This episode traces the incredible, glorious partnership between Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson during the American Civil War. It begins with their contrasting backgrounds and temperaments, explaining why they together formed an especially effective command team for the Army of Northern Virginia.
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The story then moves to the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862, noting how Jackson’s rapid movements and attacks fulfilled Lee’s wishes perfectly, and built Lee’s confidence in Jackson to the point that the two men could work closely together.
The episode next covers Second Manassas, showing how faith in Jackson allowed Lee to divide his army in an attempt to crush Pope. He sent Jackson on a long flank march behind John Pope’s forces, leading to the capture and destruction of Union supplies at Manassas Junction. Jackson then held a strong defensive position while Lee and Longstreet struck Pope’s exposed flank, forcing a Union retreat and giving the Confederates a major victory.
After that, the focus shifts to Lee’s decision to invade Maryland, and how a lost order led to tragedy at Antietam, setting up the next year’s great victory at Chancellorsville, and the World WarI-like butchery at Fredericksburg
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CHAPTERS:
0:00 Lee and Jackson United: The Great Partnership Begins
5:57 Seven Days Setback
9:21 Lee Regroups and Attacks Northward as Pope Threatens Virginia
15:42 Lee’s Great Gamble, Jackson’s Flank March
24:28 Lee, Jackson, and Longstreet at Second Manassas
33:41 Why Lee Invaded Maryland, and Why It Went Wrong
45:48 Antietam: America’s Bloody Day
Sources Referenced in this Episode:
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Armes, Ethel, Stratford Hall: The Great House of the Lees, https://amzn.to/4wxAAfl
Burt, Nathaniel, First Families: The Making of an American Aristocracy, https://amzn.to/4r0KLYG
Cole, Ryan, Light-Horse Harry Lee: The Rise and Fall of a Revolutionary Hero, https://amzn.to/4wiZOy3
Connelly, Thomas L., The Marble Man: Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Idea, https://amzn.to/4ywRf4j
Crocker, H. W., III, Robert E. Lee on Leadership: Executive Lessons in Management, https://amzn.to/4gvXpds
Dabney, Virginius, Virginia: The New Dominion, https://amzn.to/46gVW69
Dowdey, Clifford, Lee: A Biography, https://amzn.to/46lDf14
Fleming, Thomas, A Disease in the Public Mind: A New Understanding of Why We Fought the Civil War, https://amzn.to/4yzbiix
Flood, Charles Bracelen, Lee: The Last Years, https://amzn.to/4gDcA4I
Freeman, Douglas Southall, R. E. Lee: A Biography, https://amzn.to/4gkaqrx
Hendrick, Burton J., The Lees of Virginia, https://amzn.to/4xshjNe
Lee, Cazenove Gardner, Jr., Lee Chronicle: Studies of the Early Generations of the Lees, https://amzn.to/4q7GiTI
Longacre, Edward G., Fitz Lee: A Military Biography of Major General Fitzhugh Lee, https://amzn.to/4xkLNAu
Nagel, Paul C., The Lees of Virginia: Seven Generations of an American Family, https://amzn.to/4wUxkfi
Nichols, James L., General Fitzhugh Lee: A Biography, https://amzn.to/4qeURoz
Royster, Charles, Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution, https://amzn.to/3TKWspX
Sanborn, Margaret, Robert E. Lee: A Portrait, https://amzn.to/3SA6EkN
Thomas, Emory M., Robert E. Lee: A Biography, https://amzn.to/46qVL8c
Transcript
