink, in tatters on all of its fronts, and it was Grant’s strategic vision that had delivered this outcome.
Wheelan is a talented writer who carries the reader along effortlessly through a great deal of material in multiple arenas with prose that rarely gets bogged down or boring. The exception possibly is in the description of battles, where he switches his narrative gear so drastically that it feels as if another writer has taken his pen: fans of military history will appreciate the careful fine detail, the general reader perhaps less so. This is exacerbated to some degree by the dearth of maps included in the volume, which makes military maneuvers more difficult to follow without resort to outside references.
Sometimes, it should be said, the narrative is heavy with anecdote, some familiar, some less so. Is there anyone who still has not yet learned the story of Wilmer McLean’s luckless move from his house on the Manassas battlefield to Appomattox, where his home hosted the surrender? Perhaps fewer have heard about Confederate Secretary of War John Breckenridge’s ire at Sherman’s alleged stinginess with his whiskey at the less familiar surrender of Joe Johnston’s army. Such stories indeed add color and personality to the drama, and as such are welcome, but what is missing of more value to historians that might have filled these paragraphs instead?
Conspicuous in its absence is any kind of detailed coverage of African-Americans in this critical period of the war’s conclusion, either as slaves, or free, or contraband, or as the proud members of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) that made up a full ten percent of Union forces by 1865 and were pivotal to the end stage of the war effort. This is highly unusual for a Civil War history published in 2015. Blacks are referenced rarely and typically only peripherally, such as in the accusations leveled against Sherman with regard to their treatment. I honestly thought I must have overlooked something, so I later turned to the index for confirmation. There is no listing for “African-Americans” or “USCT;” there are listings for “blacks” and “slaves,” but only with a mere handful of referenced pages. I looked to other recent books on the era to confirm my theory, and in the end it has to be concluded that Wheelan essentially overlooked the vital African-American dimension to the final months of the Civil War. As such, there is an outsize block missing in the narrative that leaves an unfortunate gaping hole that the average reader might stumble past but that the trained historian cannot help but stumble upon.
The greatest weakness to Their Last Full Measure, however, is the “Epilogue” – which to my mind should never have been written. It seems obvious that once his central story was told, Wheelan hoped to write a grand conclusion, not only about end of the war, but about the Civil War itself, about its aftermath, about how it resonates to this day. He is not the first to attempt this, but he may be the latest to fall flat with his effort, which unfortunately – as it is the penultimate chapter – drags the rest of the work down with it, perhaps unfairly. Still, the “Epilogue” is so flawed that it cuts a grove across the entire volume, and it at last betrays the fact that Wheelan after all is not a professional historian, because it becomes increasingly obvious in these final pages that he is largely unfamiliar with the latest scholarly historiography.
In this concluding flourish, Wheelan seems to have fallen victim to many of the incorrect notions of decades past which have been firmly discarded by today’s generation of Civil War historians. For instance, Wheelan asserts that “The Confederacy’s military leaders were superior to the Union’s during the war’s early stages, and so were their troops …” [p338] This anecdotal observation has been thoroughly discredited and even at the time was known to be a fully false assumption. All eyes were indeed on Richmond throughout the war, to Lincoln’s great frustration, but for all the bad generals and lost battles in the east that captivated the public’s eye, the western theater showed a string of Union successes: Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Memphis, New Orleans. The South had bright lights like Lee and Longstreet and Jackson in the east, but they also had dreadful generals like Polk and Bragg in the west and a grand strategic failure in the martyred Albert Sidney Johnston. The Union had such bumblers as Burnside and Hooker in the east, as well as the timid, tentative George McClellan, but they also had Grant and Sherman and Sheridan and Thomas in the west – and some of these later came east and crushed the Confederacy in the end. Noted Civil War historian Gary Gallagher rightly credits Lee as the greatest general in the field on either side, but counters that Grant was the greatest soldier.
Wheelan also recycles the core “Lost Cause Myth” excuse – a central tenet of Lee’s “farewell address” – that “The North’s daunting advantages in manpower and resources … were decisive over the course . . .” of the war, and repeats the misguided assertion – I think it was coined by Shelby Foote – that the Union “… fought the South one-handed.” [p339] While the north did indeed generally enjoy greater resources, this argument has repeatedly been disallowed by modern scholars, who note that the south’s slave property serving as support freed up a greater number of men for military service, and that the Confederacy never needed to conquer the United States, only to avoid being conquered by a weary and divided north in order to maintain their independence. It was, on many occasions, a very close call, and they might very well have prevailed.
There are finally, in the epilogue, grave historical errors. Wheelan claims that the Confederacy’s enactment of the draft, internal taxes, and a focus upon government centralization were all in reaction to similar moves by the Federals. Actually, most of these components were innovations of the ever wary yet determined rebels. Of greater consequence, he insists that Richmond reacted to Washington’s enlistment of black troops by recruiting slaves to the army. In fact, the Union had enrolled African-Americans since 1863 while it was not until the final weeks before Richmond fell that the Confederate Congress, despairing of its crippled manpower, gave in to the pleas of the exalted Robert E. Lee and there were then visible drilling in the streets of the doomed capital the strange anomaly of blacks recruits, men who never actually saw service.
In the end, while there is great value in much of the book its flaws are somewhat fatal. I do not regret reading Their Last Full Measure and I would not discourage readers from it, but there are so many top-notch Civil War histories that I would suggest it belongs more properly to the middle of your list than at the top of it.

