Gray Victory

"Gray Victory" is a novel of an alternative history where the Confederacy won the Civil War, which allows Robert Skimin to have a military court of inquiry look into the charge that Jeb Stuart was responsible for the South losing the Battle of Gettysburg. It takes several chapters to discover what changes Skimin hath wrought to construction this alternative reality, and it boils down to Stuart surviving his wound at Yellow Tavern and McClellan defeating Lincoln in the election of 1864. However, why this certainly explains how the Confederacy could lose the Battle of Gettysburg and still win the Civil War, there is nothing to indicate what made the voters elect McClellan. Ultimately this is inconsequential because Skimin is simply overcoming the historical hurdles to such an inquiry, specifically the fact the war was still going on and Stuart's death before its end. Skimin simple wants to air out all the charges and countercharges that have fascinated Civil War historians for over a century. At one point it dawned on me that "Gray Victory" is a rebuttal of sorts to Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels," which privileges Longstreet's version of Gettysburg. Longstreet always had something of an advantage in this historical record since he wrote his memoirs and Lee never bothered to before his death. One of the most striking aspects of the novel is how few of the historical figures are portrayed as being admirable. John Mosby, the chief of Military Intelligence for the Confederacy and Stuart's counsel at the inquiry, and John Rawlins, Grant's chief of staff, are the only laudable figures. Jefferson Davis, James Longstreet, John C. Breckenridge, Judah Benjamin, and the rest of the Confederate leaders are not portrayed favorably to say the least. Robert E. Lee is kept out of the picture until the climax, simply because as soon as he takes a position that is the end of the trial, which would defeat the purpose of Skimin's novel. I might find Lee's timidity in these circumstances suspect, but without this contrivance the court of inquiry would be over before it started. The only major "error" I would point to is that Skimin allows Davis to run for re-election as President, whereas the Confederate Constitution permitted only a single six-year term. I do not think that Davis needed to be involved in self-serving political machinations to have Stuart called to task for his actions. There is a major sub-plot having to do with the son of John Brown and a southern black revolutionary movement that plan to restart the Civil War in order to restore the Union and abolish slavery. Obviously this is going to come to a head at the same time as the court proceedings, but it detracts from the entire argument about who was responsible for what happened at Gettysburg, and also serves as a reminder that the novel is not really taking a position about what the Confederacy would have done about slavery. In the final analysis, "Gray Victory" may not change y

I have recommended Gray Victory for years as one of the best analyses of the Battle of Gettysburg that I've ever read. The basic plot device of the book is that JEB Stuart is court-martialed on charges that he failed in his duty to Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia before the battle of Gettysburg. Presentation of this plotline involves a detailed examination of the conduct of the battle, and of several of the principals--Lee, Longstreet, Pickett, Hood, etc. John Singleton Mosby serves as Stuart's defense attorney, while Hood, Pickett, and Beauregard serve as members of the Court. A school of thought has existed for decades that the failure of Confederate forces at Gettysburg was the fault of General Longstreet. Lee, of course, took the blame upon himself. Others blame the disparity of numbers, and some actually give credit to the Union defenders (which is probably where credit should go). This well-written novel examines the various theses in historically-accurate detail in a manner highly-satisfying to Gettysburg buffs, although all will not be satisfied with the verdict of the Court-Martial. Gray Victory is well worth reading, and for far more than it's "fantasy" characteristics (which are quite interesting in themselves, by the way). For anyone to criticize this type of book because "it couldn't have happened that way" is missing the "what if?" point of the genre's concept. It is a well-researched book, grounded in fact, but launched into fantasy by the creativity of the author and the willing suspension of disbelief by the reader. I found it excellent.

This novel is set in an alternative history in which the Confederacy succeeded in winning its' independence in the Civil War. Jefferson Davis' wife had a dream in which Atlanta would fall to Union forces if the defending forces sallied forth from the besieged city to fight. In our world, the defending general(I don't remember his name) takes his forces out to fight the Union army outside his defensive works, gets his clock cleaned, and gives Lincoln a major victory and PR boost just in time to narrowly beat McClellan in the 1864 presidential elections. In the prologue of Gray Victory, Davis orders the Confederate General to hold his defenses (by the way, while being only mediocre on the attack, this general was a master of fighting from a fixed defense), Atlanta does NOT fall, Lincoln loses the election, and immediately recognizes Confederate independance, since McClellan had promised to do exactly that and end the war if elected. Enough background - it's now a few years later, and the Confederates are trying JEB Stuart for losing the Battle of Gettysburg by disappearing for 2 crucial days and leaving Robert E. Lee without any screening cavalry. The trial is as much a sensation as any high profile celebrity trial in our modern world. Swirling about this a managerie of historical and fictional characters in a plot to carry out a major assassination at the trial. It's a race between the would-be assassins and a Confederate detective that would make Clancy or Forsyth proud. I particularly liked seeing how the author logically figured what the actions of the many vivid civil war figures would do after the war.