Civil War Dynasty
The Ewing Family of Ohio
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- $34.99
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- $34.99
Publisher Description
For years the Ewing family of Ohio has been lost in the historical shadow cast by their in-law, General William T. Sherman. In the era of the Civil War, it was the Ewing family who raised Sherman, got him into West Point, and provided him with the financial resources and political connections to succeed in war. The patriarch, Thomas Ewing, counseled presidents and clashed with radical abolitionists and southern secessionists leading to the Civil War. Three Ewing sons became Union generals, served with distinction at Antietam and Vicksburg, marched through Georgia, and fought guerrillas in Missouri. The Ewing family stood at the center of the Northern debate over emancipation, fought for the soul of the Republican Party, and waged total war against the South. In Civil War Dynasty, Kenneth J. Heineman brings to life this drama of political intrigue and military valor—warts and all. This work is a military, political, religious, and family history, told against the backdrop of disunion, war, violence, and grief.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Leading up to and during the Civil War, Thomas Ewing and his three sons had a heavy hand in local and national politics, and were influential in the Union's effort to win the war. Today, the family is largely forgotten, overshadowed by the legacy of their unofficially adopted son, Gen. William T. Sherman. In a cracking good tale set against the bloody conflicts of the Civil War, the dramatic political struggles between proslavery Union supporters and abolitionists, and the growing pains of a young nation moving westward, historian Heineman (God Is a Conservative) details the life and times of the Ewing family, from the patriarch's career as a statesman and lawyer, to his sons' rise to glory as military and political leaders. Heineman follows the exploits of the elder Ewing and his sons as they fight "three Civil Wars" North against South, Union forces versus guerrilla insurgents, and in-fighting among Democrats over the necessity of the war. Heineman's fast-paced narrative brings to life a now-neglected American family as they come into their own against the complex backdrop of a nation struggling to overcome political and social differences. Photos & illus.
