History 200: "Topics in the Campaigns of the American Civil War"
Instructor: Mr. Charles W. Sanders, Jr.
Home Phone: (913) 776-4931 (call before 9:00 PM)
Office hours and location: Classroom, before and after class, Other hours by
appointment.
Electronic mail: chassan@ksu.edu
Thomas E. Griess, ed., The American Civil War. (Wayne, NJ: Avery Publishing Group, 1987).
Lectures will feature the extensive use of 35mm slides and view-graphs to complement the discussion of the important personalities, locations and events in each campaign.
There will also be four short quizzes administered on days selected by the instructor. Each quiz will be worth five points. No make-up quizzes will be administered. Should you be absent on the day of a quiz, you will forfeit that five points.
Each of you will also complete a critical review on a book chosen from the attached readings list. To complete this project you will read the book of your choice and a minimum of three reviews of that book as found in history journals.
You will then write a review that includes both your assessment of the book and the reviews other authors have written on the work. Your review will be 700-800 words in length exclusive of the bibliography, typed and double spaced. The purpose of the review is to provide you an opportunity for further reading into important topics.
Please note that this assignment does not call for a book report. While your composition will certainly highlight the contents of the book, the most important portion of the review will be your analysis of the author's argument, the evidence offered in support of that argument, and your assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the reviews other critics have offered.
Pick a book that interests you. Then check the Book Review Index at the KSU library to ensure prior reviews are available on the work. Submit your choice to me for approval at our class meeting on 8 August. Submissions must be in writing and in the form of a standard bibliographical citation. We will talk more about the form and content of the reviews as the course progresses.
| A = 4.00 | Example of grading scale: |
| AB = 3.50 | Exam #1: BC 2.50 x 20% = .50. |
| B = 3.00 | Exam # 2: B 3.00 x 20% = .60 |
| BC = 2.50 | Critical Review: C 2.00 x 15% = .30 |
| C = 2.00 | Daily Quizzes: BC 2.50 x 20% = .50 |
| CD = 1.50 | Final Grade: 2.65 BC |
| D = 1.00 |
| Meeting | Subject | Readings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prologue: America on the Eve of the War | McPherson: Chapters 1-2 |
| 2 | Overview: Weapons, Medicine,Tactics and Equipment | Griess: Chapter 1; McPherson: 308-338, 472-487 563-567 |
| 3 | Amateurs Go To War: First Manassas | McPherson: Chapter 10; Griess: Chapter 2 |
| 4 | Fredericksburg | McPherson: 557-562, 568-575; Griess: 121-131 |
| 5 | Chancellorsville | McPherson: 638-649; Griess: 131-142 |
| 6 | Exam # 1 (First Hour) Civil War Navies | McPherson: 369-428 CRITICAL REVIEW SELECTIONS DUE |
| 7 | Gettysburg (Pt. I) | McPherson: 646-652; Griess: 145-156 |
| 8 | Gettysburg (Pt. II) | McPherson: 652-665; Griess: 156-167 |
| 9 | Vicksburg | McPherson: 626-638; Griess: 68-119 |
| 10 | Wilderness | McPherson: 718-728; Griess: 191-200 |
| 11 | Exam # 2 (First Hour) The Negro's Civil War | McPherson: 563-567, 637-639, 686-688 |
| 12 | Spotsylvania | McPherson: 728-743; Griess: 200-206 |
| 13 | Petersburg | McPherson : 756-760,
844-848;
Griess: 225-233 COMPLETED CRITICAL REVIEWS DUE |
| 14 | Appomattox | McPherson: 849-862 274-318; Griess: 233-238 |
| 15 | Summary and Review | Final Exam |
The best formula for obtaining the most from this course ( to include a satisfactory grade!) is quite simple - be an active participant in every component.
As indicated by the weight assigned, I place great importance on attendance and class participation. I expect students to study the readings as assigned and to be prepared to actively participate in class discussions. If you do not volunteer contributions, I will "solicit" them. Classes will not be simply lectures. They will include extensive discussions in which I will pose questions and ask for answers.
Active, informed participation by each student is expected. If you have studied the readings, you will be prepared for class.
This will be a fast-paced session in which we will cover a mountain of history in only 13 lecture/discussion periods. Study the schedule and plan ahead. Note especially the due dates for your review topics and the completed review.
Do not miss class. If you must miss, notify me in advance. If an emergency precludes contact prior to the absence, contact me as soon as possible. I will work with you if you communicate with me. Note that I will administer four short quizzes during the session. These exams are worth five points each. There will be no make-up exams for quizzes. If you are absent on the day of a quiz, your will forfeit those points.
I will provide an outline of the important points we will cover in each class. Use this outline to focus your study and organize your notes. In each class I will introduce important topics, provide background and elaboration, and then lead the discussion of the topic.
Questions are always welcome, either during class or in meetings with me. If some point in the readings or the lecture is troubling you, odds are that it is troubling others as well. History 200 is about learning, and together we will attempt to provide answers to the questions the course raises. You will not agree with all my views on the topics we discuss. I sincerely encourage alternative interpretations. Be prepared to support those interpretations with evidence gained from your readings.
I will be available in the classroom both before and after class each day. Please feel free to meet with me to discuss any aspect of the course. I look forward to our study together.
Boritt, Gabor S., ed. Lincoln, The War President. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.)
_________ Why the Confederacy Lost. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.)
Castel, Albert. Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864. (Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 1992.)
Catton, Bruce. Grant Moves South. (Boston: Little Brown, 1988.)
