Stephen Sears has crafted yet another excellent book on a Civil War battle. This time he focuses on Antietam, the bloodiest single day of the war. Sears has written a clear, highly readable history of this campaign. Not only does the battle jump off the pages, but Sears weaves a very interesting story of the details before the campaign and the consequences of the battle itself. There are all kinds of political and social tidbits thrown it, but Sears' writing is very clear and easy to understand despite all the things going on. This book can be summed up very simply: if you want a well written, well researched book on the Antietam campaign and its aftermath, pick this up. You won't be disappointed.

When I started reading this book, I had high expectations because I had recently read "Gettysburg" by Stephen W. Sears. To put it simply, Mr. Sears definitely lived up to all of my expectations. The beginning of "Landcape Turned Red" is set in the immediate aftermath of Gen. Pope's debacle at Second Bull Run. Desperate for a win, Lincoln reluctantly removd Pope from command and reinstated Gen. George McClellan in command of the Union's Army of the Potomac. On the Confederate side, President Jefferson Davis was very pleased with Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Lee, flushed with victory, convinced Davis to allow his army to invade Maryland in conjunction with the two Southern invasions of Kentucky on the Western Theatre. On Sept. 4, two days after McClellan was reinstated, Lee crossed the Potomac River and invaded Maryland. The Army of Northern Virginia reached Frederick, Maryland on Sept. 9th and Lee had to face a problem. Harper's Ferry was sitting direc tly on his communications and he had to capture it. Lee issued Order 191 with directives for all important officers to divide and conquer Harper's Ferry. Unfortunately, The Army of the Potomac arrived at Frederick on Sept. 13 and McClellan got his hands on a copy of Order 191. Armed with this, even cautious McClellan could act. Sears portrays the skirmishing on South Mountain as the unusually aggressive McCllan attacked at Turner's Gap and Crampton's Gap on Sept. 14. McClellan's attack came to late and Harper's Ferry fell the next day. Lee and his army fell back behind Antietam Creek to gather their strength. Foolishly, McClellan gave Lee both Sept. 15 and Sept. 16 to do so. At dawn on Sept. 17, "Figting Joe" Hooker's First Corps attacked the Cofederate left. Fighting quickly focused on the Cornfield and the East Woods. Drawing from many accounts Sears gives you a front row seat to the fighting. Around 7:30 am, Joseph Mansfield's Twelth Corps followed Hooker into action and broke the rebel line and took the Cornfield. Edwin "Bull" Sumner rushed into the West Woods with Sedgwick's division from his Second Corps at 9 am to provide support. A Confederate counter-attack, however, routed the division and French decided to attack the center with his division. Richardson followed French and also attacked and conquered the Sunken Road. McClellan, however, failed to reinforce the attack and the battle died down at 1 pm. Starting at 10:30, Burside tryed to break the Confederate right at the Rohrbach Bridge. After a few hours, Burnside succedes. However, last minute reinforcements saved Lee's army. On Sept. 18, McClellan haulted the battle and Lee escaped. Sear's book ended with McClellan's failure to pursue and his removal. In conclusion, if you want the definitive book on Antietam, buy "Landscape Turned Red."

Sears' book does better with the preliminaries than the actual battle of Antietam. The battle section is rushed and rather weak on description. Also after having just visited the battlefield I feel Sears didn't emphasize enough how completely incompetent the Union generalship was and how the war in the east should have ended on that day. By way of example Burnside's 10,000 troops needed 6 hours to brush aside 500 Confederates. Also while Lee was good in a crisis the AVN shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Stephen Sears' book, "Landscape Turned Red," is another in a series of his volumes that have clearly established him as one of the major historians of the Civil War. In this work, he addresses the bloodiest one day battle of the Civil War, and a battle that allowed President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emacipation proclamation and forever end the possibility of European recognition for the Confderacy with its "peculiar institution."

Sears sets the stage for the book when he notes (page xi):

"Of all the days on all the fields where American soldiers have fought, the most terrible by almost any measure was September 17, 1862. The battle. . .took a human toll never exceeded on any other single day in the nation's history. . .By almost any measure, too, Antietam was pivotal in the history of the Civil War."

