Dixie Betrayed

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 27 FEB. 2006

Eicher follows up his impressive Civil War military history, 2002's The Longest Night, with this dynamic, if frustrating, history that begs the question of whether the Confederacy would have remained a unified nation if the South had won. As Eicher notes, the South was undermined by its paradoxical efforts to fight a war and retain state rights. Derision began immediately, as governors from Georgia and Texas wanted to control their own militias, and politicians from Virginia resented president Jefferson Davis's plan to construct a railroad within their state. Arguments erupted over conscription acts, military assignments and the limits of presidential power. Although Davis was a victim of a subversive Congress, he brought on much of the enmity by micromanaging the war effort, appointing an inexperienced war secretary, placing friends in positions of authority and doggedly guarding his power. By the end of the war, frustration over the constant arguing manifested itself in cunning acts of betrayal: vice president Alexander Stephens and a newspaper editor bought a newspaper to use as a conduit for airing their discontent. Another nemesis was arrested while on his way to Washington on an unauthorized peace mission. If Eicher's narrative chases its tail, it's because the South's leaders quarreled repeatedly over the same issues, though Eicher keeps the repetitive story lively through his nimble storytelling.