The Generals' Civil War What Their Memoirs Can Teach Us Today

"In this book, Stephen Cushman considers Civil War generals' memoirs as literary works of art and examines how they remain vital to understanding the interaction of memory, imagination, and the writing of American history. Drawing on methods from history and literary studies, Cushman analyses how generals Ulysses S. Grant, Joseph E. Johnston, George B. McClellan, Philip H. Sheridan, William T. Sherman, and Richard Taylor crafted memoirs that shaped the practice of Civil War writing generally. Cushman particularly assesses how nineteenth-century market forces shaped the production of memoirs and, therefore, memories of the war itself; how audiences have engaged with the memoirs to create memories that continually change with time and circumstance; and what these texts tell us about current conflicts over the history and meanings of the Civil War"--