1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History

In his book, Charles Bracelen Flood succeeds in putting the microsope on the President in his last year in office (and alive). Much detail that had eluded me is brought forth in the book. This includes some of the following: - The Radical Republicans convention and nomination of John Fremont and how he eventually abandoned the race. - The key role played by Copperheads in the Democratic convention. - The intrigue that led to VP Hamlin not being renominated and Andrew Johnson taking his place. - Copperhead and Confederate schemes to breakoff the Northwest states into a separate country. - Confederate and Union dialogue for possible peace conferences. Also, all the Confederate spying activity out of Canada. - Detailed information of how Lincoln ended up choosing Salmon Chase to take Taney's place as Chief Justice. - More information about talks Lincoln gave when "serenaded" at the White House in the wake of important Union advances. - Detailed information about Jubal Early's attack upon Washington in July, 1864. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it without hesitation. I've read perhaps twenty biographies of Lincoln and found this to be an engrossing and enjoyable book.

Charles Flood is my newest favorite author on the Civil War. This is a long compelling narrative of one year of Lincoln's presidency, 1864. He brings Lincoln the man and politician to life with bits of information, that I at least, never knew. His strength for one. Holding an axe out straight one handed for several minutes. A feat that watching soldiers could not duplicate. And finally having enough of a pesky office seeker and physically ejecting him from his office. Priceless. He was a father who grieved, a husband with an emotionally unstable wife, who hid large expenditures from him and a Commander in Chief vexed by generals like McClellan who would not fight. I didn't know that generals could drag their heels despite direct and urgent orders from their commander in chief! It is truly unfortunate that Lincoln has been caricatured, parodied, animated and used as a salesman (although the commercials with Lincoln and the talking beaver were pretty funny). 1864 should disabuse anyone who thinks that Lincoln is a caricature or a saleman. Lincoln was like Reagan in that he responded best to direct petitions for help albeit a wife or mother of a deserter about to be shot, or a soldier needing his back pay. When you put a face to a petition it makes it human. Flood is a scholar, a masterful researcher and a wordsmith of the first rank. A wonderful read. I was thrilled to have found it. Also loved Lee, the Last Years and Grant and Sherman; the friendship that won the Civil War. Can't go wrong with those two either.

I have to start off by saying that this was far from the first book I had read on the Civil War...but it was the first book that I have read that was solely devoted to Lincoln. And I have to say that Flood really paints a personal portrait of a man that few people really know outside of his iconic image in American history. Lincoln the politician was so much smarter and better at political maneuvering than I think people have ever given him credit for...Lincoln the man was so unassuming in his interactions with the public - he seemed to care deeply for, and carry the burdens of, his constituents with him at all times...something that weighed heavily on his mind towards the end of the war. The best part of this book to me is that Flood's portrait of Lincoln is painted, not only with historical facts, but also with anecdotes and stories from the folks who actually had interactions with Lincoln during the last full year of his life. This book also sheds light on many of the brilliant (and often on the Union side, the unfortunately misguided) military leaders on both sides of the conflict...but without getting into accounts of the battles that are too detailed so as to detract from the overall flow of the story that takes the reader through the full year of 1864. Flood is a truly a first class writer...for a book of considerable length, I couldn't put it down. By the time I reached the end of this book, I'll be honest - we all know how Lincoln's story ends...but there was a part of me that wanted history to be re-written...a part of me that hoped that an assassin's bullet wouldn't have taken this great leader, this great man, from his country when it needed him the most. As illogical as that may initially appear, once you spend so many pages delving into the character and personality of someone such as Lincoln, you can't help but feel the loss all over again. All in all, a highly enjoyable read...and one that is HIGHLY recommended!

Charles Bracelen Flood graduated from Harvard with ambitions to become a creative writer. After writing two early novels, he began to write history and biography. In recent years, Flood has turned his formidable writing skills to the American Civil War, writing a moving biography of the final years of Robert E. Lee and, in 2006, his "Grant and Sherman: the Friendship that Won the Civil War." Flood is an outstanding popular historian who uses his literary skills, interest in character, and ability to tell a story, to educate and to entertain. Flood's latest book "1864:Lincoln at the Gates" begins slowly, but it soon gathers momentum as Flood ties together the threads of Lincoln's life and the progress of the Nation's life during the momentous year of 1864. In 1864, Lincoln stood for reelection to the presidency. The military aspect of the Civil War also came to a climax as Ulysses Grant became commander of the Union armies. Political and military affairs both took see-saw courses during 1864. Flood's book, with its novelistic skill in plots and sub-plots admirably ties together politics and military affairs together with much more about Lincoln's life and character. The book shows Lincoln both as an idealist and as a consummately masterful politician. At the beginning of 1864, Lincoln's renomination was much in doubt. He was under attack from the radical wing of his party, including his Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, who wished a more aggressive prosecution of the war. Chase worked surreptitiously and feverishly to secure the presidential nomination for himself. Lincoln was also under attack from the various wings of the Democratic party, both those which supported the war effort and those which favored an immediate end to the conflict and a peace with the South. Flood shows how Lincoln used political muscle and acumen to secure the nomination and how Lincoln was involved in the fateful decision to give the vice-presidential nomination to Andrew Johnson. After securing the nomination, Lincoln, and most experts, believed up through August that Lincoln would likely lose the presidency to the Democratic candidate, General George McClellan. Military and political events late in the year worked to change the situation. Flood's book does not include the detailed accounts of military movements that are found in many military studies of the conflict. His discussions of the Wilderness campaign, Cold Harbor, Grant's movement south to Petersburg, the Crater, Early's raid on Washington, Sheridan's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, Sherman's capture of Atlanta and march to the Sea, and Thomas's victories at Franklin and Nashville are riveting, easy to follow, and compelling. More important, Flood places these military events in their political context and shows how they effected Lincoln's fortunes and the course of the 1864 election. Flood also describes some of the other events that made 1864 a memorable year even apart from the Civil War

A narrative--aimed at the general reader--of the year that clinched Abraham Lincoln's place in history. Charles Bracelen Flood writes within the known facts of 1864 but with an eye to the interesting tale; he is a storyteller, not a dry academic expert. While an admirer of Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Flood still is balanced in his approach to this very human leader. The book is quite good at showing the multitude of political, war, and social obligations/decisions that bombarded Mr. Lincoln in a year that might have seen victory tipped either way in terms of both military and political battlefields. Intense presidential election-year infighting is nicely described, while some of the key military incidents of the year are highlighted, such as the Early's bold raid on the Capital, the Union's disaster at the Crater, Sheridan's ride from Winchester, and Sherman's March to the Sea. As Wellington said after the battle of Waterloo, "It was a close run thing."