Focuses on the generally overlooked part of JQA's career, his post Presidential time in Congress, where he waged a one man crusade to lift the gag rule against debaing slavery. Pretty well written, no overwhelming revelations or new info, but just by spotlighting this time it is well worth a read. The kind of book you can see being made into a movie.

An overlooked period of American history covered in a well written narrative. At times this book is a bit too generous in appraisals of American heroes choosing the most positive myth building versions of events. Excellent writing allows the reader to follow a long, geographically vast story with ease.

Great book about something I knew absolutely nothing about. I am not a huge Civil War buff, but I do enjoy historical non-fiction. And this particular historical non-fiction book reads like fiction. It does start out a little slow with its brief discussion of Richmond's history and details of some of the key Confederate and Union players, but I think without this background, the book would be incomplete. The book starts to pick up steam fairly quickly and then starts to read like a good action/adventure novel. The conditions in the prison were deplorable, and the author does a really good job describing these conditions (almost too good - people who are squeamish about rodents should not read this book). The prisoners who hatched the escape plan failed so many times before they finally hit upon a winning solution, and it really is kind of incredible that they still had the will to persist.

Having seen the movie "The Great Escape" (about WWII prisoners of war trying to escape a German war prisoner camp), I was surprised to find many parallels to this particular story. If you liked that movie, you will like this book and will find that the prisoners in this book encountered many of the same issues that befell the escapees in "The Great Escape."

This is a readable biography of a leading Union general during the Civil War whose exploits and accomplishments are often overlooked.

A wonderful quick read of a much overlooked U.S. President, who was more than just a President. This book covers his career in the U.S. Congress-he notably stated was his favorite 'position.' You appreciate his tenacity and dedication to the future of this country. This is a man who as a boy watched the Revolutionary War from his front steps and later in life served in the Congress with a young Abraham Lincoln. His life, which spans so much, is U.S. history on a very personal level and Wheelan, the author, demonstrates this very effectively.

Sometimes people are more successful in some phases of their life than others. John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA), the 6th US President and the son of John Adams (the 2nd US President), had a remarkable life as a public servant and politician, but this book makes a solid case that he really hit his stride late in life, after leaving the highest office of the still youthful United States. JQA traveled to Europe as a boy along with his father, later served as diplomat and statesman, including Massachusetts State Senator, US Senator, Secretary of State, and US President. Unlike most American Presidents, JQA continued his political and public life career after the presidency, this time incarnated as a Massachusetts Congressman, serving his freshman term starting at age 64 and ending at his death in the Capitol at 81 in 1848. In Mr. Adams' Last Crusade, Joseph Wheelan brings us up to speed with JQA rather quickly, summarizing his pre-Social-Security-age life (had Social Security existed then) in a page per year (on average). Wheelan masterfully introduces us to 'Old Man Eloquent' by focusing on these later years in public life, rather than conforming to conventional biographies that hold those presidential four or eight years as the professional and personal pinnacle.

Mr. Adams’s Last Crusade argues that while JQA’s post-presidential congressional career began rather modestly, JQA ultimately became a lightning rod for the rights to free speech and to petition the government, based upon the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Further, Wheelan posits that JQA’s ultimately successful arguments against the Gag Rule (which denied congressional debate on and later even introduction of petitions or anything else relevant to slavery) enabled the inevitable vehement national dispute on slavery that climaxed with the Civil War. I would argue based on this book that furthermore, JQA’s congressional career helped guide the United States to maturity by bridging the Revolutionary generation of his father with the Civil War generation. After all, JQA knew many if not all of the Founding Fathers, and served with Congressmen Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Wheelan makes much of JQA’s iconic status, and popularity, especially towards the end of his life, but argues successfully that this became much deserved and frequently draws upon the primary accounts of contemporaries, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and others, to give a broad sense of how JQA was perceived by both allies and enemies.

Some of my more favorite parts of the book are the thunderous arguments JQA made in front of the Supreme Court for the Africans who mutinied aboard the Amistad, and for his rebuttal against censure which ripped his opponents a new one when they were angered by his dogged demand for the right to petition. In both these instances, Wheelan demonstrates JQA’s incredible intellect, perceptiveness, tenacity, and learned pugnacity. Regarding the Amistad, “When Adams’ turn came to address the court, he began by modestly observing that he might well ‘exhibit at once the infirmities of age and the inexperience of youth.’ He then proceeded to demonstrate over the next four and a half hours that he was operating under neither handicap.”

