Breckinridge: Statesman, Soldier, Symbol

As William Davis explains in the book's introduction, in the mid-1960s, while researching the Battle of New Market in BATTLES AND LEADERS, he came across information regarding John C. Breckinridge, the most interesting being that he had been vice-president of the country under Buchanan. "What could have induced a man who had been vice-president . . . to turn and fight against his own country?" He spent the next nine years not only attempting to answer that question, but compiling the information needed to put together the "thorough biography" Breckinridge "deserved." It's a magnificent achievement. Right off the bat he corrects a mistake that has lingered in historical sketches of Breckinridge, and that is his birthdate: he was born on January 16, 1821 (not the 21st), and it was "in" Lexington, KY (not "near" it). After attending what is today's Princeton University and studying law in Lexington, he was admitted to the bar in 1841. In 1847 he went to Mexico at the head of a force of Kentucky volunteers, but arrived too late to see any action in the Mexican War. After serving two years in the Kentucky state legislature, he was elected to Congress, 1851-55. He was nominated as vice-president with James Buchanan on the Democratic ticket, and his conduct as presiding officer of the Senate (being able especially to put aside his own pro-slavery beliefs for the good of the body elect) has been praised by contemporaries and historians alike. When the Southern Democrats broke with the national party in protest over the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas in 1860, they nominated Breckinridge as president. He was able to garner 72 electoral votes in the election, effectively splitting the Democratic party enabling Lincoln to take the presidency. Returning to the Senate (so popular was he in KY that he was elected Senator of the state in 1859, even though he would've been unable to take office until 1861), he tried to keep his home state neutral while at the same time opposing Lincoln. But by September all seemed lost, and he abandoned his Senate seat for the Confederacy. Commissioned a brigadier general, Breckinridge first saw action at Shiloh and then at Vicksburg. In August 1862 he was promoted to major general and was with Bragg at Stones River and Joseph E. Johnston at Jackson, MS. Later engagements included Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and a number of actions in the Shenandoah Valley and Virginia. He commanded the Department of Southwest Virginia at the end of 1864 and saw action at Nashville. He was appointed Jefferson Davis's secretary of war in 1865, and when he was captured by Sherman's forces while escaping with Davis to the South after Lee's surrender, Sherman advised him to leave the country for his own safety. He did, going first to Cuba and then to Europe. He expressed a strong desire to return to America, however, and in 1868 a pardon was granted after which he re-established himself (and his law practice) in Lexington, where he died in 1875.

Excellent biography of one of the most interesting men in the US Civil War. From a political star as Vice President and Presidential Candidate against Lincoln, Brekinridge typlifies the great split in our country. Dutiful and professional serving as VP to the virtual end of his term he leaves as a vagabond due to his southern sympathies. Brekinridge served as a Confederate General during the war and ended it as perhaps the most proficient Secretary of War that the south had. Davis covers Breckinridge's rise as the succesor to the great Henry Clay. When the crisis of civil war looms, he is reaching his zenith as a political star. In an almost sad despair, he leaves to fight for the south as his border state home Kentucky remains in the Union. Breckinridge is a great subject of the war as he serves in both the western theater and the east as well and as a succesful independent commander in southwestern VA. Davis captures Breckinridges life throughout the war with great detail such as when his division is severly punished at Stones River under Bragg who in turn accusses Breckinridge unfairly of incompetence and drink. But Breckinridge thives later as an independent commander in an undermaned and threatened theater of southwestern VA. He consolidates his troops and wins one of the souths last great, although small, battles at New Market that is forever associated with the valor of the VMI cadets who supported the final charge. Breckinridge later serves wiith Lee at Cold harbor and throughout the overland campaign. But as the author Davis carries you through Breckinridge's career, you become a witness to the south's final destruction as Breckinridge is the Scretary of War during the final months of the Confederacy. Aside from closely associating with Lee, Breckinridge is with the Confederate government that flees Richmond. Breckinridge, with loyalty but with objectivity, tries to steer Davis into the realization that the war is doomed. While Davis is in flight, Breckinridge stays with Joe Johnston and helps negotiate terms that Stanton felt were so generous he publicly embarrased Sherman causing Sherman's return for a new surrender. With this biography, the author provides you an inside view of the sadness the war has on a leader who does seem caught in the middle and who is involved in both the military and political situation. Breckinridge was in the center of the military and the government throughout the last year to its final collapse. An excellent biography that bridges you to many of Davis' other books such as the Battle of New Market, his Davis Biography, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government and the Orphan Brigade.