This is a masterful description of the battle, from its earliest phases after the Union's devastating defeat at Second Manassas to its lugubrious conclusion, from the Confederacy's point of view. The book is helped greatly by a series of straightforward maps that lay out the battle very crisply.

The volume lays out the battle itself from the First Corps thrust through the 9th Corps attack on the Burnside Bridge. On the Union side, the failure of generals like Burnside, the aggressiveness of Hooker, the timidity of McLellan are all laid out nicely. As for the confderacy, Lee's stout defensive posture, aided well by the generalship of Hood, Longstreet, the two Hills, Jackson, and so on is well detailed.

This book is a must read for Civil War afficianados and provides an excellent rendering of this critical Civil War battle.

Stephen Sears' book, "Landscape Turned Red," is another in a series of his volumes that have clearly established him as one of the major historians of the Civil War. In this work, he addresses the bloodiest one day battle of the Civil War, and a battle that allowed President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emacipation proclamation and forever end the possibility of European recognition for the Confderacy with its "peculiar institution."

Sears sets the stage for the book when he notes (page xi):

"Of all the days on all the fields where American soldiers have fought, the most terrible by almost any measure was September 17, 1862. The battle. . .took a human toll never exceeded on any other single day in the nation's history. . .By almost any measure, too, Antietam was pivotal in the history of the Civil War."

This is a masterful description of the battle, from its earliest phases after the Union's devastating defeat at Second Manassas to its lugubrious conclusion, from the Confederacy's point of view. The book is helped greatly by a series of straightforward maps that lay out the battle very crisply.

The volume lays out the battle itself from the First Corps thrust through the 9th Corps attack on the Burnside Bridge. On the Union side, the failure of generals like Burnside, the aggressiveness of Hooker, the timidity of McLellan are all laid out nicely. As for the confderacy, Lee's stout defensive posture, aided well by the generalship of Hood, Longstreet, the two Hills, Jackson, and so on is well detailed.

This book is a must read for Civil War afficianados and provides an excellent rendering of this critical Civil War battle.

I first read "Landscape Turned Red" along with Dick Estelle on Radio Reader almost 25 years ago. Many years later I still find it fascinating. I hesitate to say "entertaining", given the subject matter - "combined casualties for those twelve hours of combat came to 22,719. No single day of this or any other America war would surpass this fearful record." The accounts of men dying and horses dragging around their entrails pain my heart. But for the historian and buff, it is indeed fascinating.

Sears provides a very good description of the political situation and events preceding the battle, the skirmishes immediately before Antietam (e.g. Harpers' Ferry, etc.), and then the battle itself. His use of successive, chronological maps provides an excellent accompaniment to the narrative. Too many books on battles skimp on maps.

Sears gives a compelling indictment of McClellan. Stanton called him "master of cant"; Welles said he was "an intelligent engineer but not a commander"; Ben Wade said "Place him before an enemy and he will borrow like a wood chuck". Reading McClellan's letters to his wife makes my skin crawl - his delusion and arrogance are hard to fathom - or forgive.

Despite all of his advantages - from the discovery of Special Order 191 to his superior numbers - McClellan's personal performance was sub-par if not negligent, betraying the courage of his men. He had committed barely 50,000 infantry and artilleryman ... a third of his army did not fire a shot. He repeatedly applied his troops in "driblets" with out coordination or mutual support. Sear's writes that "On no other Civil War field did a commanding general violate so many of what a Union officer at Antietam called `the established principle of military art' that a professional soldier was expected to know.

Sears also provides two bonus chapters on the history of "Special Order 191" and the ill-fated attempts to cross "Burnside's Bridge".

McPherson's "Antietam: Crossroads of Freedom" - which I also recommend - focuses on the "big picture" and broader significance in political landscape, while "Landscape Turned Red" is the seminal account of Battle of Antietam. This is essential Civil War reading.

I had never read anything by Stephen Sears before and I was pleasantly surprised by "Landscape Turned Red." He has such a great style of writing and includes so many interesting little tidbits. I was so pleased with "Landscape" that I immediately ordered "The Battle of Chancellorsville", also by Sears, and it has been as good or better than "Landscape." I would highly recommend this book to anyone who finds Civil War History interesting.

