I've decided to leave the topic of Civil war artists be. It has been a traffic killer.

Here's a new book-centric feature called RETHINK.

RETHINK the selection of Union commanders:

Raised in a political culture dominated by patronage, Lincoln simply made the best choices based on advice from patrons and supporters in his own cabinet, in Congress, and in the state capitals.

RETHINK Crampton's Gap:

The habitual desire to bask in Antietam's climactic, well-recorded saga has cast an indifferent shadow over South Mountain's unexplored secrets, inhibiting the legitimate assertion that Crampton's Gap, through pivotal significance, may very well strategically outweigh Antietam in comparison.

RETHINK the Maryland Campaign:

The decision Lee made on the 9th [of September, 1862] put at risk his campaign and possibly even the safety of his army. It did so at the time he wrote Special Orders, No. 191, and long before events prevented these orders from a timely execution - or before they fell into the hands of his enemies.

RETHINK McClellan:

The excessive hunts for drawbacks to attach to McClellan's personality and attempts to establish him as a person incapable of military command become trivial pursuits. Not only are his faults viewed out of context, they do not stand up to any measure of an objective standard.