Joseph E. Johnston and the Defense of Richmond Steven H. Newton 288 pages, 6 x 9 Modern War Studies Cloth ISBN 978-0-7006-0921-5, $29.95 (t) Most often viewed as a prelude to Robert E. Lee's Civil War victories of 1862, Joseph E. Johnston's campaign in Virginia early that year has been considered uninspired at best, catastrophic at worst. Steven Newton now offers a revisionist account of Johnston's operations between the York and James Rivers to show how his performance in the "Peninsular War" contributed to a crucial strategic victory for the Confederacy. Newton acknowledges the limitations usually attributed to Johnston by other historians but suggests that assessments of the general's performance in Virginia have been colored by later controversies. He argues that contemporary sources portray Johnston as conducting his operations competently and within the strategic framework laid down in Richmond, even when he personally disagreed with those decisions. By holding his outnumbered army together and delaying the advance of Union forces, the general bought critical time for the Confederacy to recruit, organize, and arm the expanded army that would drive the Federals away from Richmond soon after Johnston himself was wounded at Seven Pines. Focusing on the period between mid-February and late May 1862, Newton examines in detail the high-level conferences in Richmond to set strategy and the relationship of the Peninsula campaign to operations in the Shenandoah Valley and the western Confederacy. What emerges is a portrait of a general who was much more complex in thought and action than even his advocates have argued. By examining what Johnston actually accomplished rather than speculating on what he might have done, Newton shows that his overall conduct of the campaign holds up well under scrutiny. Marked by painstaking research and analysis, Newton's reconsideration of Johnston is a key account of Confederate operations in the pivotal eastern Virginia theater in 1862. It provides an important new look at an episode in the war that until now has received little attention and helps rescue an unduly maligned leader from the shadow of Lee. "A challenging new assessment of Joe Johnston's conduct of the defense of Richmond and an important contribution to the scholarly debate about Civil War military leadership. No serious student of the war can overlook Newton's careful research and provocative conclusions."--Craig L. Symonds, author of Stonewall of the West "This is by far the best thing I know of on the war in Virginia in the first five months of 1862. I have learned a lot from Newton's work and I recommend it very strongly."--Richard M. McMurry, author of Two Great Rebel Armies "An impressive, invaluable, and bracingly revisionist account of Johnston's service in Virginia."--Steven E. Woodworth, author of Davis and Lee at War STEVEN H. NEWTON is associate professor of history at Delaware State University and the author of The Battle of Seven Pines.   Home | About the Press | Recent Awards | Contact Us | Order New Books: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series Books in Print: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series ©2007 University Press of Kansas 2502 Westbrooke Circle, Lawrence, KS 66045-4444 Phone (785) 864-4155; Fax (785) 864-4586