I had never read anything by Stephen Sears before and I was pleasantly surprised by "Landscape Turned Red." He has such a great style of writing and includes so many interesting little tidbits. I was so pleased with "Landscape" that I immediately ordered "The Battle of Chancellorsville", also by Sears, and it has been as good or better than "Landscape." I would highly recommend this book to anyone who finds Civil War History interesting.

Lee, with his victorious Army of Northern Virginia, boldly invades Maryland (a slave state which has remained in the Union). He has no choice. His supply lines are in shambles, his army is hungry, the surrounding land (Northern Virginia) incapable of feeding his men. He must either retreat or advance. Everyone knows the Europeans are close to making a move.

If the south wins France and more importantly Britain recognize The Confederacy (The South). The British Navy breaks the blockade of the South. The war becomes un-winnable for The Union (The North). If the North Wins Lincoln issues the Proclamation that frees the slaves. The populations of democratic France and Britain will forbid their governments from fighting a war to perpetuate slavery.

Two army's of Americans converge amid many dramas which display the untried and in some cases wanting, leadership skills of old army regulars many of whom have never commanded more than a company (100 men) of regulars and are now directing tens of thousands of volunteers into an unprecedented and here to fore unimaginable carnage.

The tactics of the era are the glorious bayonet charge, a tactic rendered obsolete by the rifled muskets carried by both armies. The Brave Americans charge and are mowed down in their thousands by their fellow countrymen. The full cost of one political party's failure to compromise piles up in stacks on the field, to be later buried in mass graves.

This book should be read by any, who for political convenience, lie to other Americans in order to shape their opinions and capture their votes. Democracy requires compromise. Honest debate requires truth. The Democratic Political party bares sole responsibility for the Civil War. This horrible Karma taints their souls. And yet they still use the same political tactics of Lies, Anger and Hatred. I pray to God we don't have to pay this price again.

God Bless the American fighting man, of all wars. Many Brave American men, of both sides, died on this ground. It taught the South that however untried the American soldiers, you invade his land at your peril. Non-American's should read this book because if we will do this to our own, imagine what we will do to others. Americans are very good at killing people. And many of us are not reluctant to use these skills.

Sadly this book demonstrates that lack of reluctance.

Sears Book tells this story with great skill.

I have read many books on Civil War battles, but this by far is at the top of my list.

The author presents the details of that most tragic day in a clear and precise manner. This book is not plagued with the confusing details that many books seem to be riddled with when it comes to the war.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn a little about the battle of Sharpsburg.

Say "Gettysburg" to most Americans and recognition dawns in their eyes. But many Americans have trouble even pronouncing "Antietam." The Confederate name for this battle, "Sharpsburg" is easier to say but less well known.

Despite its relative anonymity, this hideous Civil War battle claimed more casualties in one day than America lost in its Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War and World War One combined.

It's difficult even to gauge the number of battle deaths, since the low velocity and large caliber of Civil War-era weapons inflicted terrible wounds which were untreatable by the medicine of the day (no anaesthetics, no antibiotics, and no idea of antiseptics). Scores of men died of their wounds months or years after the battle. Hundreds of unknown soldiers were buried in mass graves, blue and gray together.

As Stephen Sears shows us, tactically, Antietam was at best a draw. Strategically it put the Confederacy into a slow downward spiral from which it never recovered. It ennobled the Union cause by resulting in the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Sears does a masterful job of exploring the battle, its causes, its results, and most of all, its moment-to-moment details. While LANDSCAPE TURNED RED (the title is taken from a Union soldier's report that he literally saw red in the midst of the battle) is never as vivid as a novel, it does place the reader squarely in the thickest mists of the fog of war. Sears never loses the thread, and he is able to make sense of the chaos on the field in relation to the whole, a challenging task in regard to this bedlam of a battle.

LANDSCAPE TURNED RED is also an indictment of the waste of war. Sears admires neither battle commander. Robert E. Lee clearly believed that he could force the Union to a showdown with 25,000 underfed and ill-equipped men on Maryland soil. George B. McClellan, as was his wont, saw at least three times that many Confederates in his mind, all armed to the teeth and howling for blood.

