The Dahlgren Affair: Terror and Conspiracy in the Civil War Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

The Dahlgren Affair: Terror and Conspiracy in the Civil War Book

Author Duane Schultz offers a fascinating chronicle of Civil War espionage in this account of the infamous Dahlgren raid, a bold attempt by a small detachment of Union cavalry to free prisoners of war held by the Confederates in Richmond. The effort failed, but its consequences were enormous; allegedly found among slain commander Ulric Dahlgren's papers was an order to assassinate Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Schultz argues persuasively that the papers were a forgery, but whatever the truth, they started a controversy that encouraged Davis to order secret agents based in Canada to launch a campaign of terror on the Northern home front. He describes a few stunning near- misses: the Confederates once nearly captured Vice President Andrew Johnson, and in another plot almost took possession of the only warship on the Great Lakes. They also engaged in a primitive form of biological warfare: collecting the garments of yellow fever victims and distributing them in Washington, D.C. (to no apparent effect). This narrative of Civil War intrigue is sprinkled with true tales of invisible ink, railroad sabotage, and prison escapes; in one remarkable episode, a Confederate spy dresses up like a lady, attends a soiree held by Union officers, and learns critical intelligence from his talkative dance partners. All told, this is an outstanding work of popular history on an aspect of the Civil War long kept hidden. --John J. MillerRead More

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  • Product Description

    March 5, 1864, was the day on which the Civil War changed to what the Richmond Examiner called "a war of extermination, of indiscriminate slaughter and plunder." It changed because of a few sheets of paper found on a muddy trail outside Richmond. Their legacy was a new and terrible style of warfare. In a daring but failed cavalry raid to free thousands of Union prisoners, the Union commander--twenty-one-year-old Ulric Dahlgren--was killed; on his body were found orders purportedly instructing his men to find and execute Jefferson Davis and the rest of the Confederate cabinet. There was an immediate outpouring of horrified, indignant rage throughout the South, and after the Union disclaimed any knowledge of the papers or the order they contained, Jefferson Davis authorized the use of terrorism against civilians in the North in the form of guerrilla raids, bank robberies, arson, and sabotage. This compelling narrative is the first full-length analysis of the link between Dahlgren's failed raid and the Confederate campaign of terror.

  • 0393319865
  • 9780393319866
  • Duane Schultz
  • 9 February 2000
  • WW Norton & Co
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 304
  • New edition
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