Good story telling also involves showing how characters change and respond to events, and a good biography not only points out influencing factors, but shows evolution and maturation in thinking and action. Wheelan demonstrates this through JQA’s shift on the issue of slavery, from a general disdain, to supporting freedom through the right to petition, to outright abolitionism. This is an important point because while JQA worked with and promoted the cause of several abolitionists, he was not one of them until very late in life.

Ultimately, this is a biography I like and I highly recommend it. It focuses on an interesting portion of an interesting person’s life and reassesses a largely unsung and disregarded early national figure. The reasoning for this selection is stated up front, and Wheelan provides an interesting analysis and synthesis at the end as well, which I appreciate. Too many biographies end with the death and skimp on the analysis and assessing the thesis at the end. Furthermore, the story is told convincingly, with plenty of references to primary resources, especially JQA’s extensive memoirs and diary. There is plenty in this book to learn more about a man too often forgotten, who was in a situation faced by fewer than 50 people, a situation that still has no job description.

This book reviews Thomas Jefferson’s political actions from Governor of Virginia through his presidency. It amazed me all the actions that he took based on his political opinions.

Jefferson, in 1778 while governor, issued a Bill of Attainder for a Tory, Josiah Phillips, which basically said that Phillips was guilty of treason and condemned without a trial.

John Adams appointed "midnight" judges before he left office and since Jefferson didn't agree with their political leanings, he set out to eliminate them.
During the 1800 election, Jefferson cozied up to Burr to get the electoral votes from the state of NY however, when the election ended in a tie between Jefferson and Burr, Jefferson turned his back on Burr and made a deal with the Federalists (a deal that Burr had turned down). Jefferson then leaked out that the deal was made by Burr, but the Federalists involved gave depositions to the contrary but the information wasn't made public until after Jefferson's death.

Aaron Burr was by no means an angel, as evidence was discovered in the late part of the 19th century which showed that he conspired with General Wilkerson to incite war with Spain and take over Mexico and Spanish territories. The hostility between Jefferson and Burr reached a level where neither could turn back.
Those were supposedly in league with Burr were imprisoned without trials. Before he was shipped off to Baltimore where he was immediately released, a lawyer was also imprisoned who tried to help them.

Aaron Burr was brought before a Grand Jury in Virginia for possible indictment of charges of treason. TJ believed that he was trying to overthrow the government by attacking the Spanish holdings in the Americas and to take over the Mexican and southwestern territories. TJ and his cronies had informed General Wilkerson in New Orleans that Burr had a force of thousands when in fact, those that were to assist him in the "colonization" effort he was proposing, were more like 200.

During his "trial" efforts were made to subpoena President Jefferson because he refused to provide the defense with copies of certain documents.
Jefferson again showed his two faces when he replied to the subpoena invoking what is now called Executive privilege stating that "To comply with such calls would leave the nation without an Executive branch, whose agency, nevertheless, is understood to be so constantly necessary, that it is the sole branch which the constitution requires to be always in function." This statement completely ignores Jefferson’s own leanings that a weak central government was all that was needed.

Chief Justice John Marshall was to preside over the trial as he had the Grand jury. He had instructed the grand jury that treason had occurred "if a body of men be actually assembled for the purpose of effecting by force, all those who perform any part, however minute or however remote from the scene of the action, are to be considered as traitors."

Throughout the "trial" Jefferson's men tried to prove that there had been an overt act of treason on Burr's part. But the forthcoming indictments were made on information of a meeting of men when Burr wasn't even present.

Marshall was concerned that his instructions in a previous treason trial were not correct so for Burr's trial he wrote a decision on acceptable evidence for treason that was 44 pages.

Burr was found not guilty. However, Jefferson sought to have him tried in a different jurisdiction so great was his rage at the acquittal. TJ decided that the fault lay with Marshall and resolved that an amendment was needed to the Constitution so that judges could be removed for misconduct.

The Federalist Virginia Gazette wrote “History will hardly furnish an example of such oppressive tyranny as has been practiced under the administration of Mr. Jefferson.”

This is the last book that I am going to read about Thomas Jefferson.
I firmly believe that this man does not deserve the respect that he has been given over the years. Yes, he was a very talented diplomat. Yes, he was a patriot. Yes, he was a gifted writer. Despite these special attributes, he is not a man that I can admire or respect because of the actions that he took to place himself and his beliefs before all others.½

So apparently the sole criterion for "war on terror" is "the other guys wear turbans." Well, it's the first new book in print on the Barbary War since approximately 1842, so it has _that_ advantage. And on looking back at it, it's not great, but at least it's there.

As for the war itself? Perfect /jus ad bellum/ -- the Barbary pirates were nasty even by pirate standards, had to be stopped, and declared war on the US rather than the other way around -- and while the /jus in bello/ wasn't the greatest, at least it beat the other guys'.