Although McClellan flinched at Antietam, his troops (who he claimed were "dispirited") did not, despite fearsome losses.

Antietam was a charnel house. In part, this was due to the awful and primitive state of battlefield communications (via semaphore and courier) with a resulting lack of coordination even among the best commanders, but it was also due to McClellan's fear of losing. In McClellan's mind, a draw was as good as a win, and he maddeningly refused to shatter the rebel lines when he could have. A lifelong winner never tempered by discouragement, "the Young Napoleon" failed to realize that the key to victory is to risk defeat.

Despite a gift for organization, and certain personal messianic pretentions, McClellan's battlefield leadership was halting, plodding and uncertain even after he serendipitously acquired a set of Lee's battle orders. By failing to press his enemy on this bloodstained day, McClellan probably prolonged the war and added immeasurably to the total death toll.

Lee, for his part, understood that McClellan had no heart for bloodletting, and exploited this weakness to the utmost by pressing in turn. Although Lee did not flinch, he could not carry the day simply because the Yankees outnumbered and outgunned him.

More importantly, on this particular September day in 1862, Billy Yank had discovered his own sense of esprit d'corps and did not flee as at Manassas. Neither did Johnny Reb, and this fight on the pastoral fields of central Maryland became an atavistic man-to-man slaughter which had less to do with the larger war than with motivations personal to each combatant.

In the end, the personal element is what makes Antietam so crucial in the annals of war. After all, what drove men to fight frenziedly against each other, rifle barrel to rifle barrel and bayonet point to bayonet point? The raison d'etre of LANDSCAPE TURNED RED is the answer to this riddle.

Sears shows us that the answers to these questions lift this battle above itself, and its participants beyond bravery.

LANDSCAPE TURNED RED is a well-written book from every perspective, and well worth your time and attention.

Say "Gettysburg" to most Americans and recognition dawns in their eyes. But many Americans have trouble even pronouncing "Antietam." The Confederate name for this battle, "Sharpsburg" is easier to say but less well known.

Despite its relative anonymity, this hideous Civil War battle claimed more casualties in one day than America lost in its Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War and World War One combined.

It's difficult even to gauge the number of battle deaths, since the low velocity and large caliber of Civil War-era weapons inflicted terrible wounds which were untreatable by the medicine of the day (no anaesthetics, no antibiotics, and no idea of antiseptics). Scores of men died of their wounds months or years after the battle. Hundreds of unknown soldiers were buried in mass graves, blue and gray together.

As Stephen Sears shows us, tactically, Antietam was at best a draw. Strategically it put the Confederacy into a slow downward spiral from which it never recovered. It ennobled the Union cause by resulting in the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Sears does a masterful job of exploring the battle, its causes, its results, and most of all, its moment-to-moment details. While LANDSCAPE TURNED RED (the title is taken from a Union soldier's report that he literally saw red in the midst of the battle) is never as vivid as a novel, it does place the reader squarely in the thickest mists of the fog of war. Sears never loses the thread, and he is able to make sense of the chaos on the field in relation to the whole, a challenging task in regard to this bedlam of a battle.

LANDSCAPE TURNED RED is also an indictment of the waste of war. Sears admires neither battle commander. Robert E. Lee clearly believed that he could force the Union to a showdown with 25,000 underfed and ill-equipped men on Maryland soil. George B. McClellan, as was his wont, saw at least three times that many Confederates in his mind, all armed to the teeth and howling for blood.

Although McClellan flinched at Antietam, his troops (who he claimed were "dispirited") did not, despite fearsome losses.

Antietam was a charnel house. In part, this was due to the awful and primitive state of battlefield communications (via semaphore and courier) with a resulting lack of coordination even among the best commanders, but it was also due to McClellan's fear of losing. In McClellan's mind, a draw was as good as a win, and he maddeningly refused to shatter the rebel lines when he could have. A lifelong winner never tempered by discouragement, "the Young Napoleon" failed to realize that the key to victory is to risk defeat.