John C. Breckinridge was one of the most notable politicians of the 1850's, a confederate general serving in all theaters of the war, and a member of Jefferson Davis cabinet, playing a key role in negotiating the terms of surrender. It is not too much to say that an examination of this one life can throught new clarifying light virtually all issues relating to the Civil War. From the Compromise of 1850, to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, to the Lecompton covention and the Dred Scott decision, the split of the Democratic convention in 1860, to the move toward secession, to the last ditch efforts for peaceful reconciliation, to the war itself, to the surrender of the armies of Northern Virginia and Tennessee, to the immediate aftermath Breckinridge was there frequently as a major player. However, as much light as Breckinridge throws on these various issues, there are aspects about his career that remains troubling. While Davis protrays Breckinridge as a unionist and personally opposed to slavery, Breckinridge *continually* sides with the pro-slavery contingent in Congress. Whether it's Dred Scott, or Lecompton, or running on a rival "southern rights" platform to Douglas, Breckinridge is unerringly on the pro-slavery side. Breckinridge (and Davis) always have a reason (or an excuse) for a given position, but the overall pattern is clear. In the final analysis, it may have been Breckinridge's devotion to the "right of property" as being *absolute* and hence even *above* the constitution.In any case Breckinridge's finest hour comes in the twilight of the confederacy when he serves briefly but effectively as Secretary of War and going behind Jeff Davis's back , who is border line delusional at this point, to negotiate with Lee and Johnston a plan of surrender to the Union. This story is one that Davis tells more fully in his HONORABLE DEFEAT and it cannot be understated that Breckinridge prevented the Confederacy from decending into guerilla warfare and banditry that would have lingered for years if not decades. Also in the aftermath, Breckinridge takes principled stand in favor of accepting negro testimony in court and against the Ku Klux Kan in Kentucky. Toward the very end, his participation in the Lee memorial in Lexington KY throught light on the emergence of the "Lost Cause" mythology as Jubal Early will set up a competiting memorial in Lexington VA. (This smacks of different apparitions of the madonna during the Mexican revolution with the rebel adopting the lady of Guadalupe, while the government forces adopt Pilar.)Finally this book, it has to be remembered that this book was written 30 years ago and while it's still valuable a lot has been published on the Army of Tennesee (particularly Pat Cleburn) and on the southern Unionists during the secession crisis. I think a revised edition that could take these recent developments into account would be valuable.

I love this book. It really gives an in depth view of John, who I want to mention is my great great uncle. I loved seeing his life through someone else's view point. It paints him in a very graphic way, very colorful. Davis doesnt shy away from writing the truth. Very great book.

William C. Davis has written the only full-length biography of John C. Breckinridge, who is one of the most fascinating and yet one of the least well known figures in all of American history.Davis begins by charting Breckinridge's early years as a lawyer, his rise in Kentucky state politics and then national politics, his role as Vice-President and his reluctant campaign for the Presidency in 1860. Davis then provides an excellent overview of Breckinridge's career as a Confederate military leader, fighting on nearly every front of the war and ending the war as the Confederate Secretary of State. Davis also gives an outstanding account of Breckinridge's dramatic escape from the country following the Confederate defeat, which was an adventure so extraoridinary that it should be made into a movie. Davis concludes his work by describing Breckinridge's years as an exile before his final return to Kentucky and his tragic early death.Davis is one of the country's best historians of the Civil War, and this book is an excellent manifestation of his scholarly and literary gifts. Not only is it full of information, allowing the reader to truly feel as though they have a solid understanding of Breckinridge's life, but it is written in such a fine style that it is always entertaining and never dull.