_________ Grant Takes Command. (Boston: Little Brown, 1969.)
_________ Prefaces to History. (New York: Doubleday, 1970.)
_________ The Army of the Potomac: Vols. I,II,III. (New York: Doubleday, 1952.)
Coddington, Edwin B. The Gettysburg Campaign. (New York: Scribners, 1968.)
Davis, Burke. JEB Stuart, The Last Cavalier. (New York: Wings Books, 1957.)
__________ They Called Him Stonewall: A Life of LTG Thomas Jonathan Jackson, CSA. (New York: Wings Books, 1988.)
Davis, William C. Jefferson Davis, The Man and His Hour. (New York: Harper Collins, 1991.)
Donald, David Herbert, Lincoln. (London: Jonathan Cape, 1995.)
Donald, David Herbert, ed., Gone for a Soldier: The Civil War Memoirs of Private Alfred Bellard. (Boston: Little Brown, 1975.)
__________ Why the North Won the Civil War. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1960.)
Dowdey, Clifford. Lee. (Boston: Little Brown, 1965.)
Duncan, Russell, ed. Blue-Eyed Child of Freedom: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992.)
Flood, Charles Bracelen. Lee: The Last Years. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981.)
Foote, Shelby. The Civil War: A Narrative, Vols. I,II,III . (New York: Random House, 1986.)
Frederickson, George M. The Inner Civil War: Northern Intellectuals and the Crisis of the Union. (New York: Harper Row, 1965.)
Freeman, Douglas S. Lee's Lieutenants, Vols I,II,III. (New York: Scribners, 1943.)
Ferguson, Earnest. Chancellorsville, 1863: Souls of the Brave. (New York: Knopf, 1992.)
Gallagher, Gary W., ed. The First Day at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership. (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1992.)
Gospel, H. Allen. Guns on the Western Waters. (Baton Rouge, LSD Press, 1949.)
Hagerman, Edward. The American Civil War and the Origins of Modern Warfare: Ideas, Organization, and Field Command. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988.)
Henderson, G.F.R. Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War, Vols. I, II. (Secaucas, New York: The Blue and Gray Press, 1987.)
Hoehling, A.A. Vicksburg: Forty-seven Days of Siege. (New York: Fairfax Press, 1991.)
Hotchkiss, Jedediah. Make Me a Map of the Valley. (Dallas: SUM Press, 1987.)
Krick, Robert K. Lee's Colonels. Lieutenant Colonels and Majors in The Army of Northern Virginia, Confederate Army. (Dayton, OH: Morningside Press, 1992.)
Marvel, William. Burnside. (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1991.)
McFeely, William S. Grant: A Biography. New York: W.W. Norton, 1982.)
_________ Frederick Douglas. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1991.)
McPherson, James M. Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution. (New York: Oxford Press, 1990.)
_________ The Negro's Civil War. (New York: Ballentine Books, 1991.)
Milligan, John D. Gunboats Down the Mississippi. (Annapolis: USNA Press, 1965.)
Mitchell, Reid. Civil War Soldiers. (New York: Viking, 1988.)
__________ The Vacant Chair: The Northern Soldier Leaves Home. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.)
Pember, Phoebe Yates. A Southern Woman's Story. Bell Irvin Wiley, ed.(Mercer Press, 1990.)
Pfanz, Henry W. Gettysburg, The Second Day. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987.)
Royster, Charles. The Destructive War. (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1991.)
Sandburg, Carl. Lincoln, The War Years: Vols I-IV. (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1939.)
Sears, Stephen W. George B. McClellan, The Young Napoleon. (New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1988.)
_________ To The Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign. (New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1992.)
Stackpole, Edward J. Chancellorsville, Lee's Greatest Battle. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Stackpole Company, 1958.)
_________ The Fredericksburg Campaign. (Harrisburg: Stackpole Books, 1991.)
Steere, Edward. The Wilderness Campaign. (Harrisburg: Stackpole Books, 1960.)
Thomas, Benjamin P., ed. Three Years With Grant, As Recalled by War Correspondent Sylvanus Cadwallader. (New York: Knopf, 1956.)
Thomas, Charles C. Company. Civil War Medicine. (Springfield: 1966.)
Thomas, Emory M. The Confederate Nation, 1861-1865. (New York: History Book Club, 1993.)
__________ Robert E. Lee: A Biography. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1995.)
Trudeau, Andre. Bloody Roads South: The Wilderness to Cold Harbor. (Boston: Little Brown, 1989.)
___________ The Last Citadel: Petersburg, VA, June, 1864 - April, 1865. (Boston: Little Brown, 1991.)
Tucker, Glenn. High Tide at Gettysburg. (Dayton, Ohio: Morningside Press, 1983.)
___________ Lee And Longstreet At Gettysburg. (Dayton, Ohio: Morningside Press, 1982.)
Turlock, Alice Rains. In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War. (New York: Knopf, 1992.)
Vandiver, Frank E. Mighty Stonewall. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957.)
Watkins, Sam. "Company Aytch": A Side Show of the Big Show. (Wilmington: Broadfoot, 1990.)
Wert, Jeffry D. General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.)
Wheeler, Richard. The Siege of Vicksburg. (New York: Harper, 1991.)
Wiley, Bell Irvin. The Life of Billy Yank, The Common Soldier of the Union. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990.)
___________ The Life of Johnny Reb, The Common Soldier of the Confederacy. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1991.)
Williams, T. Harry. Lincoln and His Generals. (New York: Dorset Press, 1952.)
Wills, Gary. Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992.)
Woodward, C. Vann. Mary Chesnut's Civil War. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981.)