Despite a gift for organization, and certain personal messianic pretentions, McClellan's battlefield leadership was halting, plodding and uncertain even after he serendipitously acquired a set of Lee's battle orders. By failing to press his enemy on this bloodstained day, McClellan probably prolonged the war and added immeasurably to the total death toll.

Lee, for his part, understood that McClellan had no heart for bloodletting, and exploited this weakness to the utmost by pressing in turn. Although Lee did not flinch, he could not carry the day simply because the Yankees outnumbered and outgunned him.

More importantly, on this particular September day in 1862, Billy Yank had discovered his own sense of esprit d'corps and did not flee as at Manassas. Neither did Johnny Reb, and this fight on the pastoral fields of central Maryland became an atavistic man-to-man slaughter which had less to do with the larger war than with motivations personal to each combatant.

In the end, the personal element is what makes Antietam so crucial in the annals of war. After all, what drove men to fight frenziedly against each other, rifle barrel to rifle barrel and bayonet point to bayonet point? The raison d'etre of LANDSCAPE TURNED RED is the answer to this riddle.

Sears shows us that the answers to these questions lift this battle above itself, and its participants beyond bravery.

LANDSCAPE TURNED RED is a well-written book from every perspective, and well worth your time and attention.

Sears offers a thorough account of the battle of Antietam using a wide variety of sources to weave the story together. He makes especially good use of the personal accounts of the participants of both sides. His analysis of both the events leading up to and the ramifications of the battle are fair, and help contribute to the understanding of the greater strategies involved in Lee's first invasion of the North.

It is no secret that Sears is no fan of George McClellan, and he does a good job of presenting the facts. Some may say that the author spent too much time criticizing McClellan and his decisions, but I believe understanding the vagaries of the General's mind is key to understanding why the fight unfolded the way it did.

As with his other titles, Sears does a marvelous job of turning an expert piece of historiography into a compelling narrative. I highly recommend all of his work.

This book is simply outstanding. It is one of the best Civil War books I have read. Stephen W. Sears has written a well researched and well written book.

The first couple of chapters were probably the most difficult for me to follow. Sears takes a brief walk through the months leading up to the battle of Antietam. He documents McClellan's inability to follow up success on the Peninsula and his delusions of grandeur he labored under throughout his Civil War career. He writes of Lee's assumption of command and of his success at Second Bull Run. Surrounding this battle, Sears also lays out the McClellan 'slows' - his inability to move at anything other than a glacial pace. The only reason that these chapters were harder to follow for me is that they go back and forth through time, they are not written chronologically.

Once Sears writes of the Maryland campaign itself the book becomes very easy to understand and enjoyable to read. Lee is clearly presented as a general whose chief ability is to know his opponent and exploit his weaknesses. McClellan is presented as a delusional general, oblivious to anything of any import, preferring to spend time on engineering questions rather than moving his army at any speed and supporting any success. In the end, Sears documents McClellan's inability to really win - even after the Lee's full plans fell into his own hands! Sears shows how many opportunities for absolute victory McClellan threw away. As Sears writes of him, he was "so fearful of losing that he would not risk winning" (p. 303). The real hero is the infantrymen, primarily the men of the Army of the Potomac who, under often inept leadership, proved their ability and courage after a string of losses in battle and threw themselves savagely into the fights at the Sunken Road, in the Cornfield and at the Rohrbach bridge. Their courage stands out clearly from this text.

His relating of what was actually going on in the battle was easy to follow. The maps were excellent, though it took me a chapter to realize that the maps are in the middle of the chapter for the events described in that chapter. He relates the events chronologically (McClellan's inability to launch a simultaneous offensive clearly makes this an easier task!) and he rolls the battle down from the north all the way to the south - from Hooker to Burnside/Cox. He included many details of what it felt like to be there and in the fight, recollections from journalists and the fighting men themselves and even some of the town people whose lives were dramatically changed that day. The sheer courage of the men who wore blue and gray was dramatically shown. The battle came alive for me.

Overall this is an excellent book. I think it is probably the definitive text on this battle and I see little need for it to be improved. I would recommend it to anyone seeking a fuller understanding of this battle, which more and more (as Sears has helped me to understand - whether that was his point or not) was the true hingepoint of the Civil War.